Replacing the toaster oven is one answer, but, have you priced them lately. Today I went to several stores looking for a normal size toaster oven. Many were available but most did not have good ratings from users and were too large. The price of a toaster oven these days is high, many in the $60, 70, 80, 90 and over 100. Most are too large for a small area. I checked at Costco, Macy's, Khols, Target, TJMax, then finally at Wal-Mart. Finally went to Wal-Mart and they had a Proctor Silex 31120 that many people said was good on reviews. Believe it or not the price was $18.00. It is still in the box, will try it later today. Just hope it is not a lemon that was returned. The box was still in good shape with what looked like original taping.

For food, I would do simple appetizers and desserts as it's after lunch. How sophisticated is your group? A huge platter of sushi is always welcomed here and so are good cheese platters. Personally, I would skip a cake that says "Welome Baby" or whatever, but nearly every baby shower I go to, someone has one. A variety of cupcakes with different toppings and some great fruit, little sandwiches, some cheese wafers, maybe some asparagus rolled in phyllo, would all be good. A hot artichoke dip and crackers also. I would not do hearty meats like meatballs but a chicken salad in phyllo cups or baked in a bread ring might be nice.

Dirt cup cakes for the kids! Your choice of cake and icing, cover icing with very thick layer of pulverized oreos. Looks like potting soil. Put gummy worms on top and/or insert little stick flowers. We did it with chocolate cake and chocolate cream cheese frosting, SO GOOD and fun!

I'm pretty sure what i used was Ghirardelli. That seems to be the brand that fills the centers. And flat squares. Last year i was working on a recipe for a peanut butter type cup that does not use so much powdered sugar and other type of fillings not necessarily 'peanut'. That is when i found the above recipe. I went way off track. But did find that peanut powder would work since the oil is removed, then tried coconut flour...then ended up making tiny truffles. And 6 varieties to suit everyone. This was for a charity event money raiser at work. Every allergy is represented in the work force so it was a bit of a challenge. Less sugar/sweet comes from a dozen or so co-workers that wanted a rich dark chocolate 'peanut butter cup' but not sweet like the basic reese cup. Then the 'no peanuts', no gluten, no dairy, etc started. Truffles were easier. It was a total fail getting it all trialed and ready for ValentinesD ay so i'm at it again...(for x-mas)...they want my salsa for Thanksgiving. To take home to family. I recently made a hot sauce and they want that also...oy, i have no time! (I ordered a box of Hatch chilis from NewMexico that i smoked and froze.) I'm thinking of using coconut flour to thicken the nutella and maybe ground pistachios...here i go again, lol. My inspiration is Hu, an NYC kitchen/take-out place. Fantastic products at a very high cost. I can spend 50 and make 500dollars or more for charity. If you google their menu you will find many recipes as they list all ingredients. Our charity budget was 200 for years and then i decided to take that 200dollars and make products...it is really just my time invested but it has turned into 4-5 thousand we give now. Then i take out a hundred from every thousand and buy ingredients and containers...all good. I'm off work today for a three day rare weekend and having some time to think about the holidays...