Finally! Hasbro Making Boy-Friendly Easy Bake Oven

I grew up in a home with two older brothers, six and eight years my senior. This meant for a lot of awesome hand-me-down comics, games and toys, including GI Joe, Johnny West and a crapload of 60s James Bond gizmos that I wish I'd taken better care of. (We had not one, but two, complete 007 Spy Attache Cases. The only things that survived the three of us were a couple decoders and a booby-trapped notebook.)

I also have two older sisters, though they're 12 and 20 years older than me, so a) being girls and b) the fact that they're that much older meant not much in the way of hand-me-downs. And thank god, as my frugal mother probably would not have had a problem with handing me a box of Barbies.

But I have to admit that I always harbored a secret desire for an Easy Bake Oven. I suppose it was the future Hungover Gourmet bubbling to the surface but there was probably some jealousy that those damn girls didn't have to wait for their moms to fix them a snack. They could just MAKE THEIR OWN!

Having my own daughter – who loves to be in the kitchen and help both her mom and me cook/bake – has meant that I've already started eyeing up the age requirements and debating how much clean-up I'm willing to deal with in order for me her to have one.

But wait! It seem that Hasbro has finally come around and/or succumbed to a pr blitz spearheaded by a teenage girl who was spurred to action by watching her little brother try and cook a tortilla on a lightbulb. (That kid is gonna have a blog – or the mid-twenty-first century equivalent!) Turned off by the pink and purple ovens available from Hasbro, McKenna Pope started a petition to have the toy manufacturer make a more boy-friendly version of the Easy Bake Oven.

Throw in a couple of celebrity chefs, a viral video and voila! February's Toy Fair in NYC will feature the unveiling of a black, silver and blue version. In other words, one that probably looks a lot like the stainless and black oven in my actual kitchen.

I still think I want one. (Thanks to John of The Baltimore Snacker for the tip!)