These Are a Few of My Favorite Things: Gifts that I received for Christmas -- a little electrical work

My husband is a busy man. He has worked hard to provide for us these past 38 years, and I appreciate that. So I don't like to ask him to do extra things for me on a regular basis. But, for gifts, I do ask for some of these little tasks to be done as my gift. 

 If you recall, last year on my birthday I asked my two daughters to help me spruce up our front porch as their gift to me. One year I asked my husband to install some new shelves in my closet as a Mother's Day gift. 

This year for Christmas, I asked him to do some wiring for a light that I got for free several years ago. This light fixture is for hard-wired application, but I wanted to be able to plug it in. I asked him to add a cord and switch to this light.

For my husband, this is a pretty simple task. For me, it's enormous to have it done so I can now use it. I think he enjoys doing a job as a gift for me. He knows that it means a lot to me. And it's in his wheelhouse.

I still need to figure how I will mount the fixture on the wall. But the electrical part is now done, and I'm that much closer to hanging this up in the house.

Do you ever ask for a job to be done as a gift?

Sky-high egg prices and using egg substitutes

Last time you were at the grocery store, did you do a double-take when you checked the price of eggs? Wait till you hear what Californians are paying for eggs this week.

Our local Walmart has a relatively good regular price on large eggs in my area -- this week, eggs are about $5.50 a dozen for Great Value brand (cheapest brand). The LA Times reported yesterday that eggs are now bumping up against $9.00 per dozen on average in California. That's on average. So, in some places, eggs are even more expensive! Are we going to reach $1 per egg at some point?

I have about 18 fresh eggs and about 2 dozen frozen eggs remaining. Obviously, I'm doing what I can to use fewer eggs right now. My plan is to buy as few cartons of eggs at these higher prices between now and spring (when prices usually drop just before Easter).

This morning I was baking a loaf of banana bread. I had enough bananas to make a batch and a half. 

My mother's 1970's recipe calls for 1 egg. As I was making a 1 1/2 batch, I would've needed 1 1/2 eggs. I decided to use just one egg and add a half-egg equivalent in baking powder for the leavening.

I looked up possible substitutes in this post from 2022 on choosing which egg substitute to use. I ended up using the extra baking powder plus an extra splash of soy milk. The batter itself tasted good, so I was pretty sure the bread would turn out well.

It rose as I would expect for a 1 1/2 batch in a single loaf pan.

The texture looked great upon slicing into the loaf, dense but still plenty of tiny air bubbles throughout. 

The proof is really in the pudding, as they say. It tasted great and was plenty moist, no hint of a lacking 1/2 egg.

I'd call this egg substitution a success.

What are egg prices like in your area? How expensive is too expensive for eggs in your mind? Do you ever make substitutions for eggs in baking?

If you need some help deciding on an egg substitute, see this post: Egg Substitutes: Choosing Which to Use.