Goodbye Kitchen Aid…..Hello Beatrice

I have a long awaited, much anticipated new tool in my kitchen….a Bosch mixer! My Kitchen Aid has been my faithful friend over these last 7 years but I have heard about, read up on, and studied Bosch mixers for a very long time.  I have talked with different Bosch owners and the consensus is always the same….”I love my Bosch”!  The capacity for volume of what I am mixing is literally double, and the performance and sheer power of a Bosch far surpass my Kitchen Aid.  I have patiently anticipated the purchase of this machine and waited for a great price and Chad’s approval….and last week I got both!  With my initial experiment I was able to get two batches of Braided Broiche done in one night….that is 4 very large and delicious loaves of braided bread all in very little time! Now lest you be deceived and think I can just whip out any ol’ amazing thing, the braiding part was my arch nemesis!  I am the wife who ALWAYS calls upon her very artistic husband to arrange a platter of cookies I have baked because I can NEVER seem to get them to look “just right” on the platter.  I knew in the depths of my heart that braiding a loaf of bread was going to be like trying to work one of Mitchell’s Geometry problems….it simply will not happen without MUCH pain and moments of mass confusion!  I used a recipe for Broiche out of the cookbook that came with my Bosch and thankfully I found this great post and followed their instructions on braiding. I studiously sat in front of my laptop with my sheet pan of bread dough and carefully followed the photo tutorial.  I am happy to report that the braiding of 3 out of the 4 loaves turned out pretty darn good!  What about the 4^th loaf you ask?  Well, at some point during the braiding my brain chose to freeze and I totally lost what I was doing and could not for the life of me figure out what I did wrong so there was for sure no fixing it!  It looked awful but still tasted quite scrumptious! This new addition has been aptly named “Beatrice” as this name means “Bringer of Joy”.  She has definitely already brought great joy and I am excited for the many years to come that “Beatrice” will grace our countertop and work hard for our family!

Photo above courtesy of Pleasant Hill Grain (where I purchased my Bosch)