Bread Machine?

[Alan R McDaniel Jr]

I think I'm going to get one of these for #1 wife for Mom's day. We had a Hitachi several years ago and it was pretty good. When I cratered we got another one that never made a decent loaf of bread(can't remember what the brand on that one was).

Do any of you use them and if so what kind do you have and how well does it work.

Alan

[Twanger]

I have one and like it. It makes good bread.

About half the time I'll let it do the hard work - mixing and kneading, and then I'll bake it in the oven.

I particularly like making raisin bread... just make sure you put the raisins in about mid-cycle. If you put them in at the beginning of the cycle you get raisin colored bread. Where'd they go? :confused:

The key think is making sure you have fresh dry yeast. I keep mine in the fridge even though they say you don't need to (some brands). You don't know how long the yeast has been on the shelf, so you gotta buy yeast from a store that you trust or has a lot of turnover.

[Alan R McDaniel Jr]

What kind do you have Twanger?

Alan

[Herne]

Alan, my wife has a Panasonic 252. Its pretty good, though I imagine there will be a newer model out by now.

It comes with a book of different bread recipes, including pizza, buns, spiced, Italian etc etc. You put the ingredients in, the whole shebang, it goes through its cycle and 4 hours later for bread you tip the loaf out of the bucket. Sort of fire and forget - my kind of cooking, or would be if I used it.

Bread is good - really good, but whether better than any of the other breadmakers, I cannot say.

[Alan R McDaniel Jr]

Herne, I got her an Oster. Don't know the model # and it doesn't really matter. It was the only Bread Machine in a town of 100,000 people so I got it. I hope she likes it. the one we had years ago worked great and made good bread. The second one never did work. Third try, well it won't be the first time one of my gifts bombed. You should have seen the Vacuum Cleaner Birthday Present!

Alan

[Herne]

Vacuum cleaner. Yes she probably rumbled the slight self interest in that one. That could have generated a bit of a frost.

Why didn't you give here the money so she could hire a cleaning lady? Lots of credit points missed there I fear. Strategically not good.

[Dennis Keith]

Well, My F-I-L had a sign in his basement that covered that one, it said "We Get Too Soon OLD and Too Late SMART!":D

[Alan R McDaniel Jr]

Well the bread machine went over like a lead balloon. If I live to be 100 I'll never figure that woman out. She said it would just be more work for her, take up counter space and make her fat. If I've learned anything in nigh on 33 years it's when to keep my mouth shut and put on my best poker face. I told her to take it back and get something she wanted. She got some dishes. Eight place settings of some kind of Mexico pattern dishes and a couple of bowls. Let's see you've to wash and dry dishes (work) have a place to put them (takes up space) and if you use the damn things right it's going to make you fat! Go figure! But happiness cannot be measured in logic like this. Happiness can only be measured in the moments, of relative short duration, when Mama is not chewing someone's butt. Anyone who has ever lived with a menopausal woman isn't even pondering this right now. It's like living with a crazy person, no wait, it IS living with a crazy person. Maybe I'll get it right someday. She's happy for the moment.

Alan

[Alan R McDaniel Jr]

Why didn't you give here the money so she could hire a cleaning lady? Lots of credit points missed there I fear. Strategically not good.

The vacuum cleaner episode.

I'm pondering the eternal question of a gift for the little lady and I hear about this vacuum cleaner, actually from another woman. Not THE other woman (I should be so unlucky as to pull a boneheaded stunt like that. One damn thing I don't need is Another Woman). Anyway, she's talking about this robot vacuum cleaner that vacuums every day and puts itself up and the whole 9 yards. She says, "She'll Love you for it!" My listening skills have ramped up significantly at this point. I thank the lady for her advice and get on the horn and track down an "iRobot Roomba". $450 later (for the machine and a 2 year free replacement warranty) and I am getting in the mood for love.

Birthday rolls around and all the boys gifts are fashionably arranged on the coffee table and we are ready for the grand finale'. When the wrapping paper came off it may as well have been an illustrated instruction manual on how to kill your husband in the most excruciating manner. Despite my best sales pitch on the merits of "Roomba" and completely abandoning any hope of the "She'll love me for it" part, I will suffice to say that by the end of the evening (which was longer than most) and a short demo run, I had "Roomba" boxed up and ready for the return trip to the store. Part of the problem may have stemmed from a misunderstanding when she allowed as to how it probably wouldn't work very good and I said, "well, even if it only works half as good as.............". The wheels kinda came off after that.


The next morning, things had relaxed somewhat and she said "Roomba" could stay but that I was going to have to empty his little dust bin. Fair enough. Small price to pay for wedded bliss. I showed her the results of the first days take and while trying to feign disdain, I could tell she was impressed with the little fella. Time passed and "Roomba" worked his little brushes off day after day until the day came when I knew he was here to stay. I came in from working in the yard to go to the bathroom. I do this for her sake because she disapproves of me taking care of this chore out in the yard. She came, fists clenched and embedded firmly on her hips and says, "Roomba just finished vacuuming, don't come tracking in the house!!" So now she's taking up for "poor Roomba" as another excuse to bust my chops. I couldn't help but smile!.

Now, "Roomba II" (I used the 2 year free replacement warranty at 20 months when "Roomba I" stopped sucking very well) {Don't even think about it, there is no such warranty, well there is but it is very cost prohibitive}, comes on every day at 1:00 PM and runs around the house for an hour picking up dirt and cat hair. He's part of the family now and it only takes a day or so of him not doing his thing for the place to start getting gritty. In fact when "Roomba I" went down for the count, she even sorta complained that I should hurry up and get another one.

It's so good to feel wanted and loved periodically.

Alan

[Twanger]

Anyone who has ever lived with a menopausal woman isn't even pondering this right now. It's like living with a crazy person, no wait, it IS living with a crazy person.
Alan

You said a mouthful there. :eek: I've been living with it for a while.

[Bill Gunn]

Alan,
I'll bet there's a million stories like yours from the guys on this board alone!
About 40 years ago I bought her a clock. About 10 years after that, when I was taking the clock down for a move we were making, she forgot it was a present (That's a "Maybe" on my part) from me and said "You can throw that out, I always hated that clock".
I acted like I was pulling a knife out of my back, and passing it to her I said, "Here, you might need this again later" :( .

But.... Now I have learned my lesson. I just got her a Garmin automotive GPS unit from Cabela's. When I ordered it the woman asked if it was a gift.
I said "Yes, but don't do anything special." She then said "She knows what she's getting?"
I said "After 42 years, I'M NOT ALLOWED TO GET ANYTHING SHE DOESN'T LIKE."
She laughed, and said "That's exactly how I run our house !!"

"Damned if you do, damned if you don't"

[Bushman]

The weed wacker for Mother's Day wasn't such a big hit either. Alan, now I know where Robot Roomba 1 came from. It ended up here in WI. for $3.00 at a garage sale that Sweetness went to. At least the price was right for something that sucked that badly. It only convinced Sweetness that I should go out and drop $800. for a new Electrolux. For the $797. difference, I could have tolerated a little extra cat hair around the place, but if I had any aspirations of a conjugal visit after that, I thought that I'd better get the new vacuum.

[Alan R McDaniel Jr]

Well, as soon as the little guy learns the house he does alright. He picks up a good handful of junk a day. I just keep him clean and he keeps the house clean. The warranty on that one has already paid for itself and it's a lot cheaper than a maid.

Alan

[Bushman]

There are vacuums and then there are VACUUMS. I've got an old Hoover up at the cabin that does little more than make vacuuming noises. I've been removing stuff out of mom's house in preparation for renting it and she has a new Heppa filtered bag less 12 Amp Hoover upright. That thing will do a better job then any vacuum that I've ever seen. I like not having a bag to change and it is pretty amazing what is deep into a carpet even when you think that it is clean. I'm going to give my Electrolux to my father-in-law for their place and keep the Hoover.