Remember those great green beans with bacon and onions I made for the RV Rally? While cruising the grocery aisle, I spotted some yummy green beans. I'll take TWO.
Luckily I brought a steamer to use, not that it helped. To make a long story short, I didn't hear the BEEP of doneness and they sat in the pressurized pot for 17 minutes. Can you say baby food?? I tried to eat them, honestly I did. I thought about making a donation to the local rabbit population, but I've been told not to feed the animals.
I buried them with a silent prayer that I not let that happen again. Instead, I drove off to the nether regions of Tucson (about 40 minutes North) to the Williams Sonoma store. I have a Christmas gift card to use up.
That store is not for the faint hearted or the light-walleted. It's expensive with a capital E. After wandering around for forty five minutes, I couldn't find anything I would pay that much for. That is until I spotted this Cuisinart Bread Machine on the bottom shelf for $99. It was even on SALE!
Sale + coupon + gift card = FREE!! I rushed to a store on the way home for yeast and was soon in the bread making business. Surely I can't screw THIS up ... you just dump everything in and push the button. There can't be any operator error!
After maybe an hour, it started beeping. Uh oh ... what did I do? "Add In" was displayed on the front. I guess if you want to add in nuts or something. Pretty soon that disappeared and PADDLE was displayed while it beeped away.
OH NO again!! Is something wrong? I had one of these many moons ago and I never had all this beeping. Turns out, you can retrieve the paddle from the bottom of the bread so it doesn't get baked inside the loaf. Or so I found out after reading the entire instruction manual.
When it finally beeped for the last time, I was sure it would not be easy to remove the loaf from the container. When I tipped it over, it slipped right out and almost fell on the floor. Let it cool it said ... which I did for all of five minutes before slicing it with a steak knife. I've since put a bread knife on my list.
This is actually pumperknickel bread ... and YUMMY!! Probably not as good as Grandma made, but it sure made GREAT toast and a tasty sandwich. SCORE ONE FOR NANCY!!
Since you can never get out of Sonoma Williams without tasting whatever wonderful smelling concoction they have cooking in a crock pot the size of Texas, I picked up the latest sensation. French Simmer Sauce. Cut up a little chicken (I used leftovers), pour in the sauce along with a bunch of sliced mushrooms and there's dinner. I added rice.
Turns out I probably wouldn't serve it to guests, but it was edible. I'm eating every single teaspoon because the sauce cost $10!! I swear, never again!!
Much as I'd love to make another loaf of bread, I have enough for 30 days at least. Instead, as the weather during the day has warmed and Gale (Patty's pet name for the wind) has slowed down, I'll be cleaning up the back yard while waiting for the pest control guy. Seems I've lost a bait trap or two. But first, I'm going to Walgreens for bandaids because I KNOW I'm going to need them!!
You do have some interesting cooking experiences, But then you are having fun right? We had a Bread machine for years and made amazing homemade bread. Gone away now since we full-time.
ReplyDeleteThe machines have become rather small in recent years compared to what I used to have. Maybe it would fit in your rig?
DeleteHa ha, thank you for the chuckle. We had a bread machine when we owned our sticks and bricks home but sold it as we sold everything else was sold. I wondered if I'd miss it but didn't use it more than a very few times a year. I never knew you could remove the paddle thing, duh so mine baked in it every time! I loved how simple it was and always flopped out of the pan, paddle included. :)
ReplyDeleteI seem to have lots of food failures. My cemetery at home is HUGE!!! It doesn't deter me though ... I keep trying!!
DeleteSlice the bread and freeze the slices in zip-top freezer bags. They can go directly from the freezer to the toaster. Then you don't have to wait to make another flavor of bread.
ReplyDeleteGreat minds think alike Linda. That's exactly what I did. It's not too pretty (sliced with a steak knife) so maybe I should get a slicing guide too.
DeleteI forgot to say we had a slicer guide that kept me from making my famous uneven slices.
ReplyDeleteSafeway sells i'll kinds of bread 1, 89 a loaf
ReplyDeleteAnd Johnson and Johnson Will thank you
Yes they do Ed, but what's the fun in THAT? Plus their's has all kinds of things in it I can't pronounce. AND I get to bake almost error free! It's a win-win!
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