This is pretty much the conclusion I've come to as well. Normally I love this event, I love baking, I love selling, love talking to the customer's etc but the stress over it all trying to figure out what is "right" and what isn't, has just sucked all the joy out of it for me. Now I'm trying to figure out how to gracefully exit as I'm the only one who sets up the sale, runs the sell, cleans up etc. The only help I have is other people do some of the baking. So it's not like there is someone to hand it off too. (and lest anyone say the workload isn't fair, I know that but since I so very much enjoy doing, it's never bothered me in the slightest, it is a labor of love for me which is probably why it's so difficult to say goodbye - and hurtful to be told the things I'm doing are wrong after so many years and so many compliments that I was doing well)

I declined returning them and sold them anyway. Director was not happy with me. It's okay to be grumpy your comments don't seem harsh to me at all but then again I've been grumpy (and getting grumpier) for a few months as things keep escalating.

Thank you all. Not only have you given me a possible reason for the other person's stance, many of you also put into words many things I was feeling about the situation but unable to articulate. I can see where many would prefer things baked the morning of but the reality is I make anywhere from 100-200 items (individually wrapped) from 6-8 different recipes. There is simply no way I could bake all those and have them cool enough to wrap on the day of. It takes me several days as it is to get through all the things I make (hence the things being baked on Thursday and Friday or else baked earlier and stored in the freezer, I'm gone nearly every Sat). The customers are generally the same group of people for the last 12 years and I almost always sell out of my things (other people bake as well but their stuff is a bit more hit and miss on if it all sells) so it's not like they are objecting to the taste of my contributions. I was also asked to return stuff to another baker that the director deemed not fresh enough to sell because it had been in the freezer "too long". I still have to figure out how to work through this situation but it is a great relief to know that I'm not alone in thinking this is not being handled well.

Thanks to those who've chimed in. It at least has given me a hint to what the other person's perspective is (when I've tried to discuss it with the director, I'm told "We are not discussing this", so I'm very confused on their objection to the way I've done it for the last 12 years).

I've made over 20,000 in the last 12 years. I'm pretty sure they've been thoroughly tested by now. But glad to hear that not everyone is fussy about their cookies.

This is going to be an odd question but I'm trying to wrap my head around someone else's viewpoint and would love to hear the Hive's thoughts. We participate in many bake sales as a fundraiser for an activity my kids are in. Recently we had a new person take over as the director and there is some disagreement about the "freshness" of items being sold. Items are sold on Sunday. For a general cookie (chocolate chip, peanut butter, oatmeal, etc), would you think a cookie that had been made up to 2 weeks in advance but immediately put in the freezer within a few hours of baking and then removed a few hours before selling be fresher or would a cookie that was made on Thursday or Friday and sat on the counter until Sunday be fresher? I know there could be many other variants but really these are the two scenarios we are currently debating.

In the last 15 years, I've had the flu once. It was of course the one and only year that I got the shot (and no one else in the house got the flu or the shot). My eldest has had the flu once, also coincidently the only year that he ever got the shot (and also no one else got the flu or the shot). This year no one got the shot and only 2 of 8 got the flu (and I'm not hyper sensitive about cleaning. I've never washed a doorknob or handle because someone was sick. I don't do any cleaning above normal etc). I don't think the shot cause us to get the flu by any means but for us I feel like it's a big bunch of hype and doesn't influence whether or not we get the flu. Since only 2 of the 8 (and they share a bedroom) got it, and the rest were fine it still doesn't seem like it would have helped us much.

Interestingly enough, my 6 year old STARTED with puking so I was bracing for the stomach flu. When the fever spiked shortly after and continued on with no more puking, I googled and realized that puking can be associated with the flu (which I never realized before). It is definitely a brutal strain. Hope yours are all on the mend.

We didn't get tested but 2 of mine had some variant for sure. 6 year old ran a fever for 3 days and days after the fever was gone was still sleeping 14-16 hours. 19 year old was in far worse shape. 6 and half days of fever and like you ate almost nothing for the duration (soild food consumption for that period was 2 packages of ramen, 3 inches of a sub, 6 slices of cheese and 2 flat pretzel crisps and most of that was the last couple of days of the fever). It then took him close to 2 weeks to rebuild his strength. He's a kid who carries more than his body weight of salt down my stairs so to see him struggle with a 25 pound box a week and half after the fever was gone was shocking. He's also my kid who never gets sick so it was hard for me to watch him be miserable so long and he was starting to wonder if he would ever get better because he has never been that sick in his life. I was most grateful that the other 6 in the house didn't get it.

I have this stock pot (which works great on my induction stove). I see there is also a 24 quart version. Would one of these be big enough (not sure if you are doing whole or half hams) if you wish to continue your cook on the stove method? https://www.amazon.com/Tramontina-80120-002DS-Gourmet-Stainless/dp/B00FGB28Z8?tag=incepin-20

95% of the time, I bake them. Once in a blue moon I'll use the crockpot. I've never heated a ham on the stovetop unless I was boiling it down for soup. I have an induction stove. It's awesome!

i'm still plugging along but after the frantic pace of everything last fall/winter to be ready for contractors, I'm enjoying not having to clean/purge every waking moment. Discovered a few more pieces of furniture that I thought had survived the sump pump, did in fact suck up some water. One I've decided to keep anyways because I simply have no desire to deal with finding a replacement right now. The other will go out on my next trip to the dump (which is conveniently located about a half mile from my house). We also ended up getting rid of a huge storage cabinet that held all our arts/craft/ science/school type supplies. We desperately needed to create a new workstation because DD has been hiding out with her laptop playing games rather than homework. Now she has to leave the laptop at the desk in the kitchen - she's actually getting her homework down now. So I'm trying to find new homes for everything that was in the cabinet. I want to buy a smaller one that will fit elsewhere in the kitchen but it's a nonstandard size for cabinets. I suspect I will have to get something custom made from the Amish but they are an hour away and I'm not in any hurry to drive that far on back country roads during the winter. I also have about half a load ready to go to Goodwill.

Definitely file a claim. I was told animal collisions are under a different part of the policy than accidents with drivers and they wouldn't be counted against us in any way. DH had 4 claims in one year (only 1 was he partially at fault, the other 3 - animal, mystery damage, and rearended at a red light were no fault) and our rates weren't changed

I've had induction since 2010. I had it less than a month before informing my husband we would never own another range that wasn't induction. I LOVE LOVE LOVE it. You have the speed and control of gas but no mess of burnt on anything on the stovetop. If I boil something over, lift pan, wipe burner (with it still on, the glass never gets hot enough to burn even a paper towel) set pan back down (or just wait and wipe it up later, it won't burn to the glass). I do a lot of water bath canning, my old coil stove took an hour to bring it to a boil, induction EIGHTEEN minutes. It's fast, it's clean, and it doesn't release tons of heat into the air so YOU don't overheat while cooking. Instant temp change, something on the verge of boiling over - just drop the temp and it instantly stops. I could go on and on but I think you get the point. As far as the buzzing, the only time I get that (and I've have had 2 different units and they both acted the same) was when I put something very cold in the pan and then crank the temp. AKA frozen veggies (I cook 5 pounds at a time, I don't know if this issue would occur with smaller amounts) and power boost, I'll get a bit of hum until the veggies warm up and then it stops. But it's not loud and nothing I find objectionable.

I had my walls painted in satin but to be honest, with 6 kids and the amount of dirt, marks, mess left on the wall was incredible. I painted everything but the ceilings in semi-gloss. The scrubability is amazing. I value clean walls far more than I worry about shine and honestly after a little while you don't really notice the shine anymore (but the dirt always bugged me). I honestly can't imagine using anything less than satin with young kids.

We had multiple major house issues arise last year (bathroom cabinet drawer fronts came off leaving jagged staples, black mold on a bedroom wall, leaking patio door that damaged the kitchen floor, ceiling and wall of the room below it, sump died and flooded the entire finished basement and then a crack in the foundation). Every finished room but 2 bedrooms has been emptied and rearranged to accommodate the various repairs. Or course, when you empty a room, you might as well repaint it. I'm still trying to put things back together but then discovered the unfinished storage room also had water issues from the sump pump that we hadn't discovered till now so that got emptied, scrubbed with bleach and almost put back together. But in the process we have dumped van loads full of things. The worst part is the more I look around, the more I find that should be parted with but after months and months of this, I'm lacking the stamina to just finish it. My modest goal for today is to simply go through 3 boxes of tissue paper/gift bags and return them to the storage room. I really need to find my kitchen table (it's been buried for well over a month now) but I suspect that will be next weeks project.

As another non-drinker, when I see directions like that, I just use cooking wine anyways and decrease the salt a bit. I know foodies would tell you it's an abomination but if you are not accustom to the flavor of drinking wine, I doubt that you would notice the difference.

Dairy is actually very soothing for my acid reflux, I will regularly eat cheese or yogurt to settle a flair. However, wheat/yeast products are a huge trigger for me (not yeasted products are less problematic). So I agree that exploring the diet is definitely worth looking into.

I definitely prefer the wood in the first picture. I also prefer the color of the handle in the first picture but I prefer the style of the second handle. I don't like cup handles, I find them harder to grasp. So the ideal choice for me would be to get the bar pulls in the dark color and put it on the wood with more graining.

I also wonder if they just aren't big eaters. I know several families where they eat like birds. I spent a week sharing a house/kitchen with one of those families and they ate less all day than one of my younger kids eat for breakfast. Aka, the kid had a slice of toast for breakfast, 2 pieces of string cheese for lunch, an apple in the afternoon and a hot dog (no bun) for supper. Kid was 9 years old. His brother comes to my house frequently and eats like that as well. Mom ate about 2 ounce of fish and a spoonful of cucumber for lunch. They just don't eat much. This mom also brought 2 pounds of taco meat to feed 13 people and was surprised there were no leftovers (she told me she usually makes about 1/4 pound of meat for her family of 4). My family is on the other side and every eats a lot so all I can do is shake my head at those tiny amounts but it really is all they normally eat. I could totally see if the family normally doesn't eat much that it seems like "plenty" of food for a party to them.

I was thinking the same thing. My family holiday's have always been an early afternoon meal. So arrive between 11:00-12:00 and eat between 1 and 2. We went to an extended family's once and assumed it would be a late lunch based on when we were told to arrive so didn't eat before coming. Turned out they were the supper type of family and the meal wasn't planned until 6:00. My kids were an absolute mess because they were so hungry. Even the appetizers weren't put out until 4:30. I didn't bring extra food other than my contribution because I assume were were eating in the afternoon and would have leftovers for supper. Definitely not an enjoyable experience but I do respect than others have different traditions (just wish I had known that in advance). I'm wondering if her "like we always do" about the afternoon meal is in relation to the 20 years of Easter's and Thanksgiving meals that are always in the afternoon and so to her mind that is the "normal" time to do a holiday meal. So while you've been feeling like your holiday's have been messed up by the repeated mid day meals, perhaps she is feeling that way about the idea of a nighttime meal and has just spoken up sooner about that than you have. I'm sorry you are finding this so difficult, hopefully you find a solution that is at least passable to all parties.

I think it's 1 lb for the 6 quart and 2 lbs for the 8 qt.

I bought an ipad to share with the kids (I just wanted one to be able to take to the kitchen for cooking new recipes rather than having to print them off all the time). But I discovered it was really nice to have a portable device for book reading, or travel etc. When the kids dropped it, I bought a new one (that I still shared but now there was less fighting among the kids because they had 2 to use). Eventually the kids dropped that one too and I said enough, and bought one just for myself. I don't use it everyday but the days I do, I'm very grateful. So no I don't consider it frivolous to have your own device. As far as the crack goes, I wouldn't even blink at that. One of ours has spider cracks across the whole screen, the glass is slowly falling out over the electronics on the edge and it's still going strong after being like that for 3 years. We regularly roll down used electronics to the kids so I would for sure be keeping the new one for myself and leaving the kid with the cracked screen. If hers died, then give her the one I had and still buy myself a new one.

I can't blame them, I loathe salted caramel anything and of course it's the "in" flavor so everything is salted caramel. But salt and sweet just don't go together (I don't like chocolate covered pretzels either cause the salt just ruins the chocolate). But I bake a lot (as in thousands of cookies a year that we sell as fundraisers for the kids activities) and am constantly creating new recipes/variations. Most of my kids won't even eat cookies not made by me because they like mine so much better.

I rarely buy sandwich bread and when I do it's for a specific purpose (like we are packing sandwiches for a trip and I didn't have time to make bread) and thus the whole loaf always gets used at once. With 8 of us, using up an entire loaf (or even 2) in sitting isn't a problem so we don't have partial loaves siting around.