Whatever happened to my photo? From now on I just may have to use total word descriptions. Season your meat any old way you like to have it seasoned. I used the Penzeys only because I got a nice collection of jars for Christmas and love their blends. Before Penzeys (BP) I would use the old fashioned garlic, pepper, fennel, oregano, bay leaf routine with anything else close to my fingers on the spice shelf. I made a meat pie the other night and used steak seasoning for the ground chuck, it worked out fine. Good luck and let us know how it turned out. I plan on collecting all of the names into one post along with the suggestions I am getting from other sources. You guys are the best, though. Here is a link that might be useful: traveling and cooking with grandpa

vaccumfreak-- I made it this weekend to try it out. I'm making the 4 loaves for the Girl Scout's Thinking Day on Thurs. Our troop is representing Sweden. I googled and chose this recipe as most of them are braided and I figured this was easier to slice in small samples (they expect over 300 girls!) This is not really sweet at all--I actually threw in another T of sugar for the next few batches. the first batch seemed a little dry as it kneaded, so I threw in an extra T of water (actually I "rinsed" out my measuring cup with the T of water, so it picked up a little milk, a little egg...) It's a nice firm bread, good for toasting--I like it plain or with a little butter. My Swedish friend said it needs lingonberry jam--not something I have in my pantry!

My stacked 200 series oven and combi-steam are 45" together, with about an inch of trim between. (I think the sizes are the same as the current models.) There is a tank version of the combi-steam if you don't want to plumb it, though having the plumbing means descaling once in a very blue moon (like years) and otherwise forgetting about the water. You do have to have space nearby for the trap and valve if you plumb. Mine does go down through the floor to the main drain which starts at the cleanup sink, and meets the prep and combi- at the island, then runs through the laundry. If it's not easily retrofitted, it's probably not worth the bother. I did get a little "pizza stone" (quote marks because it's thin) to fit in the combi- but I have it purposefully high, and I haven't gotten around to trying to bake in it. For crusty breads and toothsome pizzas, I use the dedicated pizza stone and electric coil that are an extra you can buy for the regular oven. Rhome410 isn't enthusiastic about hers (and she liked her Wolf ovens better than the Gaggenau before they failed), but I think they're fantastic! The thing about the combi-steam is that it doesn't do anything you can't achieve by other means. It's just easier. For a lot of things that people want steam on, like crusty roasts and breads, I've always said, "Just put a ramekin of water in your regular oven." I've only recently gotten into the crusty bread thing, and I was a little concerned with the pizza stone in its required bottom position since all the instructions say that the steam pan should be below, but when I put my ramekin of water on a high shelf with the bread on the stone, it gets as nicely crusty as one could wish. I haven't compared to the alternative method, but it compares well to bakery/restaurant crust. The greatest tricks the combi-steam does are regenerate and steaming. Regenerate mode lets you put in a composed plate to heat up. Meat, veg, starch, it all gets warm without getting overcooked or weird. I decided I didn't care how much it cost when I was microwave steaming vegetables for salad for the holidays and my very favorite glass pot broke. It was too much cold/hot/cold/hot stress. I hate steaming on the stove. There is no work to making vegetables for a couple dozen people in the combi-steam. Prepping, them, yes, but steaming them is a bagatelle. Almost an afterthought. It also makes excellent poultry. I once did three turkey half breasts and three thighs for Passover. Dead easy. The combi- will hold my 17" Pyrex dish and my 8 qt. Graniteware roaster (with foil on--the lid doesn't fit easily), so most years it gets either the kugel or the brisket. My "goose pot", when I go for the whole turkey has enough room around it in the big oven for a few baked potatoes, or other small oddities, but the combi- year, I put the potatoes on the edge of the turkey pans and they came out fine. (I have a couple of non-meat eaters.) The first fault I've found with my regular oven is that with the fan on (which includes with the pizza stone setting), the hot air hits the door and reflects at a particular angle, so the right front edge of the bread gets a little browner. Not enough to bother me, but not as even as baking without the fan. The oven will do fan only, fan and some or all of bottom heat, bottom heat only, and top and bottom heat. And that's just for baking. :) You get to choose. And, yes, unless you can find a good closeout, Gaggenau will cost you more than anything else, and the combi-steam is a premium beyond that. More than you wanted to know? I'm still holding good thoughts for the recovery of your Miele. :)

We had a nice sunny day today, late morning and afternoon. Did some running around, so never did try the bread manually. When I mentioned setting it in the sun.....I meant the sun streaming in through the window. (in winter I get full sun, summer.....no sun in my apartment). Like Cynic, I preheat my bread-machine pan with hot water and heat up the milk in the microwave. I've read that the light bulb in the oven is all it takes to make bread rise, but that's hard to believe. But what do I know. Even if I never do remember to bake it in the oven, that's fine with us. We love the bread out of the machine. Hole and all. lol Hmmmm dinner rolls, though. That's a possibility! Oh, how much is 2 packets of yeast (as per the recipe above). I buy my yeast in bulk and put 2 1/4 tsp of yeast in my machine.