Me? Homemade bread and pasta?

I found a "No-fail" bread recipe on someone's blog and with my past experience, I was hoping I wouldn't prove the recipe wrong.  I followed her recipe to a T and it worked; no rock hard door stoppers.  I actually had 3 loaves of yummy wheat bread that could be used for real sandwiches.  I couldn't believe it.  I think my past problem was always adding too much flour (I didn't realize still being sticky was a good thing and that the stickiness could be kneaded out)  or I always killed my yeast before it even had a chance to live.  That would explain why my past projects wouldn't ever rise.  Now I make sure that thermometer is sticking out of the water until that water hits exactly between 105-110 deg.

So now that I've mastered breadmaking, I've gone a little crazy and decided that we're only eating homemade bread from now on (crazy I know).  That means I "need" a stand mixer right.  I got on Craigslist and found exactly what I was looking for.  I'd never heard of this mixer (the Magic Mill DLX by Electrolux) before Diane Hopkins (from www.lovetolearn.net--where I get some home schooling supplies) but when I saw it on Craigslist with so many extras at a crazy price, I had to have it.  Diane raves about it so it must be good.  And what a steal I got.  I not only got my stand mixer (which can mix enough dough to make 8 loaves of bread.  Wow!), but it included a meat grinder, sausage maker with some sausage making books, some bread making books, oat flaker, grain mill, 2 dehydrators and some sprouting trays, a pasta maker, and so many other things that I haven't even gotten around to looking at yet.  I'm trying to keep it simple by learning one thing at a time.  We're trying out different bread recipes and we've tried the pasta maker.  Our first batch turned into whole wheat pasta because I was out of white flour.  The funny thing was the kids loved eating the dough coming out of the machine, but after it was boiled, not so impressed.  Glen and I enjoyed it but it probably didn't get cooked long enough.  Izzy says, "I only like white spaghetti."  My second attempt was with white flour and got a little bit overcooked, but the kids LOVED it.  Look at that face.