LOL! Good luck with the French bread. I was thinking of getting my son and DIL an electric breadmaker for Christmas but I don't know if they already have one or not. Living in another state makes it difficult to buy presents, for sure. My ex said that what he does with the rutabaga is slice off the outer waxy area and then put it in the microwave for 6 minutes. It softens up the rutabaga and makes it easy to chop.