KitchenAid 365

Happy New Year! Day ? And how I lost 56 pounds

2009-01-01T16:50:00.000-08:00

I love a fresh start. I've heard so many people say, "Oh, I never make New Year's Resolutions." Oh, C'mon! I can't believe that. I spent an entire decade making the same resolution: Lose weight. Each year I resolved to lose it, and each year I gained just a little more. But still...I'm just not that hard on myself. Finally, in January of 2007 I made the same resolution and this time didn't defeat myself by trying to "lose 10 pounds a month". In the past I've done weight watchers, nutrisystem, general dieting, fitness clubs, over the counter appetite suppressants, blah blah blah.

Background: I'm 5'4" and would consider myself small framed and decidedly NOT curvy (that's the nicest way I can put it). When I was 12 years old I reached my full height, weight and curviness. I was never heavier than 118 pounds until my lifestyle completely change with the adoption of our first child. I was 28 and suddenly a stay-at-home mom with a toddler. In the next 4 years our family grew with 4 more children. I averaged about 7 pounds of weight gain per child and was exhausted but very happy. By January of 2007 I had gained even more weight and at age 39 was 178 pounds of pure chub. I was not at all happy with my appearance, low-energy level and was just not feeling very good about myself, despite having a great husband and the absolutely best kids.

The Process: At 178 lbs it seemed overwhelming to get to my goal of being a healthy weight. Remember, a normal weight for me was about 115 lbs. I couldn't even imagine what I would look after all of the years once I lost weight, so I couldn't picture the results. Don't worry about this if you have the same problem. Make it your goal to simply feel great. I am absolutely clear now on exactly how I lost the weight and WHY I can easily keep it all off. My hope is that this post may help just one person reach their goal. So here's how I succeeded.

PHASE 1:

No Diet Food: I ate absolutely anything I wanted. I simply reduced every serving to half the normal size I usually ate. My entire diet consisted of new portion sizes. Seriously I still ate fast food, candy, everything.
Add Food: Instead of eliminating forbidden food, I made myself eat things I normally avoid. For me that was fruits & vegetables. I didn't count any of this food as part of my "portion size reduction". I knew my body needed these things that I don't really like, so the goal was to add them to my life.
Water: If you are like me, you'll blow this off. Please don't. Or do it and really pay attention to the fact that you won't lose weight. Drink more water, lose more weight. I won't attempt to explain the science because I honestly don't really know why it works but it really does work. Start with making yourself drink 4 glasses a day. Move up each month.
Exercise: 30 minutes of anything. I walked every pound off. On good weeks I moved up to 30 minutes in the morning and 30 at night and lost more weight. But to feel good, I must walk 30 minutes a day. Find something you like to do. I like listening to my ipod and walking.

From January to the end of May 2007 I lost 25 pounds. That's just about 1 little pound a week. The truth is, I went several weeks with no weight loss, and them suddenly 3 pounds would come off. It varies, but you have to just keep going and remember, you want to FEEL better, and you will.

In May I joined this crazy fitness bootcamp, injured my knee, and my ankles have never been the same. I took a few weeks off, then back to walking 30 minutes. By October 2007 I was down another 10 pounds. That means I lost LESS than half a pound a week from June-October. But the end result was that I had lost 35 pounds and was now feeling so much better at about 143 pounds. I could move easier, wear nicer clothes and just generally felt so much better. The big changes came by following the steps 1-4 outlined above. By eating the foods I liked, I did not feel deprived, BUT I no longer compulsively ate. I ate with thought, adding good foods, and truly cutting down every portion size so that I was full, but never stuffed. I now had less of an appetite and had even cut out some unhealthy foods.

During the holidays I wasn't doing as much excercise. Weighing myself in January of 2008 I was happy that I had not gained any weight. With portion size control and water intake, I was easily maintaining my weight, even eating all my favorites: pastas, cheese, bread, even fries! With excercise added again after the new year, I came to the conclusion that my body had settled at this new weight, and I thought I was 'okay' with this.

PHASE 2

After moving our family this summer (2008), with the kids settled into their new school and meeting so many new people, I realized I still wasn't looking on the outside the way that I fell on the inside. I made up my mind to become more active and watch my portions even more carefully. I started the 60 mintues of walking again, added salads (still eating my favorites, just adding good foods in) and more fruit. I'll be fair: these last pounds were MUCH harder. I'm older and wasn't sure what my 'real' weight should be, I just knew I wanted to wear clothes and have them look well-porportioned on my not-so-curvacious figure. But still, I knew that taking it off slowly and not depriving myself were key to permanent weight loss.

With the increased activity and actively choosing to snack a little healthier, I again began to see a 3-5 pound weight loss each month.

The Result:

It is now January 2009 and I actually reached my weight loss goal of FEELING great and comfortable with my size at the beginning of December 2008. I am now 122 pounds, and like how I look in clothes (still need to consider a bit more toning activity!) and made it through December easily maintaining my weight by using the above plan of watching portion sizes and doing 30 minutes of walking. It took 2 years to lose the 56 pounds very slowly, and I am no longer really hungry or feel like food controls me. The key was making little changes and just sticking with it. Some months I lost 5 or even 8 pounds and MANY months I just maintained. It all is a success to me. And if I get my nerve up, I'll even post some pictures....I can honestly say that I both look and feel 10 years younger and about a thousand times happier with myself. If it's your goal to lose weight this year, I encourage you to go easy on yourself and just believe that with little changes, great things can be accomplished. Enjoy!

Betty's Got The Blues

2008-12-29T08:41:00.001-08:00

Denial is a common reaction for me to any unpleasant situation. Usually followed by ignoring the issue and/0r believing I'm misreading the situation. Poor Betty couldn't have fallen into more pollyanna-ish hands. Luckily she arrived in my life just as I began forming the idea of actually getting my life organized and no longer being a Gold-Level Procrastinator. Although I have suspected during the last few bread batches that something was amiss, I following my normal line of defensive denial and assured myself that it was all in my imagination. Today I shall take my First Step in my as-yet-unformed 12-step anti-procrastination program and:

1. Admit there is a Problem.

The issue is that Betty gets excited when she has a medium-t0-full load, and she starts jumping around the counter. I'm sure it is exhiliarating to perform the job you were born to do, but I'm afraid that bouncing up and down is not good for her. And it's a little freaky. The problem is her Motor Head Locking Lever doesn't lock in place. As she is whirling, it starts easing back into the "unlock" position, causing the motor head to bounce.

So today I am moving onto Step 2 in the Anti-Procrastination Program and:

2. Believing there is a Power Greater than Me that could restore Betty to her previously calm and serene self. I'm calling Customer Service.

I'll keep Betty's fans updated. Thus far, the first call was made at 10:41 Central Time and the line was busy. Surely more than one customer service superhero is manning the lines, waiting to help my little friend.

UPDATE: Have now tried to call a total of 6 times. There isn't even an option to hold for the next available customer care person...it's just busy. Called at: 10:41, 11, 11:05, 1:22, 1:56 and finally 4:05. We'll have to try again tomorrow. :(

Best Bread Ever - Day 13

2008-12-27T07:00:00.001-08:00

Betty is a Bread Making Queen, as you know. We've shared a few favorites with her fans (yes, you) over the last 2 weeks, but today you are in for a real treat: Basic Everyday Honey Wheat Bread.

This bread has a five fabulous attributes:

EASY, a great recipe for beginners
Healthy, but still tasty (it's only 1/3 wheat)
Cheap! About $1.25 per loaf..yes, I nerdily figured this out.
Lasts for a full 5 days if hidden carefully
Freezes well

Most homemade sandwich breads only last about 3 days (no preservatives). Now, if you have 2 or more people in your house and you make homemade bread, it usually has only a 4 hour shelf-life due to the delicious smell and taste. However, if you make bread every week and whip out 2 or more loaves, you can put out one loaf and freeze the others. With 5 kids and a husband, I usually make 3-4 loaves of this bread each week. If it's not being used quickly, I freeze it. The wonderful thing about this bread is that it stays fresh 5 days. If I had to guess, it's the sheer simplicity of ingredients, and the fact that it does not use eggs, milk or butter. Trust me, you're in for a treat.

If I had to give one piece of bread making advice it would be this: Get your yeast at Sam's Warehouse or Costco. It comes in a big bag for about $4, and you can freeze the yeast and use it straight from the freezer anytime you want. For some reason my bread rises so much better with this yeast than when I use the yeast packets from the grocery store.

2 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 tablespoon active dry yeast
1 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup honey
1/3 cup vegetable oil
4 cups all-purpose flour (less or more if your bread needs it)

Proof the yeast. Just proof it in your warmed up KitchenAid bowl. Add honey, and put your mixer speed on stir. Mix in whole wheat flour, salt, and vegetable oil. Turn up your speed to 2. Work all-purpose flour in gradually. Once dough seems well blended, allow your mixer to knead it for about 2-3 minutes. When dough is smooth and elastic, place it in a well oiled bowl. Turn it several times in the bowl to coat the surface of the dough, and cover with a damp cloth (I just spray the bowl with Pam, and then spray the top of the loaf with a little more). Let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk, about 45 minutes. Usually I turn on the oven for a minute, turn it off, and let the dough rise in the oven, covered with a slightly damp cloth.
Punch down the dough. Shape into two loaves, and place into two well greased 9 x 5 inch loaf pans. Allow to rise until dough is 1 to 1 1/2 inches above pans.
Bake at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) for 25 to 30 minutes.
Remove bread from pans within first 4 minutes of coming out of the oven, or else your crust will get very soggy.
Brush top of loaf with a little butter for a nice shiny, pretty look.

You are supposed to wait until fully cool to cut, but where's the fun in that? Give it a few minutes and then slice a piece for "taste testing" purposes. Mmmmmmmmm...lovely.

Rockin' Mashed Potatoes - Day 12

2008-12-26T15:40:00.000-08:00

Despite being born in Idaho and loving potatoes, I can't remember ever making them from scratch. I really am a cooking-newbie, despite being 40 years old. All of our potatoes have always come from a box.

Betty told me that was shameful...and then refused to acknowledge my presence for about an hour. So temperamental!

This Christmas we decided to set out on the new adventure of using something other than the Dough Hook. So you know, the KitchenAid stand mixers come with three standard accessories, The Flat Beater, Dough Hook, and Wire Whip. After cruising through AllRecipes.com for a good mashed potato recipe, I settled on a photo that looked very much like our local steakhouse's side dish. My only problem was that I couldn't decide which accessory to use: the wire whip or the flat beater. After boiling, the potatoes seems so dense and heavy..or maybe it was the fact I was trying to do 7 lbs at the same time, so I started out with the flat beater on the 2 setting.

Cooking for me has never necessarily been about creating amazingly good food. Over the years I have settled on about 8 meals that fulfill my Cardinal Rules of Dinner:

Easy Clean Up (fewest dishes and least mess)
Fast & Simple
Tastes decent

And yes, the priorities have always been in that order. Most meals have consisted of 5 ingredients (not counting spices) or less, and cook up in under 30 minutes. Either that, or they are crockpot meals that take less than 10 minutes to prep and then cook all day on their own. Despite my new interest in all things kitcheny, I still insist on easy clean up (Betty's a dream in this area), but I am expanding the meals and side dishes to include new tastes and textures.

The flat beater seemed like the way to go, and despite the fact that the potatoes were threatening to overflow, Betty whirred and purred them into a lovely consistency. It being Christmas, I had a greater willingness to break the Cardinal Rules, and so I added one step to the following recipe that basically turned my mashed potatoes into Rockin' Potatoes of Instant Fame! I roasted the garlic in olive oil for 30 mintutes before adding it to Betty's bowl. Yes, yes, yes! I had to constantly keep moving the food around my plate so that no one realized I was only eating the amazing potatoes.

It's worth the time, people. And actually, I found that if you are cooking up something else in the oven, just throw the garlic, wrapped in aluminim foil after being splattered with olive oil, in with whatever else is in the oven. Cook for 30 minutes.

Here it is, the Rockin Potatoes of Instant Fame Recipe:

16 medium red potatoes, cubed
1 tablespoon of garlic (more or less depending on your garlic tastes)
1 cup butter or margarine (I cut this in half..too much fat)
1/2 cup milk or cream
1/2 teaspoon steak seasoning (didn't have, so used just some basic seasoning salt)
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder (optional)
1/2 teaspoon oregano (also optional)

Place the potatoes into a large pot, and fill with enough water to cover. Bring to a boil, and cook for about 20 minutes, or until easily pierced with a fork.
Drain the potatoes, and add everything else. Whip it all up in your kitchenaid, or other hand mixer. Do not drench with gravy.

Feeds about 8 people if they are also eating other food. Or serves me and about 5 others. ENJOY!

Tasting Team Ratings: Jen-5 Bettys, Kate-5 Bettys, Teresa-5 Bettys, Madeline 5-Bettys, Victora 2-Bettys (comment: prefers instant, potatoes were weird).

Day 11- Christmas Eve

2008-12-24T16:20:00.000-08:00

Betty and I wish everyone a joy-filled Christmas, full of love and good food! Betty is busy making delicious treats that we will showcase very soon. Peace to everyone on this most Holy night.

Lagniappe Post: Growing Crystals from household items

2008-12-23T17:58:00.000-08:00

In Louisiana, the word Lagniappe means "a little something extra", and it usually means we're sharing some extra food, advice, love, or information.

Sometimes I come across something worth sharing, which I'll go ahead and include in this blog because, why not? Ya'all can skip over these tidbits if you like, but if you do you might miss something you too could share...a little lagniappe to give to friends and family.

For many years I homeschooled our girls, and those years truly were a gift we gave to each other. The lifestyle of curious exploration isn't unique to homeschoolers, but it does become a way of life. I ran across this recipe for growing crystals the other day in a book on uses for Vinegar, and it really does work! Our youngest is having fun watching her crystals grow each day. Why not try it with your kids during the winter break?

What’s that smell? Smoke? FIRE! FIRE!

2008-12-23T17:09:00.000-08:00

My husband has quite accurately informed others that, “Martha is the last person you would ever want to have with you in an emergency.” Unfortunately, this is true. When people start bleeding & crying, my brain does a brief short circuit, usually followed by me running around in circles and saying something spazzy. Which is exactly what happened last night when DD Victoria set the oven on fire.

While I was ensconced in my room, surrounded by gifts-needing wrapping and watching the last weeks worth of Tivo’d CSI episodes, 13-year-old Victoria was preparing to bake some chicken breasts for the Ravenous Hoard. Meanwhile, droppings from yesterday’s pizza were sizzling in the pre-heating oven. Even from my bedroom on the other side of the house I could smell that something was amiss in the kitchen. Knowing that my teens have even less (I know, hard to believe!) abilities in the kitchen than I do, I went to investigate.

“Is that smoke?” I think as I walk past two teens lounging on the sofa watching TV. “Is that smoke???” I say as I walk in the kitchen. OMG! Smoke is coming out of the oven. And here’s where the short circuit begins…I open the hot oven only to see that there is an actual huge flame burning half way up the oven.

“FIRE! FIRE! FIRE!” I’m yelling, running in a circle, and flapping my arms around. Suddenly, I have a moment of absolute clarity when the words enter my mind: WWOD? That’s right, “What Would Oprah Do?” the question I always ask myself when I think someone is acting like an idiot, absolutely lying to me, sharing way to much information, or in cases like these where there is clearly a need for a greater clarity of thought than I am capable of in these situations.

And it comes to me: Salt….I stop shouting FIRE and flap my way over to the cupboard now yelling SALT! SALT! SALT! Which is how I end up flinging an enormous amount of Morton’s into my fiery oven. Which, so you know, works. You don’t need to experiment yourself, I have confirmed this fact for everyone.

Today’s recipe is Buckeye’s. Which do not require oven use. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups peanut butter

1 cup butter, softened

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

6 cups confectioners' sugar

4 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, mix together the peanut butter, butter, vanilla and confectioners' sugar. The dough will look dry. Roll into 1 inch balls and place on a waxed paper-lined cookie sheet.

2. Press a toothpick into the top of each ball (to be used later as the handle for dipping) and chill in freezer until firm, about 30 minutes.

3. Melt chocolate chips in a double broiler or in a bowl set over a pan of barely simmering water. Stir frequently until smooth.

4. Dip frozen peanut butter balls in chocolate. Place on cookie sheet and refrigerate until you've snacked on so many that you are feeling queasy. Share the rest with family and friends. ENJOY!

Homemade Pizza - Day 9

2008-12-22T17:49:00.000-08:00

Besides my new KitchenAid, I also have a new interest in what I call, "Moderate Frugality". Which is my euphemistic way of saying, "We really need to cut down on spending, but I just can't live without ziplocks and meat every day." Right now the focus is on cutting my outrageous grocery bill in half. Seriously, it's shameful.

One item that comes up over and over on frugality websites and in books is homemade pizza dough. I'm a huge fan (well, not a literally huge fan, but in spirit, yes) of Pizza in all of it's varieties. I grew up in Seattle eating Shakey's Pizza and since moving to the South 20 years ago I've migrated to the big-chain pizzas of Pappa Johns. All of that changed last night when Betty and I whipped up an unattractive but extremely tasty pepperoni & bacon creation.

Tonight I am going to introduce you to the CHEAP and, in my opinion, very tasty pizza crust. I'll also be showing off Betty's KitchenAid Tasting Crew, also known as The Ravenous Horde that, despite very little assistance with preparation of the food, feel very free to openly offer opinions on all foods inhaled at the table...or on the counter..or...on the sofa. Believe me, the RHs will be 100% clear with their opinions.

Recipe for KitchenAid Crust Crust Pizza Dough:

SERVES 4 -6 , 1 14inch pizza

1 package active dry yeast
1 cup warm water
1/2 tsp warm water
2 tsp olive oil
21/2 - 31/2 cups all purpose flour

Dissolve yeast in warm water in warmed bowl.
Add salt, olive oil, and 2 1/2 cup flour.
Attach bowl and dough hook, turn to speed 2 and mix 1 minute.
Continuing on speed 2, add remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, until dough clings to dough hook and cleans sides of bowl. Knead on speed 2 for 2 minutes.
Place in greased bowl, turning to grease top.
Cover, let rise in warm place until doubled in bulk (about 1 hour).
Punch dough down.
Brush 14 inch pizza pan with oil.
Press dough across bottom of pan forming collar around edge to hold filling Top with fillings and bake at 450°F for 15 to 20 minutes.

Ravenous Hoard Ratings: Only 4 of the 5 testers offered their opinions today (which means they are in the room and I'm too lazy to go and look for for the eldest). We'll call the system "Bettys". One Betty being the lowest, and five Bettys being the highest.
Kate: 5 Bettys!
Victoria: 1 Betty
Maddie: 4 Bettys (comment: need more cheese)
Teresa: 5 Bettys!

I'd call this a success. We're definitely adding homemade pizza to our menu planning. :) YEAH.

Bending Betty - Day 8

2008-12-21T14:49:00.000-08:00

Oh, it was horrible. I was just cleaning up the counter, leaning Betty over to the left while I wiped up flour beneath her base, when my hand slipped, Betty fell over to the counter, I screamed "OH SH--" very, very loudly and quickly uprighted my poor KitchenAid mixer! Immediately I saw that her mixer-speed lever was no longer in the correct position. I gave it a hesitant tug, my stomach feeling a bit queasy...nothing. No movement at all. A harder tug..still no movement. Is it unplugged? No. It's just..BENT! Oh My G! Did He not acknowledge that I went to church today? I mean, this is tragic!

I have to tell my husband. But what if he breaks it even more? Will this be covered in my warranty? No, I really don't think so. I go off to tell DH, who comes in to have a look. My DH is a manly man, not one to call in the cavalry unless he is sure he can't save the damsel himself. He puts Betty in a headlock and gives her switch a mighty twist. I can't believe I'm actually holding my breath as I pull the speed-switch towards me. YES!! Betty is back in business, happily swirling her dough-hook around the empty bowl.

I bat my floury eyelashes at DH, he responds by puffing up a bit like a yeasty dinner roll. Disaster avoided.

Garlicky Success Story - Day 7

2008-12-20T17:33:00.000-08:00

"I look like Bullwinkle" said Betty.

"Betty, no! You look cute and festive. It's Christmas!" I told her.

"I don't look stupid?"

"You're gorgeous. Scrumptious even. Everyone will see how much fun you are."

Which is why you really should never let me take your picture for my blog. I am not averse to exploiting anyone to further my quest, even Betty (don't tell!)

Today Betty and I brainstormed on a good accompaniment to the pot roast cooking in the Crockpot. I think I even caught Betty trying to flirt a little bit with crockpot, but crockpot is just an appliance. A little searching on AllRecipes.com and we came up with a recipe for Soft Garlic Breadsticks that sounded promising, but was designed for a bread machine, not a slightly embarrassed reindeer-horned KitchenAid Stand Mixer. But we were both ready to rise to the occasion.

In a word: Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

Not only was this easy (less than 5 minutes work) on my part, but this dough was so nice to work with: not sticky and simply delicious. I've adapted the recipe below for the KitchenAid. Enjoy!

Soft Garlic Breadsticks

1 1/8 cups warm water
2 tsp active dry yeast
1 tsp sugar
2 Tbsp olive or canola oil
3 Tbsp grated parmesan cheese
3 tsp garlic powder
1 1/2 tsp salt
3/4 tsp minced fresh basil or 1/2 tsp dried basil
3 cups bread flour
2 Tbsp melted butter (to brush on bread after baking)

Proof the yeast. This means you're going to get the yeast working. Put the warm water (110-120 degrees) in your warm KitchenAid bowl (run the bowl under warm water first). Now add the sugar, mix with a fork, and add the yeast. Twirl it again. Wait about 5 minutes and it should be foamy. Now it is "proofed".

Add all the the ingredients except for the flour, and turn on your mixer to the Stir setting. Now add one cup of flour...wait a few seconds. Now start adding the rest of the flour 1/2 a cup at a time. Turn mixer up to the 2 setting and let it mix and kneed the dough for about 2 or 3 minutes. Add a Tbsp or two of water if the dough is not clinging together.

Place the dough on a floured board and roll it into a flat rectangle, about 1/4 inch thickness. Now cut it in long strips, so that you have 14-20 pieces. Roll up each piece like a you are rolling play-dough up into a snake. You can give it an artistic twist if you like. Shoot, you could dye it purple and paint red spots on it for that matter, it's your dough.

Place each stick onto a cookie sheet. First spray it with Pam, or you could do the environmental-choking thing that I do and lay out some aluminum foil on the cookie sheet first (easy clean up, first priority!) and then spray the foil with Pam. Heat up your oven for ONE minute, now turn it off. This gets the oven warm and the breadsticks will nicely rise. Put in your cookie sheet(s), let rise 45 minutes. Take out the breadsticks, heat the oven to 350 degrees and cook for 8-10 minutes until lightly brown. Brush with melted butter immediately after coming out of the oven. The first four are best if eaten in the bathroom with the door locked and the kids outside the door whining, "Mom, is dinner ready? Mom?" But you can also serve them promptly to everyone. Enjoy!

English Toasting Bread - Day 6

2008-12-19T07:10:00.000-08:00

F*I*A*S*C*O...or almost. I came across this recipe for English Toasting Bread, something my husband remembers having decades ago, but has never found it in the grocery store again, this morning. When he talks about it...how he casually found the ETB on the shelf and thought it looked interesting. How he set it on the counter and then lightly toasted it, adding butter at the end. When my DH talks about this one single experience he had with a loaf of ETB....I feel a little jelous. Like he is not just explaining this incredible culinary once-in-a-lifetime experience, but rather revealing a secret pining for something once precious, and now utterly lost. All of this took place before we came together, which is to say that he has carried this loss with him for over 20 years.

When I came across this recipe today I thought, "Ohhhh, he's gonna love me for this." The last daughter wasn't even on the bus before Betty was primed for work and the yeast was proofing in a bowl of warm water and sugar. And even though the recipe called for a full 4.5 tsps of yeast for 2 small loaves, I still didn't get a clue that there might be something amiss. I mean...what do I know about bread? I'm pretty new to this everyday-baking thing.

So, here I am, adding the ingredients and I get to the last cup of flour and start to think, "hmmm, this sure is some sticky, wet dough. Did I add enough flour? Maybe a little more." So I add about a 1/2 a cup extra and the dough is still looking like spackle. I figure that I'll just go with it.
The next instruction says to "spread dough into loaf pans." Spread dough? Usually you form them into loaves. I get out one of those little plastic spatulas and try to easy this sticky goo out of the bowl. No luck. It's stuck to my hand, the bowl, the spatula and part of the counter now. Okaaaay. About this time I realize I have NOT put my apron on and I am dressed to meet a friend later. I am about to ruin this outfit. Too late!

Okay, let's just get the it in the pan and move along. Easier thought than done. Eventually I pour/scrape, smack, paddle and fling this wet-cement into two loaf pans. I immediately try to get it off my hands and spend a bit of time on that endeavor. Although only a minute or two have passed, I swear that the loaves are looking a little puffier. Hmm. I'm now supposed to let them rise for 45 minutes. I place a damp cloth over the pans (the dough is about half full), place them in a slightly warmed up oven and go facebook for about 20 minutes.

Good Gawd! Now the towel is stuck to the Empire State building dough. I peel off, knowing the dough will now flatten and need to rise again, only to find that this dough has a mind of its own. It not only doesn't fall, but sort of nicely rounds out at the top. I decide to give it just a few more minutes to puff up (you always want to have it raise just about one inch above the rim). Two minutes later I realize the dough is not poofing..it's ooozing over the edge and down the side of the pan. Lord, what a fiasco! I pinch off the oozed dough, quickly warm the oven to 400 and stuff them in.

Then I chat on the phone. What is that smell? Is that, is that something burning?? Run to the kitchen, AAAAHHHHH! It's continued to ooze and a big gob is now attached to the oven element, starting to get all charred and smoky. I realize we've come to far. I am going to cook this bread and nothing, including the kitchen about to catch fire, is going to stop me.

I pop the mutinous loaves into the top oven to finish, clean up the slop in the bottom oven and wait in chair directly in front of the oven with the light shinning brightly on the loaves. They're not going to pull anything else on me today. And like children well chastised, they appear 15 minutes later as perfectly rounded and golden beauties.

So lovely, so fresh...I can barely wait to take my first bite. Which I do, just a quarter of an hour later. And find out that in the end, the bread laughed last. Blech! Horrible taste! Something between old cheese and beach-blanket. Still...maybe this is the taste husband longs for. Or maybe, when he meets his longed for love again, he'll know for sure just how sweet he's got it now.

Beg, Borrow, Trade or Steal? Day 5

2008-12-19T03:13:00.000-08:00

I've been thinking about my quandary, my true need for KitchenAid Stand Mixer attachments. Here's my ideas for so far for acquiring these coveted objects:

Buying is out, as I still have the dubious investment of two kids in braces. It took about 3 months to straighten out their teeth, but I'm told that one of them has another 8 months and the other at least a year...which strangely coincides exactly with when the final payments are made on the mouth-tin.
Borrow: My best buddy, L, dropped into the conversation the other day that she received a "free" attachment a few years ago with her KitchenAid, but she doesn't know which one. OH! If only my mind were more diabolical, I could figure out how to get my floury hands on this unloved appliance. Should I just ask? Would it cause an awkward situation? What if it is the meat grinder (YUCK) which is something I really don't want?
Win: I don't gamble usually. It's not any type of moral or ethical statement. It's just that I understand that when it comes to spinning the wheel, my ball will fall out and land on the floor. I'm just not lucky in that way. My grandmother and mother took me to an unknown number of smoke-filled bingo halls growing up and the closest I ever came to yelling "BINGO!!" was singing, "There was a farmer had a dog and bingo was his name-0". Still, as an adult, after $10 in tries and walking stressfully around a circle of chairs numerous times, I did sit in the winning chair and win a cake. That cake represents the sum of all gambled winnings in my life. But one must keep trying! Maybe I've saved up all of my luck just for this time in my life. I'm keeping an eye out online for KitchenAid contests.
Trade: What if I could somehow find someone online or in real life willing to trade their KitchenAid attachment for a number of cookies, breads, and muffins? It's just that I don't think there is an option on Craigslist for something like this...SIGH.

Great Balls of Bread Dough...I mean fire!

2008-12-18T16:53:00.000-08:00

Apparently, I am not the only goofy human who has fallen hard for a kitchen appliance. While cruising the Amazon website, I found someone who has actually created decals for their KitchenAid Stand Mixers. It's nice to know I'm not entirely alone. Somewhere out in the world are others like me.

So many uses for my KitchenAid Mixer - Day 4

2008-12-18T15:39:00.000-08:00

The Cinnamon Raisin bread is at its absolute best toasted, with a little spray of I Can't Believe It's Not Butter. It's not my ambition to actually whip something up every day in Betty, but I will spend a little bit of each day exploring the possibilities and uses of my new KitchenAid Stand Mixer! It's not as if I can make bread every day....or, well, I guess I could. But my real goal is to use the mixer at least a few times each week, and double or triple every recipe. That way I can store the over-flow in our freezer and have ready meals, bread, cookie dough, etc.

Here are a few things I have planned for the upcoming days:

Pizza Dough
Whipped Cream
Mashed Potatoes
Meatloaf
Cheesecake

I'm exploring all of the other possibilities now, which is all to be included in my 365 days of enjoying the fruits of my KitchenAid Stand Mixer. Yum! I haven't even explored all of the attachment options, but hopefully some KitchenAid fairy will rain down these coveted gadgets upon my kitchen. And we haven't even talked about the ice-cream maker attachment! I have no idea how I'm going to get my hands on these guys, but I certainly plan to brainstorm it into being. My two most wanted items are the shredder/slicer attachment and that lovely ice cream maker attachment. Oh I am going to dream such sweet dreams tonight..

Cinnamon Raisin Bread

2008-12-18T05:48:00.000-08:00

Because it's just too delicious not to share!

The original recipe for this incredible bread was taken from AllRecipes.com, but with slight modifications. I change the recipe to 24 servings and the allrecipes website re-calculates the ingredients to 2 loaves. Then I actually use smaller bread pans and make 3 loaves. I hope that made some kind of sense!

The only other change that I make are these:

Double the raisins and while waiting for the yeast to rise, put your raisins in a bowl of water. This helps the raisins plump up and keeps them from getting dry/hard while baking. Pour off the water before you add the raisins to the batter.
Double the Cinnamon Sugar mixture. This isn't a health bread, although it healthier than most! So the extra cinnamon sugar really gives it that melt-in-your mouth flavor.

Delicious!

Cinnamon, Butter, Raisins...Oh my, my, my...Day 3

2008-12-17T17:32:00.000-08:00

Mmmmmmmm. First I warmed the KitchenAid's bowl by running it under warm water. A little warm water, some yeast, flour, sugar, and with just a the flip of the speed-switch we were literally humming right along.

The main thing that I learned today is just how easy clean-up is with Betty. I've done a little bread-making in the past, and have always felt the actual kneading of the dough to be very enjoyable. Sort of a physical connection between me and the dough. Today I found out that physical connection just isn't that important when you're talking about three moist and delicious loaves of Cinnamon Raisin Bread. After adding the ingredients, my job was basically done for a couple of hours. Betty just kept moving the dough around, doing all of the hard work. My job was simply to watch her do her thing.

About an hour later, after the first rising, I exerted myself by jabbing the puffy dough down and rolling it out into a flattened rectangle. After painting my quadrilateral with warm, melted butter, I added the cinnamon sugar and rolled it all tightly up, forming the inner-swirl of deliciousness. Oh the 'yum-factor' is definitely an 8+ with this treat. This is exactly why the bread never lasts! Hours of smelling butter and cinnamon drive the entire household into a feeding frenzy. Thank God it's gotten easier to whip these babies out..

Going Bananas!

2008-12-17T09:48:00.000-08:00

Days 1 & 2 were December 15th and 16th, when I ambitiously took my 250 watt KitchenAid 4.5 Quart mixer out for its first spin.

The goal: Make as many banana breads as possible.

Our oldest daughter is in college and the four others are spread out through elementary, junior,and high school. An informal tally gave me the idea that 20 or more teachers, counselors and bus drivers deserved a scrumptious Thank-You-Bread. A few friends might enjoy a bread or two as well, thus the need for a two-day bread making extravaganza.

With a twenty five pound sack of flower and a case of "old" bananas I finagled for at the local Winn Dixie, I loaded up Betty (KitchenAid's new name) for her trial run. We were both getting broken in to this bold new world of Power Baking, and I must admit that I personally had a few more sputters than Betty. In the first batch (I was making 4 loaves at a time, never exceeding the flour limit) I'm afraid I broke out of the manual's limitation of "only speed 2 and not higher for bread dough." This was not a good idea. When cranked up to level-4, Betty overzealously flung a big splattering of banana-goo at the wall behind her and onto my neck as well. We decided together that sticking to Speed 2 would lead to less sticking-to-the-wall.

In the 2nd batch, I completely forgot to add the sugar. Still, the bread looked good...so 4 mostly-strangers are going to have some very odd tasting banana bread. I was so used to mixing with a hand mixer that I kept shutting off the KitchenAid before I added more ingredients, a completely unnecessary step. Once Betty and I made it to batch 3 and 4, we were whipping out (well, more like mixing out) bread faster than the double-oven could bake them.

Betty held her own and cleaned up beautifully. My only problem is: what to do with the left over bananas?

Day 1 - Here we go!

2008-12-17T08:35:00.000-08:00

Newly moved into an older home in a lovely part of Louisiana, our family of 7 has discovered the joys of a double oven. As a former non-baker with a repertoire of about 10 dinner ideas to my name, this new fascination that I have acquired with baking and meal-planning has been a little bit of a shock to everyone...especially me!

I am work-at-home mom. Our active family life has always been patched together with meals on the go, frozen lasagnas, housework, sick kids...you know, the regular Mom Stuff. Our new move has slowed life down just enough for me to discover this new, very surprising passion for creating good, low-cost meals in the kitchen. Baking bread has become a regular twice-weekly event, with delicious results! The only problem was, with a husband, four teens and a tween, even 3 or 4 loaves of Cinnamon Raisin bread barely lasted a day or two. My dream became owning a KitchenAid Stand Mixer, something that could pump out a dozen loaves in one day and be ready to work again at a moments notice.

But how to afford it? It seemed my ambitions would have to be put on hold until the kids braces were paid off, school clothes replenished, and all of the necessities of life provided for a growing group of girls. And then, the surprise:

Rooting through our old house as he prepared it for listing with a realtor, my husband found several unused items from a past home-project. DH secretly returned the items to Lowes hardware for a credit, waited for a Christmas sale on appliances, and last week proudly brought home a brand-new KitchenAid 4.5 Quart Stand Mixer to an ecstatic and grateful wife! Thank you, Bob! There's no stopping me now...