A tale of the most expensive Christmas bread…

Every year I make a special Christmas bread that my family loves. It’s basically a riff on stollen that began years ago when we did a Christmas dinner from a different country every year. Since then, the kids have grown up and added our grandchildren to the mix, but we host Christmas breakfast, which features this special bread.

This year, I started making the bread in my bread machine, as I’ve done for several years. Unfortunately, the yeast was apparently no good, so the dough didn’t rise. Okay — start over with fresh yeast. Oops. This time the machine itself decided that sixteen years of faithful service in making our “regular” bread and some special ones was enough, and it spewed grease all over the rising dough. Yikes!

I couldn’t get too upset with sixteen years of steady use, so I ordered another machine of the same brand (Zojirushi, if you’re interested) and filled the waiting time with making a third batch of the bread with the help of my mixer instead. The bread turned out beautifully, of course, and the new machine arrived in record time. I asked the very nice delivery person to put the large box inside my door, which he did with no problem. And that’s where the problem began.

My husband wasn’t home, so I scooted the large box into the kitchen. And then I decided that I could very carefully open the box. So far, so good. But then I thought that it shouldn’t be too difficult to unbox the machine and put it into its designated spot on the counter. That’s where I really messed up. I should have been patient and awaited help from my husband, because lifting the machine to the counter was a mistake. I now have a sprained back, with a projected 6-8 week recuperation period!

Bless him, my husband is pitching in to help me recover, since I’m not allowed to bend over or lift anything at all. My dog doesn’t quite understand, but she’ll get over it when I’m back to normal. Anyway, I’m writing this as a warning — be careful when picking up something heavy! But at least the bread is ready for Christmas morning. 🙂