Now THIS is A Head Scratcher

There are a few things on which I am a black-and-white-it-is-or-it-isn't type of person: the reality of global warming, my job, family and husband responsibilities and, generally, matters of faith. Every now and then, though, a nagging question comes creeping into that hard and fast reality that I call my belief structure, and I begin to wonder. For example:
Today, for probably the millionth time (conservative estimate given my background), I heard the biblical story of the boy who brought loaves and fishes to a public appearance and allowed Jesus to feed 5,000 people with them. OK, did He literally feed that many people, or was it just another parable-type story to embellish the idea that God "feeds" His people? Don't know, don't need to think about it too much...however, there was one item in the story that made me sit up and ponder.
You probably know the story...everybody with any Christian background does, but I'll bet none of you asked yourself this question: where did the baskets come from? That's what piqued my curiosity today. Here's the deal:
The crowd had walked far out of town, following Jesus and waiting for him to speak.  He did so, either before or after distributing the loaves and fish. He instructed the disciples to gather up the remnants so there would be no waste (an environmentalist!), and the leftovers filled 12 baskets! TWELVE! Here's the series of questions that rambled through my mind upon hearing that for what seemed to be the first time:

1. Where did that many twelve baskets come from?

2. Who would be carrying empty baskets on a hike? It seemed nobody else had any food.

3. Did the apostles just carry them around "in case" they found something useful on the road during their travels afoot?

4. If not for carrying food, what was IN those baskets that had to be thrown out so the food could be put in there?

5. Did people bring their laundry along just so they wouldn't miss anything important?

6. Presuming the fish and bread were miraculously multiplied, was there ONE basket that was miraculously turned into twelve?

7. If so, and the boy brought a meager meal in his basket, it had to be rather small so "making" eleven more wouldn't hold much.

I know the fundamentalists among you will say things like, "The baskets aren't important to the story. Get over it." or "You have too little faith," or "Burn the heretic at the stake!"

I don't mean to imply that my faith is lacking, but these little questions sometimes refuse to leave my head (there being so much room for them to bounce around), and sooner or later, I'll become a basket case.