The Bosch Dilemma

As you can tell, I am catching up on the posts that have been accumulating in my mind while I have been unable to post since Monday.

So here is today's dilemma. I went on a cooking spree today. Partly fueled by the desire to feed my children, partly by the desire to make some treats to send off with my dad & stepmother, and partly to distract myself from worrying about a dear friend who is in the hospital.

One of the things I made was a batch of bread in my Bosch Bread Mixer, which was a wedding gift from my parents 21.5 years ago. This mixer is a thing of wonder and makes incredible bread. For example--Ramona ate some today and was sure there was white flour in it, because it was so nice and light. But no, it was 100% whole wheat flour that I had just ground myself. (Yes, I am just like the Little Red Hen!)

Recently my mixer has developed a little quirk. For the last few months whenever I make a batch of bread some of the dough always gets into the shaft of the bowl (the middle part where it hooks into the machine) all the way down to the bottom of the bowl. If I don't get it out right away (if I let the bread rise in the bowl, for instance) it rises and oozes out through all of the little places. I could get a screwdriver and take the shaft assembly apart every time to clean it out, but that is such a pain. And so I end up running water through the middle for what seems like hours, washing the dough out a little bit of a time. Which is also a pain, now that I think of it. A long pain.

I decided last week that maybe the problem would be solved if I made a smaller batch of bread, so that the dough didn't go up as high in the bowl. And that worked last week, but not today. The smaller batch of dough brings a new problem, though. You can see it in the video below:



Just in case it isn't clear enough what the problem is, here is a picture I took of the mixer after it had been kneading the bread for a few minutes. The kneading process started in the middle of the island--and I had already rescued the mixer from almost falling off of the island once when I took this picture.


So here's my dilemma...do I make the regular sized batch of bread and just resign myself to having to clean out the shaft every time? Or do I make the smaller batch, hope that the dough stays where it belongs, but have to stay and babysit the mixer while it kneads because it's going to fall off the counter if I don't?!?

It's a good thing the actual making of the bread is so easy, because this part is driving me crazy!

Overheard in the Kitchen Tonight

Rachel: I just don't like tacos anymore. There's a lot of food I used to like that I don't like now. I used to like jelly toast, and now I think it's disgusting!

Me: Why? You're supposed to be learning to eat more kinds of food, not less!

Rachel: I don't know! I used to like tacos. But now my tastebugs think they're gross!


sigh...it's not like I can argue with the tastebugs...

Taking Gingerbread to New Heights

Cindy Lynn just sent me a couple of links to show how awesome our gingerbread houses aren't.

Here is the link to the gingerbread creation her sister in law made for her family gingerbread party (they even use real gingerbread!) and here is the link for her brother's project.

All I can say is, we have been put to shame. And that Russ said no matter how much we enjoy the gingerbread house making tradition, he is never going to spend more than one day doing it!

We've Got Your Cheese!

You know who you are.

If you ever want to see your cheese again, you must meet the following demands:

Come play games with us.
We're in withdrawal.
We miss you!

Thrice as Nice

For the first 3 1/2 years I did not handle having triplets very well. I was just so overwhelmed. I never had a minute of sadness as they passed through the different stages--all I could think was "Oh good, we survived that one." It was such a relief to me when things started getting a little easier and I felt like I could enjoy the experience.

Last year (7 years old) was triplet bliss. They were so sweet and played together so well most of the time. It was just a delight. This year has been a little harder. As they get older, Jared is less interested in doing what the girls are doing, and the girls are not as patient with each other as they have been in the past. Which makes the moments where they really get along even sweeter.




The weather was really nice last week and they played outside a lot because Russ was working in the yard. Aren't they cute?

I love to see them playing together like that--it makes me so happy. I probably need to take lots of pictures of these times to help me get through the teenage years. I'm already scared to think of having two 14 year old girls at the same time!!!
I often look at them and think how glad I am that all of my prayers aren't answered. Three babies at the same time is certainly not what I was praying for then, but I give thanks for them every day now...

New Year's Strategeries

New Year's resolutions seem to have less value when you realize that:

• you make the same ones every year
• you forget the same ones every year
• life goes on as before every year

And so this year I am not making New Year's resolutions. What I am trying to do is come up with some strategeries that I can place in my life that will actually make a difference in the way I live. Because I do want to remember to read my scriptures better, to spend more quality time with my husband and my kids, eat better, and to be ready to hike 3 miles in Hawaii in two months.

But this year I want to actually do these things, rather than just have thought about them.

I ♥ the Lord of the Rings

When I heard that the books of The Lord of the Rings were going to be made into movies I was dubious. Really--the books were huge, and the chosen director was relatively unknown. What chance did he have of translating Tolkein's epic vision into something that really worked on the big screen? I didn't even see the first movie, The Fellowship of the Ring, until it had been out for a couple of weeks.

Within just a few minutes I was a believer. Peter Jackson my new hero. And the black riders my new nightmare. The next year Cindy Lynn and I, along with two friends, were at the theater on opening night for The Two Towers, and the following year for The Return of the King. This year is the third or fourth year that we have had a LotR marathon over Christmas break. By the end of our marathon I am saturated in the story and moved to tears by the bittersweet beauty of it all.

Here are some of the things I love about The Lord of the Rings--in no particular order:

• Watching Legolas grab arrows and shoot--all one motion.
• Rivendale--must have been designed by Thomas Kinkade.
• Aragorn and Arwen and the "loveness of the love."
• Watching Frodo run in slo-mo for the Buckleberry Ferry.
• The mines of Moria--particularly the bridge at Kazhad-dum.
• The musical themes--The Shire, Moria, Rohan. Really incredible music!
• The cineamatography.
• Gandolf arriving to save the day at Helm's Deep.
• Gollum vs. Smeagol
• Aragorn, the reluctant hero, finally accepting his role as King.
• Legolas' stunts--jumping onto the horse, skiing on the shield, etc.
• Incredible attention to costume detail.
• Lighting the beacons of Gondor.
  
• Most heartbreaking scene juxtaposition ever--Pippin singing, Denethor eating, horses carrying soldiers to certain death.
• Samwise Gamgee, the true hero of the day.
• Tolkein's language.
  

I see in your eyes the same fear
that would take the heart of me.
A day may come when the courage of men fails,
when we forsake our friends and break all bonds of fellowship,
but it is not this day.
An hour of woes and shattered shields,
when the age of men comes crashing down!
But it is not this day!

• And lastly--a story in which every person can be a hero. In which each person's task is vital. And in which every person learns that they can do more than they thought they could. (Except for Legolas, who never had any doubts to begin with!)