Tuesday, February 5, 2008

the cadillac of mixers

One of my fellow bloggers and lifetime friends has emailed me and asked me to give the ins and outs of my Kitchen aid mixer. Mwah? What do I think of it and why does she need it? Well, you just need it. Does there have to be a reason? I feel that mine doubles as a priceless kitchen tool and a beautiful work of art. ART, I say. That should be enough right there for you to jump on the band wagon.

What can you do with it? More like what can't you do with it? The main and most obvious, mix. Stir, whip, blend. Do you need some fresh whipped cream? You got it. Pull out your handy whisk. Need to make some muffins? Then the paddle is what you want. Egg whites, no problem. (Okay, now I am beginning to feel like that guy on the infomercials that wears the chef hat.) Like to make bread? It comes with a dough hook. Virtually kneads the dough right in front of your eyes.

Those are pretty much the standard things you can do. BUT, it has a bajillion attachments. Like the ice cream maker. Which my husband uses every week. Some fresh cream, vanilla, eggs(if you want)...set it to mix and next thing you know...you have fresh ice cream. It has, are you ready for this one? A pasta attachment. Make the dough, feed it thru the pasta piece and voila....thin, even sheets of pasta dough. Then you can also purchase different pastas cutters. We have the fettucini one. You can grind your own meats, make your own sausages, and strain fruits and veggies. The latter is nice if you are into canning and preserving food. The list goes on and on.

There are, of course, varying sizes that you can get. I have one of the largest. I use it all the time. Really. I can make like dozens and dozens of cookies at once. When you have 3 kids and 2 parents with a sweet tooth that is very important. When we get moved into the new house I am going to be branching out and trying my hand at bread making. Hot, steamy loaves of artisan breads. I am sure I will have to go thru tons of flour and many trials before I get a good loaf, but hey. What's life if you dont have any goals?

The one and only one down side that I can think of for my specific model is that I would really prefer it to have a tilt back head instead of a bowl-lift. The tilt back heads are just easier, I feel, to negotiate and much easier to clean.

So, any recipe, big or small. It can handle the job. Once you try it you will have to have it. Once you have it, you will not know how you ever got along without it.

9 comments:

Mim said...

Whaaaa??? She doesn't have one of these? How can this be?

Lori Stewart Weidert said...

Hmm. Did you see how much you PAID for that thing? With my current lifestyle, I'm still not convinced. I'm not a sweets person, or much of a bread person, though cinnamon rolls sound good. I'd try my hand at the pasta. I love ice cream so much that I just can't have it around me (Hi everyone, My name is Lori and I'm addicted to ice cream).

Well. Someday. In the meantime, I sent this link to Clint, who has been buying up Wusthof knives on e-bay like crazy. If you need to know anything about them...ask him!

frugalmom said...

Gnightgirl: Well, I didnt see the list price, but I can tell you I didnt pay that amt. I paid $350. I purchase it online, but not thru them. The knives are too funny. Shawn and I have been researching them like crazy. The brand you mentioned is on his list...of 2. Tell me more. Are they great? Worth the money? Sharp?

Anonymous said...

Ohh, I so want one of these things!! But, I'm with gnightgirl. I've never been able to handle that price tag.

frugalmom said...

farm mom: Let me tell you a story. I wanted a mixer so badly that when my 3 yr anniv came along and my hubby was going to spend some money we had been saving to get me a new diamond ring....I passed on the ring and got a mixer instead. It is not the one I have now...it was a smaller one....I ended up selling it and then getting the bigger mixer last year. They last forever...it helps to think of them more as an appliance then just a pricey kitchen gadget.

Crazy Young Black Women said...

I cant not agree more I LOVE LOVE LOVE my mixer. Its the best thing ever. I have a tilt head and it is much easier to deal with if you do not have a lot of counter space, so I am not hitting my head on the cabinet. I recieved the ice cream maker attachment for Xmas from my lovely boss, but have yet to use. My next adventure will be the attachment that does slicing....

sugarcreekfarm said...

My only regret is not buying a bigger one. But of course the thing will never die so I can upgrade. A good thing, I know, but still.

Christy said...

I just got mine in September and love it! I'm not sure how I got to 37 without owning one.

I got mine refurbished on Amazon for $160. It works great.

Anonymous said...

Man, I still remember being in a friend's kitchen when I was a child and COVETING their mixer. I got one of the smaller models a few years ago as a gift. I don't use it weekly, but I do use it often. I luurrrv it. I expect it'll be around for a long time.

They are expensive, though - I'd recommend adding an "items wanted" post to Craigslist. Maybe it could be a trade? (your mixer for a batch of cookies a month! or something!) You never know...