I just wanted to update this. Long story short, I decided to buy the NutriMill Artiste. I have been making things like crazy all weekend (rolls cookies bagels) and am planning to try bread today. Just trying to get a handle on a completely different way of doing things (for me). AND I want to make sure I figure out if I want it before my return window expires. Anyway, I don't really have a solid opinion yet. I'm cautiously optimistic? 😆 It is about the same size as the bread machine, so if I can put that away I should be all set on space. Thanks for all the suggestions, I always appreciate the collective wisdom of the Hive!

Congrats to all of you who have finished too! I thought I would be sad, instead I feel satisfied and spent. DD isn't moving out of the house any time soon, which makes it easier to handle. I have no idea what to do next either.

Well thanks everyone! I don't know anyone IRL who is where I am. I knew there must be someone on here going through something similar! DD did dual enrollment this past year. So it was half homeschooling/half college. I wasn't really sure how the whole college thing was going to go, but she handled it really well. The state says she is done, but she's a high school senior as far as the college is concerned. She's referring to herself as a "college student", and in my mind that's what she is because she is only going to take college classes and I am going to have very little to do with that now that she's more settled. DD won't have a high school graduation. She'll be a Sophmore when she "really" starts college. It's really a bizarre limbo year for us particularly with the pandemic. This is literally the first time in my life that I haven't had a plan for the next thing. Since I was a teen I have always been planning and moving into the next thing. DH says I should take a "gap year" now, and I think instead I am going to take a "nap year". 🤣 ANYWAY, I am not whining just musing. This is one of those life transitions that isn't talked about that much.

I've got one teen who I homeschooled the whole way through. According to our state she's done homeschooling. So I'm retired. Which I knew was coming, but literally just started really thinking seriously about in March. It's all been a little hard to process, or celebrate, or grasp in the middle of a pandemic. I feel like I'm in some weird limbo state. Anyone else in the same boat?

It's not just you. It's a muddled mess. I really feel for the people making the big decisions, I really do.

So, today I made a brownie mix. I really didn't want to...but sacrifices must be made in the name of Hive science. I used a Ghiradelli mix and a glass pan. I forget to have a good attitude or whisper encouragement to the batter though. But it worked. Was it really just the pan, all these years? Or was I paying extra careful attention today? Must do more experiments before I can make any solid conclusions.

You know you've been quarantined too long when you start talking to brownies.

I will just tell the brownies they WILL BE DELICIOUS. That should work 🤣!

It's not that hard, it's just time intensive. It's a "quality of life" thing, because they are much cheaper and easier to buy frozen at the supermarket. Basically, you make bagel dough and let it rise. Then you form the dough into bagels, and let them rise while you boil water. You boil them in water, each side. Then you bake them. I'm sure you can google a recipe, with specific instructions. I also wouldn't bother if you don't enjoy making stuff like this.

A glass pan is another interesting thought. Brownies from a mix are supposed to be EASY. Making brownies from scratch isn't that hard, but the point of making brownies from a box is they take 10 seconds to mix up. No work, no thought, few ingredients, the end. I guess I need to start making them every day so I get good at it 😃!

Oh gosh, I read that as ATTITUDE. Yes, my attitude is terrible 🤣. The brownies definitely pick up on that, and don't perform as they should. Maybe I just hate brownies from a mix? I just find the whole thing very curious. DH says I should stop making brownies from a mix, but I'm no quitter.

This is so gross and wrong. And she's clearly one of those boundary pushing people who is never going to do what she should do. She will always find a way "around it". Remember not to accept any baked goods from her, ever 😉. (poop bag in the pocket part, yuck!)

I definitely want to be friends with someone who "may or may not be me" 🤣

This must be why the Ghiradelli is always gone, everyone has figured out is the only decent brownie mix out there!

I am starting to wonder if it's just a mental block, like I can't make brownies from a mix no matter what I do 🤪

You know, maybe that is it. Because I use to use vegetable oil and at some point in my life switched to canola oil.

I have found that only 1 flavor of the Ghiradelli mixes works for me. Their other flavors don't work for me either. Which I find very weird. And those are difficult to find, particularly the last few months. These mixes always come out so terribly, I don't understand why they are even for sale.

and I would classify myself as better than decent if I wasn't such a stoic humble Yankee 🤣. I make all our sandwich bread. I make good cakes, cookies and brownies from scratch. I even make more unusual things like cinnamon buns, bagels and naan. Far too regularly! I am not saying this to toot my own horn, but I know how bake. I have years of practice and have developed baking intuition. My oven is also not broken. So, why is it that I can NEVER seem to get a BROWNIE MIX to turn out correctly? Why is it undercooked, overcooked, or raw in the middle and burnt on the edges all at once? I mean, what is up with that 😁 AND why do I keep trying to make them???????

It seems to me like you know what you should do, you just don't want to. I think you are looking for a harmonious solution, and there isn't one. I have an absolute mess of a dysfunctional family, and I would be running a meth ring with them if I wasn't constantly "the bad guy". So maybe my perspective is skewed. 😉

I put "counters" instead of "cabinets" in my OP, which I just edited. My top CABINETS come down very low. There's not enough space between the countertop and the cabinet bottoms. Thanks for all these suggestions. I think the Bosch was the one I looked at years ago. I think the dimensions are right. Also it looks like it's lighter than a KitchenAid.

I need rec's for a stand mixer that probably doesn't exist!!!! For years I just mixed things by hand, and I made everything from scratch. Long story short it got to be too much, and I bought some sort of cheapo hand mixer with stand at Walmart (or somewhere...) for $25. And it was magical. Not really, but compared to making everything by hand it was great. 🤣 It needed to be babied some, but it was a huge improvement for me. That broke after several years, and I felt like I got my moneys worth. So I threw another dart, and bought another cheapo one, and it is absolutely USELESS. Awful! I don't know what the point of it even is. I guess I was just lucky the first time. My kitchen is TINY. My top cabinets are LOW. I would love a KitchenAid mixer or something comparable, but they are too tall, too heavy. The reason I have been getting cheapo hand mixers with stands is because of the logistics of having to get it in and out every time I want to use is, which is regularly. It can't be too tall, too heavy, too bulky to store in a cabinet. I do have a bread machine on the counter, which is part of the reason I do not have the space. I use that at least once a week to make bread dough. I have thought about when that breaks replacing it with a stand mixer that could live on the counter. But again, the Kitchen AIds are too tall, from what I have seen. And my bread machine is perfectly fine for now. Does anyone have any suggestions?

And let's say, for arguments sake, that every single neighbor thought it was "awful" you were making Mom mow the lawn. Then what? They would come after you with pitchforks? I mean, so the neighbors think ill of you....what else is new....🤣...in my neighborhood anyway.

I'm in a similar situation with my dd. She will be 17 this summer, and "officially" done with homeschooling. She's started DE classes at the local CC this past school year, but we were assuming she would get a part time job by summer. She's signed up for 2 classes for this fall, but that's not enough if that's all you are doing. She had just started to apply for jobs, and she was about to go for her license. And then, BAM, the virus. Now everything is on hold. She's an introvert, and an only child. She entertains herself well. But, I thought her independent life was just about to begin. Her social life has always been a struggle, she's always had friends and activities, but it's always been a lot of work for me and hasn't come easily. And I thought, finally, she will have a job and classes and a license and be able to handle her own life! Like you, I have struggled with the whole situation. Honestly, my DH was the one who just told me to accept it and chill out. And it took me probably a week, but I think I am there now. This happened SO QUICKLY and is still a lot to get used to. This summer and fall (and maybe longer) isn't going to be "ideal" for our young adults, and it stinks. We can't measure our expectations the same as we did even a month ago. I think it's all a process, as we get used to the "new normal" and reframe things in our minds. Bottom line, I'm there too. I get it. It's tough.

Oh good, I am so glad!

Things were really well organized at my store, and fairly well stocked. Only letting so many people in, stand here, do this. It was really nice. Things like flour and hand sanitizer were out, but just about everything else was reasonably in stock. It was such a relief after the last 3 weeks.