Dear Lord - I can accept that! As an introvert, just reading that level of engagement was overwhelming lol.

You say “a few dozen friends.” Do you actually consider all of them friends, or are some friends and the rest acquaintances?

I know many people that I’m friendly with through work and other places, but the majority is consider acquaintances. I also have friends, but that’s a much smaller group.

The other commenter already gave you the right answer, but I wanted to chime in that once I got over my fear of making dough, I realized the rest of it is just variations and technique. Bread, pizza crust, bagels - I make focaccia more than anything, but it’s all doable if the time and energy are available to you.

I love my KitchenAid for certain things but for dough I’ll usually use a dough whisk. It’s a simple stick with a couple hard loops on it. Strong enough to thoroughly mix dough, but takes less time to clean than anything else, except maybe my hands lol.

Aside from holiday challah, I probably make focaccia more than anything else. And depending on my mood I’ll load up the focaccia with some dollops of sauce, veggies, meat, and cheese for something closer to a Detroit style pizza.

The best thing that happened to me in terms of bread making was learning that you could chuck ingredients in a bowl, mix them well, then throw it in a large Tupperware container and put it in the fridge. Magic happens overnight, something something fairies, and POOF! The next morning you have a usable dough!

Every Hanukkah I make about 15 loaves of challah for dinner and to give to family. Using the fridge this way has made my life so much easier.

I never previously considered getting the shingles vaccine because my mom told me that I was the only one in my family that managed not to get chicken pox as kid (I was born long after all my siblings ended up getting it and never showed signs.)

Years later when getting a job at a hospital, they went over my vaccine record (literally some dates and notes my mom had written on the back of an envelope in the early 80’s) they decided to run a titer. It came back positive. Their guess is that I had such a mild case that it wasn’t identified. Getting the vaccine is on my to do list now!