You mean...like actually making bread, like from scratch?? Because I would hardly call that 'simple'...I have mad respect for anyone who can bake, even basic things like bread, because when you're a beginner the odds that whatever you try to do will end up tasting even remotely like what you expect are probably around 5%. The odds of it being edible I MIGHT elevate to a coin flip...
Meanwhile, if even a child puts onions, meat, salt and pepper into a pot of boiling water, guess what they end up with? Something that tastes like boiled onions, meat, salt and pepper! :o And if that flavor isn't good enough? Just add something else and keep stirring!
TL;DR the learning curve for cooking with the oven is much steeper than that for cooking on the stove, even when it comes to frying, in my opinion...
You'd think so...but all the young Americans I've lived with since I moved to college are crazy about cooking. My current roommates have so many pots and pans, there's only one free burner on the stove at any time. And there's never any room in the fridge for me to store my hash browns...=_=
...Maybe it's just rich young Americans (who can also afford to throw out all the food they decide they no longer want to cook as if it's worthless garbage...).
Because the poor young Americans I live with at home (i.e. my sibs) can just barely cook to save their lives. They'd literally rather starve than boil some water and put more than 30 seconds of effort into feeding themselves. I've seen them do it.