Dough!

It may come as a shock that I am not a hand bread kneader. I rely on my 10 year old stand mixer, which also drives my grain grinder and flaker. A month ago, the mixer started making crunchy noises and shortly after quit altogether. I brought it to the appliance repair shop where it was diagnosed with bad gears. I happily had the repair done given the alternative of chucking it in the garbage. Yesterday was the big day when I somewhat less happily paid the hundred and fifty bucks to retrieve the mixer. Last night I cracked some oats for porridge and I was thrilled to have the mixer back. This morning, while trying to grind some wheat for bread, I got 10 seconds of joy until the mixer made a horrible noise and stopped grinding....gears obviously gone bad.

Sigh. The good news is that there's a 90 day parts and labour warranty on the repair. And hand kneading isn't so bad.

Sprout garden

I have two of these little sprouting gadgets. I gave them to myself for Christmas. So far, they work as advertised and they are easier to manage than the upside down jar on the counter arrangement. I started a brassica seed mix yesterday and have some sprouted beans in the fridge. I have to learn to incorporate them into our meals a little better as we are new to sprouts and don't always think of using them. But, what a great way to get some fresh, local (the 1 metre diet?) food in the depths of winter.