Greatest thing ever - the personal pie machine

My tiny kitchen was the site of a culinary electrical storm last weekend. At one time, I had all of these gadgets chugging along:

• My Zojirushi bread machine
• Presto waffle maker
• Cuisinart coffee maker
• CrockPot slow cooker

and last, but certainly not least, the Breville personal pie maker. At risk of sounding very 2006, I've got to say this thing is the bomb. No, it's da bomb.

If you've never seen one, here it is.

It changes piemaking from a chore to kitchen fun. You basically buy pre-made pastry dough (at least I do ... if I weren't fully employed, maybe I'd make it myself, but seriously...they sell this stuff) and cut it into circles for the tops and bottoms of the pies. Then you either use a recipe from the book they provide or you ad lib to create your own pie fillings. Each pie contains about 1/3 cup of filling.

So far I've made beef and mushroom, chicken and leek, chicken/onion/asparagus/turnip green, Italian (imagine pizza toppings in a pie) and burrito (think Mexican burrito fillings inside a pie). Oh, and on my husband's suggestion, we even had a curry chicken/potato pie. Much to my surprise that was absolutely delicious.

During this same time period, I've been trying to gain some weight, and maybe not coincidentally, I've gone up by about a pound and a half. Coincidence? You be the judge. All I know is that I've found a kitchen helper that's brought piping-hot deliciousness into my household, and I am pleased.

I'll post the recipe for my next pie creation the next time I make them.