At any rate, I spent the past week spending time with family. There were no surprises, which is a good thing. There is comfort in knowing that the part of the trip that includes my mother-in-law will always be nice and that the part of the trip that includes my mother might not be. She didn't disappoint.
Going home means that there is a lot of time in the car. While I drove to and from the Hoosier State, I spent a lot of time reflecting on 2008. It also gave me time to think about how 2009 is going to be different. I am turning 40 on April 1st. Look out. I have plans for this year--big plans. These plans, or resolutions if you will, are going to improve my life and the lives of my family. They will make us happy. They will make us healthy. There is a good chance that these plans might make me annoying. The important thing is that I am going to follow these plans through, no matter how cranky I get. Over the coming weeks, I will share my resolutions.
Resolution #1--No More Stupid Purchases
A couple of years ago, Corey and I decided to try to implement as much organic food into our home as possible. While it takes a little while for the pocketbook to get used to it, we don't even think about the cost now. Our tradeoff is that we don't eat out much. What is more challenging is purchasing non-organic foods that do not have high fructose corn syrup. It is in EVERYTHING--particularly breads. Our grocery store does not have a very good selection of breads that do not have HFCS and Whole Foods is not exactly around the corner.
A few months ago, Corey suggested that we start baking our own bread. I thought it might be fun, but I didn't want to buy a bread maker, so I asked his mother if we could use hers and see if we like it. She brought it to us in October and I put it on our kitchen counter. I went out and bought all kinds of flours, yeast, molasses, etc... Then, Corey said, "We should (notice the "we" part again) look into finding recipes to make our own hotdog and hamburger buns." Again, a fine idea. I went online and saw a really cool pan on the King Arthur Flour website for making hot dog buns but it was out of stock--and about $50. So then I went onto Ebay, where it seemed to be a GOLDMINE of bun pans. Who knew? We found a used one for $15. How cool was that? Then, after I "won" it, I was surprised to see that the shipping on it was $15, but whatever.
This is what we got:
The pan is quite sturdy and weighs about 10 lbs. It is perfect for baking hot dog buns if, say, your oven is as large as one that is found in a RESTAURANT. When we went back to the Ebay posting, it had the dimensions of the pan as clear as day. When I emailed the seller and asked her if she had smaller pans, I could feel the laughter in her tone of the email, confirming that she did NOT have anything smaller, and reminded me that there were no refunds.
I wish I could say this was out first and only stupid purchase, but it is not. In our excitement, we miss the details, and then we pay the price--literally.
As for the breadmaking, I am sure it will come as no surprise that I haven't actually used the breadmaker yet. I moved it to the spare bedroom when we had company and I needed the counter space and haven't brought it back out.
Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some items to put up on Ebay.
6 comments:
I lived in an old house with a VERY small kitchen at one point and ended up keeping the bread machine in the dining room - it may not have looked the best, but we still used it often. I need to get back to using my breadmaker more again too.
I am telling you again....Wall Art. You will be the only person in the neighborhood with one. I love the bun pan, but better in person.
Lori
maybe you could pour candle wax or something in that and make candles? i dunno. the whole concept of making your own buns has totally got me baffled. like....i've heard about people who do that, just they're like amish and shit. and you are so not amish. LOL. but i am impressed. awe really. i have a bread maker. it's been sitting in the box for 2 no wait..3 years..4 years now. i should break that sucker out...
That's a really nice oven, even if that bun pan doesn't fit in it.
Oh man, if I had a dollah for every bad ebay purchase I've made.....that's all I'm sayin'. ;) I love your bun pan, though. For reals. :)
Have you thought about cutting the pan down? It looks like it is metal, or some kind of material that could be cut on a band saw. Even if you have to pay a neighborhood kid who is taking shop class $10 to do it, you can then use the pan.
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