When are we Having Spumoni
by
Brian Morin
Please don’t kick me off (
) of the frozen desert section yet, as it will seem that the subject has changed. I guarantee you it has not, although it might seem to have. So while I was embarked on my mission of spumoni fame, I was also on a quest to find a new bread machine. One of my friends told me, while we were working on my new kitchen cabinets – one of them is on wheels - that he had seen a used bread machine at a nearly new shop called « Le Grenier du ma Grand Méré » which means, my grandmothers attic. I went over, about a week later, to see if it was still there. Alas it was. I immediately bargained for it, and bought it for 40 bucks cash! Good deal? Not a good deal! Satya and I brought it to our friends house – very close friends that we have known for a while – and asked if they would like me to make a bread at there house. They said yes. I begged all the ingredients, flour, salt, sugar, milk, water, yeast, etc. and stuffed it all in the machine, in the order listed, of course. Twenty minutes or so later it started to whirl. My friends, who were originally from Bulgaria and still made there bread the same way there grandmothers in Bulgaria made bread, were quite taken by this new contraption and wanted to take a peek at it, while in action. So we all glanced at each other with bemused expressions and without a word all bounded for the bread machine, at once.
I didn't believe it and yet I did, It wasn’t working. At first I thought the flour was stuck or something but no, that wasn't it, it wasn’t working. We looked at it for a while, and figured out that the shaft that went to the kneading paddle had somehow become detached. Well I had asked for a receipt form the woman who had sold it to me in the first place and she checked to make sure that I had actually asked for a receipt, “you want a receipt” was her mantra. Not the first time she had asked it like that I am sure. It was if she was saying, “why do you need a receipt”. I had little doubt that I was doing the right thing, as my intuition is usually pretty good, so I had no problem taking it back, when it failed.
Back at home a few days later, still looking for a better bread machine, I went to the… web. I searched and searched for the brand and model I was looking for, but came up blank. Then all of a sudden I came across the
“Cuisinart CBK-200 Breadmaker”, a great looking little machine, not pretty, but functional; very functional looking. While I was on there site, I decided to go over and take a look at there Ice Cream Makers since I’d been having so much frustration with mine. I didn’t like the look of it, another cylinder type ice cream maker. However, somehow, and I don’t know how, I ended up on
the page that I posted on the last posting I made on this thread. I don’t know if any of you took the time to check that page out, but at the bottom of the page was a comment on the “White Mountain Ice Cream Maker” and the fact that it had been bought out by
“Rival”. Lord forbid, the link to the website, even a telephone number.
I went over to the website to look around. I couldn't seem to find the price of the machine I was looking at, on the web page, so I used the phone number to call customer service. Oh boy! This was either a very good move or a very bad move. While I was on the phone, just trying to find out the price, the sales lady, very sweet and kind, gave me a 30% buy now offer!!! 30%! How could I say no? Of course I told her that I should speak to my wife before I buy it or she (my wife) would own my soul. She told me, in a very calm voice, that “she already owns your soul.” I agreed with a sigh. But no way would she extend the offer… I couldn’t believe myself, when I said, albeit with a long hesitation, I guess you’ll need my credit card number...
I should have a new “White Mountain” in about three or four weeks. That’s the good news. The bad news is, unless my wife is looking over my shoulder, right now, she still doesn’t know I’ve bought it. My game plan is to get the machine, make spumoni, then tell her I bought it, after she has had her fill…
Any better ideas???
Keep on making ice cream…