labor-saving devices

[cellio]

My parents have a bread machine, which at the time they really wanted -- they eat a lot of bread, and they like having it fresh. But, in talking with my mother a couple nights ago about what food we should bring when we go do the Christmas thing on Sunday, I learned that they don't use it much. My mom said she's gotten in the habit of being lazy, and she has to remember to buy bread-machine mixes when she goes shopping, and she's been forgetting. It's not as if she doesn't have recipes, she said; it's just habit.

I don't know whether to buy them a huge pile of mixes, or give them a box of assorted pre-measured ingredients (3 cups of flour in a ziploc, half a cup of sugar, a pile of yeast packets, etc) and some really, really simple recipes. :-)

Comments

[ralphmelton.livejournal.com]

Sadly, we've hardly used our bread machine in the last few years. I feel kind of bad that we don't use it more.

[cellio]

Same here, though, oddly, when I do use it, it's almost always "from scratch". I don't use mixes, for whatever reason. Probably just because I always have flour, sugar, eggs, etc etc, but I rarely think about mixes.

King Arthur Flour

[browngirl.livejournal.com]

King Arthur Flour sells great bread machine mixes and will deliver them to your parents for you :)

Re: King Arthur Flour

[cellio]

Wow, thanks! They have a lot of interesting ones -- sure beats the standard few that show up in grocery stores (white, wheat, french, maybe rye).

[chite.livejournal.com]

I think it's a cute idea! You could either do a pre-done mix or make your own :D

bread mixes

[estherchaya.livejournal.com]

While I think making your personalized mixes is a way cooler idea... your mother would probably prefer the simplicity of having the ready-to-go mix with no thinking involved. This is all said without knowing a darned thing about your mother.

Personally, I'm not crazy about bread-machine bread, so what do I know?

Re: bread mixes

[cellio]

I took her some store-bought mixes yesterday, but in order to get the more interesting breads I'll have to roll my own. So maybe I'll do that later. It could be fun!