Parent-Kid Date: Prince Stoic

In November, when we took Princess Sassy and Prince Steadfast along for a couples' weekend, and in December, when we took Princess Bossy and Prince Helium to Portland's Powell's City of Books and Flying Pie Pizzeria, we were reminded of the summer we did individual outings with our kids.  We took each to somewhere or something special, as they requested and we could afford.  These dates were so enjoyed by all of us, that we vowed to continue them as a yearly thing.  That was the summer I found out I was pregnant with Prince CuddleBunny...so 9 years ago!  Being obviously quite overdue, we prompted the kids to think of date destinations.

http://www.the1moto.com

I thought maybe we'd have to prod Prince Stoic a little extra to come up with a suggestion, but he had one right away.  He wanted to go to Portland, too, but instead of Powell's, which he also loves, he chose The One Motorcycle Show.  

There he could combine his interests in motorcycles and photography.

This event had all sorts of special motorcycles, many vintage or antique. --All beloved, and many of them jazzed up in one way or another.  














This one had a lot of work and detail put into it, to be sure

...And this one had high-tech additions to stay connected while on the road.





































But this one is much more my style... Jazzy, a little bling, but still sleek and sophisticated... 

Classy.

Hubby, having ridden motorcycles when younger, and the prince could talk clutches, starters, CCs, and "monoshocks."  I could say things like, "This one looks cool."

This was a German model from the mid 1930s.  Hard to
imagine it existed years before the one Steve McQueen
zipped around on to evade the Germans in one
of our family's favorites, The Great Escape.
I have always thought that's who most guys
on bikes want to be... If not, maybe they should.  ;-)

All 3 of us had fun, looking at the bikes, and spending the day together.  
































A lot of the attendees arrived by motorcycle.  I thought Prince Stoic probably wished he brought his own Honda cafe racer to park amongst the rest, instead of arriving in his mother's 4-wheeled Honda vehicle instead.

But we would've had to come in something like this, I guess.  And I think
that might've been a little cold and shaky on the freeway! 

We finished our Portland visit at the Flying Pie, where Prince Stoic chose the exact same pizza types we'd shared with his sister and brother-in-law, and we sat at the same table!  Seems like the definite makings of a tradition.

A Beastly Invasion

Apparently, when one Beast is welcomed into the house,  others follow...

... If you order and pay for them.  ;-)  This most recent arrival one is presently looming over the aisle that runs from our back door, past our sewing room.

This is actually not as full as it can get.  This is
after a week or so of use so that things don't
fall on your toes when it opens

For quite awhile, we've had issues with our freezer.  --Not any issues that are its fault.  It's just that with 9 people in the house, including a young couple who keeps their own supply of foods, many of them frozen, the freezer gets FULL.  

I would like to keep additional supplies of things we go through quickly, like chicken breasts and berries.  I would've loved to harvest or buy produce in the summer and freeze it for winter use.  I have also long wanted to do some 'mega cooking,' in order to freeze pre-prepared dishes that would be quick and easy to heat up on busy days.  But there hasn't been room for any of that.

Our new addition should make all of it possible!  We considered a freezer available at our local Costco, but it was smallish and bare-bones, with very little organizational help inside.  











This one, which, like the oven, came via Albert Lee Appliance, has nice shelves, pull-out baskets, and adjustable door storage.  

This was just after it was plugged in, so just starting to cool.

It's also a little high-tech, with electronic controls and read-out on the front, plus door-ajar, and high heat alarms.  Since a certain prince, who tends to "Go-for" things and then move on a little too quickly, often leaves the freezer door just short of sealing closed, the latter could be a big help.

It is not sitting in its permanent position.  We're relocating the main floor laundry center out into the breezeway, the connecting area between the existing house and new garage.  The plumbing has been moved, so the washer is already out there. Since the dryer venting remains for the moment, so does the dryer.  

But soon we'll have this little alcove to use.  I'm thinking it will be just right for the freezer, and a cabinet that will conceal the cat box and provide additional pantry or sewing storage (completely separated from the litter box, of course.)  So, this alcove has a makeover in its future!

(Almost) Wordless Wednesday

18 1/2 weeks and Baby is kicking!

It is awesome and special to see a mama's face light up as she feels those first obvious bumps and kicks, knowing someone is really there, and wants to share the moment with Daddy.  I missed the shot of them both smiling...His more from watching her face and sharing the joy that way than being able to feel what she could.

I Have All my Parts!

--For my new oven, of course.  I thought it warranted a special edition, 2nd-post-of-the-day to let you all know.

I received one, lonely box yesterday, marked "#2 of 3."  It held one wire rack.  Today it was employed when I remembered to use the Dough Proofing mode when trying a KAF recipe for Oatmeal Toasting & Sandwich Bread.

This is what the display shows during Dough Proofing mode.
Prince CuddleBunny walked by and asked,
"Why does the oven think its baking a pie?"  ;-D

Today #1 and #3 arrived, carrying the 2nd rack and my "Core Temperature Sensor," which, in American-oven terms, means 'probe.'  Thanks, BSH/Gaggenau and Albert Lee for coming through for me so nicely!

The Beauty is a Beast

No doubt about it, the Gaggenau oven is a striking piece of equipment.  Several people have commented, though, about it not fitting my original vision for the kitchen.  I actually hadn't really thought of that and wondered why it hadn't bothered me.  

If I think about it, I am a little disappointed at the loss of the homey, retro look I got with my first Fisher & Paykel oven, but that was gone long ago.  I've had more contemporary ovens since; some worse than others, in my opinion, for how they suited my kitchen.  

Glass, reflective face...With fingerprints

This one, with its massive presence, and with its glass-over-stainless front (uh-oh... fingerprints!), is probably the farthest from my vision of any I've had.  But there is something less objectionable about it to me. I think, that though it's large, it doesn't demand a lot of attention.  


Its overall impression of monochromatic silverness means no 'black holes,' like some oven windows and control panels appear, and no flashing red or green lights.  I think I didn't object to it as an oven, because it looks almost more like another fridge!  So I'm missing a little piece of my 'home and hearth' vision, but really, I can like it far better than most modern ovens.



This oven's beastliness is not only in size, but in engineering and build.  The doors have 4 layers of glass to help with heat regulation and visibility.  The glass is clear and the window area is so large!  
Hardly any part of the oven is out of sight.  The large halogen light on the side, and also one from the top help in seeing an accurate view of baking progress and browning level.



These ovens have an additional element surrounding the door area so that during self clean the front edge of the oven and the door get more heat.  I shouldn't end up with the residual black junk I had in other ovens near the front edge of the oven and on the door, nor the brown glaze on the glass.  Not that this is a huge deal, but it's nice, especially for long-term maintenance (which I've yet to experience), and shows some wonderful planning.

The woman in the distributor's showroom described the Gaggenau oven as being designed and built by German engineers to the specifications of French chefs.  She said other ovens are meant for the home cook, and these are meant for the home chef.  --I think I'm under-qualified for my own oven! 

The oven has 17! cooking modes, graphically represented on the control screen (and, thankfully, more in the manual and a cookbook she gave me) as to what elements and fans are used in each.  

This means I can pick and choose the heating directions, and, to some extent, the amount of heat from each, in order to get exactly the result I want.  I happened upon a chart that showed me which heating elements and fans were used at what percentage for each mode in the Wolf oven, and I found it very helpful in choosing which method I wanted for each item I was cooking or baking. So, this oven offering that kind of information to me on its face is impressive and wonderful. 

This has gotten long enough, so I will continue with the challenges I'm facing with this oven in another post.  Also, I think another with further explanation of the cooking modes, as symbolized on the screen shots above, is necessary.  Of course, I'll be sharing experiments and projects I attempt as I get to know my new friend.

In case you missed why I am on Oven #7, all within 5 years, you might be interested in previous Oven Saga posts.

Presenting Oven #7

I know you've been awaiting oven photos, and I'm so slow!

Hubby was able to gently, but firmly, with the use of 2 boards along each side, and a clamp spanning underneath, to bring the bowed out, left, bottom section into line, so the new oven would fit into the cabinet.  (In case you missed it and are confused, I showed the damage around the bottom of the oven when it arrived in this post.) 

Before and after Hubby worked his magic

Thankfully, the oven was a bit smaller than the specs indicated, so we had a little more wiggle room than we'd thought, so perfection in getting those bent areas flat wasn't necessary.

Our plan to have the oven delivered onto milk crates, so that it was about a foot off the floor, worked like a charm when it came to sliding it into place.  (Here would be a good place for a photo of that process, if I were a more conscientious blogger!  But I was busy watching and holding my breath.)

Anyway, in it went, and very important, 










on it went.








And then the bread went in...

and came out beautifully.  So, on its first test of baking performance, it gets an A.  --The behated Monogram oven passed its first test of bread, too, so this is far from a conclusive result, but so far, so good.

This is my 3rd display oven, and the first of which has missing parts.  It was supposed to come with 

• 2 baking trays, that double as racks as well as pans...  Check.
• 2 broiler pan/rack combos, one outfitted with the rotisserie unit.  These also slide right into the rack brackets... Check.
• 2 regular-oven-like wire racks.... Uh... No check.  :-(
• 1 temperature probe... Shoot.  No check again.  :-(    :-(   

I'm doubly sad about that last one, because I've become so spoiled and dependent on a probe.  And wouldn't you know, I've cooked 3 roasts, 1 turkey breast, besides the bread, for which you may  remember I learned to use a probe (post about that here), in the last 4 or 5 days?  Without it means much more hassle and uncertainty!

I am told... now... that missing pieces are part of the risk of buying a floor model oven.  Since it's never happened before, I didn't realize this would be a possibility.  Even though it's part of the "as-is" condition, the salesman and distributor are working on finding me the parts.  :-)  

Albert Lee Appliance, Seattle store

This reminds me... I should have mentioned by now that if you're anywhere near Seattle and in the market for a major appliance, I can heartily recommend Michael Hoag of Albert Lee Appliance, who has been exceedingly patient through my hundreds of emails, and so helpful in this journey.  He's checked and double checked information with the Gaggenau distributor as to my pizza baking and concerns regarding oven quality and customer support.  He made sure we're well covered with warranty, at no extra expense to us, because of the ridiculous oven history we've had.  His management team has supported him in this, so I continue to be impressed with the business, as a whole.

You need to know more about this new oven, information with which I will come back with later.  
I promise.

(Almost) Wordless Wednesday

I have neglected to show you the project Princess Sassy (with Prince CuddleBunny's help) did the day after having a positive pregnancy test...when things are SO exciting, but it's SO LOOOOONG to wait.  You may have noticed the extra decoration across the room in previous posts of Christmas, etc...

The paper-chain countdown to Baby:

 

And speaking of the princess and, lately and often, of ovens, the bun in her oven is growing!  :-D

I told her she might want a nicer background next time!

You can see by the date on the photo (Jan 26), that she's nearing 17 weeks.  That means the 20-week ultrasound is 3 weeks away... And Princess Sassy and Prince Steadfast are almost counting the minutes until she can see who's in there and what gender he or she is!  Then naming and sewing can begin in earnest.  :-)