Maxwell 46: Relegating the Kids' Table to the Vestibule

[Bajovane]

Ok, that mixer?  Magic Mill?  That's an EXCELLENT but EXPENSIVE mixer!  Over $2000!!  

I should clarify,  the mixer shown in the most recent chocolate chip recipe that is ~so~ original. 

Edited February 17 by Bajovane
Clarity

[HoneyBunny]

Milles borne and waterworks used to be two of our very favorites. We moved 33 years ago and I haven’t seen them since. I don’t even remember how milles borne was played. 

[AuntCloud]

On 2/15/2021 at 1:39 PM, allyisyourpally5 said:

Do you guys have Cards Against Humanity?

I have a brand new box. I can’t have friends over for game night, thanks COVID, and the Cloudlets refuse to play with me because “no offence but this isn’t really a game you want to play with your mom”. 

[PennySycamore]

We played Pigmania  (or Pass the Pigs) with our pastor and his family years ago.  We need to get our own game and Water Works, too.  My husband's family had that one and both games are lots of fun.  There is also this game that my now son-in-law had where you built train lines and that was great too. His son is or at least was train crazy and that would be a good one when they are here.  Or anytime. 

ETA:  That game where you make train lines is Ticket to Ride.

Edited February 17 by PennySycamore

[Eclipse]

7 hours ago, WhatWouldJohnCrichtonDo? said:

My husband received a set of Exploding Kittens cards from his (socially distanced) work Secret Santa. We haven't tried playing it yet, but it looks like it could be fun. Has anyone played it? I need to teach my kids more card games, like Mille Bornes, Flinch, Tripoley, and maybe Ono 99. 

I love exploding kittens! It is a fun game. I have played with adults and kids and everyone likes it.

[ophelia]

8 hours ago, Lady Grass Lake said:

Not a card game, but it somes in a small box, and is a riot.  Pigmania, you have these two little rubber pigs, and you put them in a cup and thrown them, and you get points for how they land.  If they are tipped on their noses, it's "snouter", on their back, it's a "razor back."  There is one where one lands with the other pig on top of it, called "Makin Bacon" that might be unacceptable to some, but not if you don't make a big deal of it.     

 

Water Works is a game where you build water systems and cards contain faucets, joints, wrenches, hoses, and other plumbing parts.  One we like but if you don't live in an area where car deer accidents are common, it doesn't make a lot of sense, it's called "Deer in the Headlights."

What about Dice?  These two games require a game board, but Sequence  is a fun game, the game board has card faces for a full deck of cards, and the goal is to get your colored chip on 5 or more cards in a sequence.  Sequence Dice is a dice driven version of the same game.       Cootie, putting bugs together, Yatzee too.  

I LOVE THIS GAME!!! My former roommate and I just to played it a lot in our living room! If we had still lived together through the pandemic, I'm pretty sure that we would have played this all day long!

[IsmeWeatherwax]

@Lady Grass Lake my husband and I played Pass the pigs (UK) during my labour with our first 😀

[smittykins]

19 hours ago, Caroline said:

 

I've heard the March 4th thing too. But why is that the date Trump will be re-installed as dictator?

I think because March 4 was Inauguration Day until 1933.

https://www.loc.gov/item/today-in-history/march-04/

Edited February 17 by Coconut Flan
I don’t know why it posted so many times!

[FiveAcres]

20 hours ago, WhatWouldJohnCrichtonDo? said:

I also say thank you, @anachronistic.  My squick factor can vary widely depending on the company, so I'm glad to be forewarned.

My husband received a set of Exploding Kittens cards from his (socially distanced) work Secret Santa. We haven't tried playing it yet, but it looks like it could be fun. Has anyone played it? I need to teach my kids more card games, like Mille Bornes, Flinch, Tripoley, and maybe Ono 99. 

I played it and enjoyed it. Despite the name, it's not squicky.

[Italiangirl]

3 hours ago, smittykins said:

I think because March 4 was Inauguration Day until 1933.

https://www.loc.gov/item/today-in-history/march-04/

Oh thanks I too keep seeing this date throw around I didn't understand why since they have already lost badly. 🙄

Edited February 17 by Italiangirl
Changed from list to lost

[IReallyAmHopewell]

17 hours ago, Bajovane said:

Ok, that mixer?  Magic Mill?  That's an EXCELLENT but EXPENSIVE mixer!  Over $2000!!  

I should clarify,  the mixer shown in the most recent chocolate chip recipe that is ~so~ original. 

Perhaps the actually  managed to wear out a Bosch universal mixer? Probably that thing does bread dough-Gothard was big on grinding your own wheat and baking your own bread--no store bought bread. I would imagine that's why. A bread machine doesn't do the same thing.

[littlehouse]

Exploding Kittens is a hit in our house.  There is a little bit of toilet humor involved but it is always a good time.  We also love Slapzi from the company that made Tenzi.  Kids love it, and drunken adults love it.

[Bethy]

3 hours ago, IReallyAmHopewell said:

Perhaps the actually  managed to wear out a Bosch universal mixer? Probably that thing does bread dough-Gothard was big on grinding your own wheat and baking your own bread--no store bought bread. I would imagine that's why. A bread machine doesn't do the same thing.

And we know the Maxwells milled their own flour when the kids were growing up, because not only was it mentioned on the blog years ago, but it's described in great detail (including the mom giving Molly earplugs to wear while the mill is running) in a Moody book.

I have to say it's one of the few things I agree with Gothard on, though I doubt for the same reasons. Freshly ground wheat flour doesn't have the bitter, fermented taste it gets when you buy whole wheat flour in the store. But I'm sure Gothard's reasons have more to do with oppressing women and keeping them too busy in the kitchen to question their husbands' decisions or want more out of life.

[Lady Grass Lake]

On 2/16/2021 at 6:18 PM, WhatWouldJohnCrichtonDo? said:

Oh my gosh! My family played that back in the 80s! I didn't realize it was still around.  Isn't there also a pose called a leaning jowler?I guess I'll be going on a little internet shopping trip. 🛍️ Thank you!

There's also a version with Cows, look for both on Amazon.   

 

[IReallyAmHopewell]

1 hour ago, Bethy said:

And we know the Maxwells milled their own flour when the kids were growing up, because not only was it mentioned on the blog years ago, but it's described in great detail (including the mom giving Molly earplugs to wear while the mill is running) in a Moody book.

I have to say it's one of the few things I agree with Gothard on, though I doubt for the same reasons. Freshly ground wheat flour doesn't have the bitter, fermented taste it gets when you buy whole wheat flour in the store. But I'm sure Gothard's reasons have more to do with oppressing women and keeping them too busy in the kitchen to question their husbands' decisions or want more out of life.

Somewhere in early blogland there was a guy who insisted all the "girls" (wife included) learn to do all of it by hard--even grinding the wheat iirc. I don't think I imagined this--anyone else remember?

[Bethy]

18 minutes ago, IReallyAmHopewell said:

Somewhere in early blogland there was a guy who insisted all the "girls" (wife included) learn to do all of it by hard--even grinding the wheat iirc. I don't think I imagined this--anyone else remember?

There was somebody on NLQ way back in the day (I think the name she posted under was Tess Willoughby?) who had a super abusive husband and among the things he did was legislate that they weren't allowed to have a stand mixer until every single one of the girls knew how to bake bread by hand. The kicker was, somebody wanted to buy them a freaking Bosch mixer as a gift and the husband said no because the girls (some of whom were toddlers/babies at the time) hadn't met the requirement. So she had to decline and never got her Bosch mixer. My heart hurts for her.

 

ETA Nope, not Tess - a poster named Laura. You can read the Bosch mixer part of her story here

Edited February 18 by Bethy
Found the actual link I was thinking of

[PennySycamore]

@Bethy, there's a lot to be said for mixing up your bread dough by hand, but damn even Julia Child used her K5A (Old Kitchen-Aid with  the bowl lift)  sometimes. 

Dishing with Julia is shown on public TV (maybe Amazon, too) where eminent chefs watch episodes of The French Chef and make comments.  On the Bread Show where she made pain de mie and raisin bread with the same dough,  she used both.  The chefs commenting were Marcus Samuelsson, Vivian Howard, Sara Moulton and Carla Hall.  Sara worked for Julia on Julia's show in the late 70s.  They all loved Julia!  

[Bethy]

8 hours ago, PennySycamore said:

@Bethy, there's a lot to be said for mixing up your bread dough by hand, but damn even Julia Child used her K5A (Old Kitchen-Aid with  the bowl lift)  sometimes. 

Dishing with Julia is shown on public TV (maybe Amazon, too) where eminent chefs watch episodes of The French Chef and make comments.  On the Bread Show where she made pain de mie and raisin bread with the same dough,  she used both.  The chefs commenting were Marcus Samuelsson, Vivian Howard, Sara Moulton and Carla Hall.  Sara worked for Julia on Julia's show in the late 70s.  They all loved Julia!  

I enjoy kneading bread dough and find it to be therapeutic (though I doubt I'd find it to be anything of the sort if I were forced to make half a dozen loaves of it every other day) but only if it's white flour. I have never been able to make an appropriately fluffy loaf of whole wheat bread with my hands. It's always a dense brick. My stand mixer changed all that.

[fundiewatch]

Re: the mixer... Sarah said several years ago that they’ve had it for 20 years. Which doesn’t surprise me, because the Maxwells in general have nice and quality products. 

[PennySycamore]

@Bethy, there's a whole chapter in the Laurel's Kitchen Bread Book where the recipes are 100% whole grain called "How to Slice a Brick".  I can make a decent 100% whole wheat loaf using the basic recipe from The Tassajara Bread Book, but I do mix that up with my Kitchen-Aid.    The loaf I baked yesterday was half bread flour and half whole wheat.  It turned out pretty darn good considering that I baked it at too high a temperature -450 instead of 350.  I did take it out when I realized my mistake which was about 3 minutes before my timer was set to go off.  It always smells great, but last night the aroma was heavenly.  

I do want to get a copy of the King Arthur Whole Grain Baking Book and I might order their expensive bread knife that has a guide that insures even slices.  I've got a Mrs Anderson's bread cutting guide which works pretty well, but sometimes my slices are broader on the top.  

[IReallyAmHopewell]

17 hours ago, Bethy said:

There was somebody on NLQ way back in the day (I think the name she posted under was Tess Willoughby?) who had a super abusive husband and among the things he did was legislate that they weren't allowed to have a stand mixer until every single one of the girls knew how to bake bread by hand. The kicker was, somebody wanted to buy them a freaking Bosch mixer as a gift and the husband said no because the girls (some of whom were toddlers/babies at the time) hadn't met the requirement. So she had to decline and never got her Bosch mixer. My heart hurts for her.

 

ETA Nope, not Tess - a poster named Laura. You can read the Bosch mixer part of her story here

That's it. I was thinking maybe Carrie/Kerry who died in homebirth but I think you are right

[sparkles]

On 2/16/2021 at 8:48 PM, Bajovane said:

Ok, that mixer?  Magic Mill?  That's an EXCELLENT but EXPENSIVE mixer!  Over $2000!!  

I should clarify,  the mixer shown in the most recent chocolate chip recipe that is ~so~ original. 

Nooooo! It's not cheap but it's nowhere near that expensive. Magic Mill has been through a number of changes of ownership over the years—it was Electrolux at one point—but except for design mods, it's remained the same. The Maxes have an older model. I have a newer model, Ankarsrum Assistent, that's about 5-6 years old and it was around $699 which is the going price. (Coincidentally, I bought it from Pleasant Hill Grain, long before SwiftOtter redesigned their website.) I got it because I have a 40YO Hobart-era Kitchenaid that's a workhorse but it's fairly small so it can't handle large batches of dough and it strains with lower-hydration doughs so I don't want to chance having it burn out. The Ankarsrum is a beast and worth every penny.

Re: milling grain, I usually do that when I bake with whole grains. I had a big Nutrimill but got rid of it a couple of years ago and got the Mockmill attachment for my KA. It does a comparable job, albeit not quite as fine (I sieve it afterwards) and much slower but I can live with that.

ETA: This recipe from King Arthur has always been a good one for me. 100% whole wheat, not bitter and not a brick.

Edited February 18 by sparkles

[Bajovane]

57 minutes ago, sparkles said:

Nooooo! It's not cheap but it's nowhere near that expensive. Magic Mill has been through a number of changes of ownership over the years—it was Electrolux at one point—but except for design mods, it's remained the same. The Maxes have an older model. I have a newer model, Ankarsrum Assistent, that's about 5-6 years old and it was around $699 which is the going price. (Coincidentally, I bought it from Pleasant Hill Grain, long before SwiftOtter redesigned their website.) I got it because I have a 40YO Hobart-era Kitchenaid that's a workhorse but it's fairly small so it can't handle large batches of dough and it strains with lower-hydration doughs so I don't want to chance having it burn out. The Ankarsrum is a beast and worth every penny.

Re: milling grain, I usually do that when I bake with whole grains. I had a big Nutrimill but got rid of it a couple of years ago and got the Mockmill attachment for my KA. It does a comparable job, albeit not quite as fine (I sieve it afterwards) and much slower but I can live with that.

ETA: This recipe from King Arthur has always been a good one for me. 100% whole wheat, not bitter and not a brick.

I see!  I must have looked at a diamond encrusted one on Amazon.   Hobart made excellent mixers. When I worked at a supermarket bakery,  I used one for the cake donuts.  I loved how it worked and saw Kitchen Aid made the home version.   Sooo expensive but I finally got one discounted due to a dent but still totally workable.  

[Bluebirdbluebell]

No new blog post. When I first started following them, they were very consistent with the blog. Now it's becoming more and more erratic. At first a lot of people just thought it was everyone getting older and losing interest. 

Now I'm wondering if the inconsistent blogging is caused by the fact their main blogger (Sarah) had a head injury. I hope she's okay. 

[IReallyAmHopewell]

3 hours ago, Bluebirdbluebell said:

No new blog post. When I first started following them, they were very consistent with the blog. Now it's becoming more and more erratic. At first a lot of people just thought it was everyone getting older and losing interest. 

Now I'm wondering if the inconsistent blogging is caused by the fact their main blogger (Sarah) had a head injury. I hope she's okay. 

Had she not announced her head injury I would have continued wondering if they were going to go into podcasting, since their "ministry" trip are done.