**REVIEW** Hamilton Beach 2 Lb Digital Bread Maker

 As mentioned in a prior post, here is my review of the breadmaker that I got for Christmas.

The machine, the bread pan and
2 kneading paddles

You can see the controls beside the LED
and 12 usage options along the 
top left side

I chose this one after looking at a bunch of others because:

• The features, especially being programmable and being able to make a variety of items.
• The price was reasonable & I didn't want or need the fanciest, priciest machine from my family.
• Things mentioned in less-than-glowing reviews didn't really put me off.
• It looked easy to clean.

Now that I have the machine and have used it, I'm really pleased with my choice. I can add these to the positives:

• Incredibly easy to use. I was sweating and stressing but as soon as I started, it was a snap.
• Even though it's quite large and my kitchen is small, I have found a counter for leaving it out on and a space for storing it away. And, believe, me, my kitchen is almost too small to cuss a cat in.
• It's very quiet. I have one annoying and noisy neighbor who I always complain about. I didn't want a machine that made me look bad. I can use this thing at night and it wouldn't wake anyone in the apartment.

There are some things I wish were better, but they don't ruin my experience. These include:

• The LED display doesn't show where in the breadmaking cycle the machine is at. I have to pay attention to the alerting beeps if I want to add seeds/nuts or remove the prepared dough for baking in the oven. (I sometimes want a loaf made in the cast iron or fixed into a particular shape.) I also like to remove the bread after the last kneading so that I can remove the paddle. That way, I don't end up with that hold at the bottom of my finished bread.
• Since my recipes include a lot of seed/nuts and mixed flours, I do have to open the machine sometimes. I do this to see if I need to scrape down the ingredients. For my thinner doughs, I have not had to do this.
• Hamilton Beach does not have one of the silicone-scraper kneading paddles. As a matter or fact, there are no accessories for this machine as far as I know.

Not much to complain about there. Also, the beeping is fairly loud so I can listen for when to add things or remove the paddle.

As I said, this is a pretty quiet machine. Here is what it sounds like (and you can see that I am standing right above it filming):

Basically, I can run this machine in the kitchen and just barely hear it from the bedroom about 12 feet away with the door open. Tiny apartment living can be challenging so this is a Plus.

Here is one of my first loaves of bread because I ate the 2nd loaf without getting photos!

Whole wheat & white flour; turmeric, chia seeds, sunflower seeds, 
and flax (seed and ground).

My play on an Ezekiel Bread type of loaf. With a twist!

I got the basic recipe online. and added the turmeric.

 Now that I have gotten comfortable, I will be modifying all recipes with nuts, ancient grain flours, and as much healthy stuff as I can think of. I don't want to live by bread alone, but I want to enjoy every piece of bread I eat.

I have not even thought about how to use all of the functions yet but here are the choices:

Glad the option is there but I 
won't be using the gluten-free...

The Basic cycle is what I used to make my first loaves of bread. I plan to try doing a Brioche-style loaf soon though. But the thing I am most excited about is that Jam setting. 

I first thought that the Jam setting is the one I would never use (I mean, after the Gluten-free option), but I have watched videos showing how easy it is to make jam in these things. Of all the methods I watched, the easiest recipe was this one:

• Fruit (fresh or frozen but I am going to use unsweetened canned pineapple)
• Sugar (anywhere from 1 to 4 cups. Apparently, sugar thickens the outcome if you aren't using pectin)
• Lemon juice. 

I have seen some recipe videos where people acted pectin to thicken the jam. Since I plan to make very small batches, and I don't want a lot of sugar, I will use either no pectin or a sugar-free version. Also, I am cutting way back on sugar - which is why I'll use pectin at all. This lady here had the most no-nonsense recipe for beginners, in my opinion.

One of the best marmalades I ever had was one I found back home in Anchorage. It was a pineapple-orange marmalade that I've never found yet in Iowa stores. 

Oh, and this machine makes both jam and jelly...

Thanks to Spruce Eats, I understand the differences between jam, jelly, and marmalade:

The more you know...

So that's is all about this amazing bread machine.

The price has been swinging all over the place for the past year. I started looking at this one about 6 months ago when the price seemed to hover between 80 to 90 dollars. When I sent my family the link, the price was around 90 bucks.  I almost changed my mind and when I made the final decision, the price was down to 80 and some change. Not bad, right? Well, when I just now went over to grab the link for this post, the price was sitting at 70 dollars. Crazy.

Still, it is worth what it cost. If I was able to buy it for myself, I would not have been mad about paying $100. If you have priced Ezekiel Bread (or any other good quality bread) lately, you will see how fast the machine pays for itself. And with the jam? Shut UP!

Next time, I will be reviewing the Stand Mixer that was my second gift.

Peace

--Free

**Anytime Gift List** For People of the Kitchen

(This is one of my Non-Christmas or Anytime Gifts Lists. They are some random gift ideas to get someone just because.)

For those who like to bake, cook, blend, mix, etc, here we go.

chainmail scrubbers
as low as $10 and up to $30+

I got pics of some of the ideas and... I was too lazy to get pics for some!

• Tea towels are handy for everything. I have some that I use as a makeshift apron; padding the counter when I want to mute the blender; wiping spills; and grabbing hot handles. Just all-around useful. ($9 to $30, depending)
• A covered cake plate. Cake doesn't last long enough here, but my mother thought that every married couple should have a nice cake plate and cover for keeping and serving dessert.

• Oil dispenser bottles. My dispenser is one of my favorite kitchen items. I always fill it with olive oil and some cut up pieces of garlic to steep. I use it so fast that it never goes bad.
• Baking sheets, cake, and pie pans, and loaf dishes. I got one of my nieces some cake pans and she was SO happy that I almost cried. It's not something she will use every week so she probably would not have gotten around to buying any until they were needed. Now she is all set.



Same link as for cups
(can get separate from cups are part of set)



metal measuring cups & spoons
$10 to $20

• Digital kitchen scale. I use mine when counting calories and using a fitness app to keep track

.

• Magnetic hooks. I don't have any now but they look awesome for utilizing all that space on the front of the fridge. Look for some that have a strong hold. They can be used to hang towels and oven mitts. Or if you have other metal surfaces you can use them with.

food bag sealing machine
$35 up to $200 and beyond

• Oven thermometer (probe?). I keep planning to get myself one of these. I would probably only use it every now and then but my current thermometer cannot be used to check oven temps.



recipe binders
from $9 to $30
depending on size

• Silicone stretch lids/food covers. I am SO getting some of these as soon as I can. I am tired of using saran and foil to cover dishes to which I've lost the lids. Food storage lids are the socks of the kitchen...

• There are lots of inexpensive things you can gift someone. Just think of things that they don't have or (need a replacement for): a good peeler, a folding colander, spoon rest, apron. Someone got me a $10 knife at Walmart when and I have it to this day. Best dang knife ever.

stainless steel odor removing bars
as low as $10.00

You can go to the Dollar General and find things like really pretty decorative pillows, plaques, and baskets. When I moved into this apartment, I bought 3 pillows from Dollar General for under $25 and they are super cute on my tiny black futon couch.

handheld sealing gadget that looks like a flat iron!
around $8 to $10

The trick to gifting something nice is to go for higher usability instead of higher price. A kitchen person you know would probably love to have jar of that Bar Keepers Friend cleaner to try out. If someone got me a couple of rolls of sealing bags for my sealing machine, I would be thrilled with the gift.

The easiest way to please someone with a gift is to listen. If you listen to them, you will learn what kinds of things they would like to have. My best friend and I gift each other throughout the year. She loves tea and she has a mind like a sieve. I have gotten her things like some of that flowering tea and a password notebook. She has sent me a little money to buy vape accessories and she sends me Christian plaques to decorate my home with. She knows me because she listens to me. I know her because I listen. We love and care enough to pay attention to each other. Best friends for life, baby!

Peace
--Free

No music today but a fun video about a product I will be reviewing soon. The young woman in the video made me smile. I just wished we didn't live in a world where people have to work so hard to be personable.

**REVIEW** Jewelry by Passage 7

This review post will be a little different from my usual type. This time I am doing a review for a set of items from a brand.

Some months ago, I became acquainted with the Passage 7 brand. They carry various types of goods (as you can see from their Seller page on Amazon), but I was able to try several pieces of their jewelry.

 Nice, yes? I think so. I actually gave each of the items away as birthday and Christmas gifts recently. When I got the first item, I was intending to keep it for myself, but it was so nice that I thought it would make a really nice gift. The jewelry is so well-made and impressive-looking that I decided that I would give the other pieces away as Christmas gifts. I'd have kept cheaper-looking stuff for myself!

The reason I thought the items might not end up looking as nice as the product page photos was because of the prices. There are some places locally that sell plated jewelry for about the same price and... well, they are not so great. It's from the "get what you pay for" school of reasoning.

One of the other things I like about the pieces I have is that they feel like nice jewelry. What I mean is that they aren't flimsy. The thickest chain (that I gave to a nephew) was weighty and solid in my palm.


Another thing that gives adds to the appeal of gifting this jewelry are the pretty velveteen bags they come inside of. The gold lettering is nice, but on one of the bags I got, I could see the square outline of the whatever was used to make the impression. That was a minor thing and I was able to use a dry cloth to rub away the outline.


By the way, each piece comes in a thick and protective plastic sealed bag. The plastic bag is inside a pretty blue pouch. When I gifted the jewelry, I just put a name tag on the pouch string and hung the bag from a branch of the Christmas tree. (Tell me I'm not creative! LOL)

I'm over at the Seller page looking at some of the other items that are offered. Some of their leather goods are much pricier than the jewelry but they look amazing. When I mention that the leather goods are pricey, I don't mean that they are out of the normal range for good quality items. The attaches look really nice and I'm thinking they would make great gifts for the college grad or a spouse. There's a gorgeous expandable leather backpack. These are the kinds of things that you would gift a person with when they are more responsible or have accomplished something. Beautiful looking goods.

Now that I am being more savings-minded than ever, I'm glad I found a spot to pick up some nice and affordable gifts for special occasions throughout the year.

I will review other Passage 7 products as I purchase or receive them. For now, I can tell you that the jewelry pieces are great quality items as a really good value.

Peace
--Free

**REVIEW** Smithsonian Interactive Library

Here's what I am learning about my gift-buying talents: I pick wonderful gifts but I pair them to the wrong people...

This is something I picked up a few months back (for a great price) at Costco:

That's the Smithsonian Interactive Library.  There was no clear marking of suggested age levels when I bought it, but I checked out the Amazon product page and see that it's "perfect for children aged 6-10". What I want to know is who are these brilliant six-year-olds? Where are they? DJ is only 5, but I don't think that he will be ready to really get into this gift until he's about 7 or 8.

Let me back up and tell you more about this product. Here's what you get for the price ($40 at Costco and $100 on Amazon)

1. A really cool SD-X Reader pen to hear audio and interact with pages of the books.
2. 6 interactive books.

Yeah. Glad that I got the Costco price.

Actually, the set is worth the $100 if you have a more diligent (or precocious) kid. I think that DJ would love this is the voices of the narrators were a little more animated. When I heard the voices, I was reminded of those museum tours with the slightly bored guide who is thinking of changing careers. That's fine for an older person who really wants to dig into the information. For a child like DJ who can't sit still long enough to sing the preschool class song, it's a little big of a challenge. (We are working with the little mister on his attention span, by the way.)

The books are interesting - as is the interactive information provided. The pen is very cool and is the one thing that might hold DJ's attention. It's a tiny bit like the Livescribe smartpen I use for writing and recording. Except the SD-X is limited to interaction with the books. I found that adjusting the volume (with interactive book buttons) was tricky. Either the included batteries are weak or the volume doesn't go very high.

The included books in this set are:

• Natural History (DJ will love the dinosaurs)
• Great Americans
• American Experience 
• Animals
• Space
• Air

I was pleased to see the range of topics covered. In the American Experience volume, slavery, the Vietnam War and, oddly, "Disability in America" are included.

When I picked this up at Costco, I did see similar sets. On Amazon, I see that Brittanica has sets covering various areas and there are probably other sets at local bookstores. Shop around for the best price. Like I said, I scored by getting this one at Coscto.

Other choices from different Sellers

I'm not sorry that I got this, but I do wish I had looked around for something more currently age-appropriate for DJ. I will work with him to take an interest in this set, but it is going to be a little bit of work. This would have been the perfect gift for the 13-year old daughter of a friend. 

This year, I congratulated myself for shopping early and more frugally. Next year, I want to top myself by doing better at matching gifts to people.

Peace

--Free

Mother's Day (is for *real* women only!)

With Mother's Day coming up, I've been thinking about the gifts I used to give - and ones I've received. I am convinced that one of the most amazing things a mother does is keeping a straight face anytime she is presented with gifts from small children. And from grown-up husbands.

When I was a kid, I gave my mother those sweet little gifts that melted her heart. One time, I gave her some perfume that could have melted nose hairs. Usually, my gifts were things made at school and constructed of popsicle sticks and cotton balls or something. Mothers really do cherish those things, you know. I know because I received the same types of gifts from the nieces I helped raise.

One year, one of my nieces (who was about 8) got her mother a gigantic bottle of perfumed bubble bath from the Dollar Store. Vanna was so pleased with her purchase that she couldn't wait to give it to  her mama. The rest of us couldn't wait to see the look on her mama's face. Like I said, mothers are amazing in their love for their kids. My sister-in-law actually used that bubble bath.

My two nieces have given me gifts that gave me rashes ("perfumes" and makeup), damaged my clothing (a gigantic ceramic brooch), and made me the object of giggles and envy (when I proudly wore that big old brooch to work). My sister got a tray of eye-shadows once that came in colors so hideous I'm not sure how to describe them. She wore them just as proudly as I wore my brooch. She got a rash on her eyelids that took days to go away.

Those gifts that come straight from the heart of a child are perfect - until that child is old enough to carry around a cellphone or ask for curfew extensions. Then it's time to get real.

I'm no gift expert, but I'd really like to throw out to the kids and dads some alternatives ("Better") to "The Usual" gift ideas:

The Usual: that random perfume you picked up without knowing if Mom will like it.

• Better (for hubby): how about getting her a fragrance she's mentioned only a couple thousand times? 
• Better (kids): Help dad pick out that perfume that Mom has been talking about when he wasn't really listening all the times she mentioned it.

The Usual: those little handmade "coupon" books you threw together at the last minute because you, well, waited until the last minute.

• Better (hubby): coupons for things Mom will really appreciate - like helping with dinner, putting down the toilet seat, doing the grocery-shopping -  or whatever it is you know she likes but you haven't been doing. 
• Better: (kids): coupons for her not to have to tell you to clean your room or help with the other housework. You could even make a coupon book for yourself with reminders to tell your mom you love her, to give her a big hug sometimes, or to just not always be such a smart aleck when she's trying to give you advice. You could even add a reminder to let her know that not everyone is lucky enough to have a mother like her.

I won't go on and on (like I usually do), but you get the idea. Basically, I think most moms would appreciate the gift of a really good  pillow. Or maybe that's just me!

Happy Mother's Day to all the women out there. Not all of you have kids of your own. Sometimes, people don't even recognize you with a special day or title, even though you were a big part of the village that helped raise a child. Some of you are auntie-moms, sister-moms, neighbor-moms, helped-out-moms, or step-in-moms. Whoever you are, if you have ever loved a child with your time, advice, prayers and encouragement, I'm glad you were there.

Peace

--Free