A good marriage involves teamwork, and a bit of coordination. One spouse leaps in the air and floats toward the rim, the other fires the basketball at the perfect moment.
It was my wife's soaring impulse to greet the return of our oldest, who likes to bake, with a stationary mixer. I passed her at the computer in the living room, online, looking at the Cuisinart Precision 5.5 Quart Red Stand Mixer. Good looking, sleek, and it would do the job for $200. I paused, looking over her shoulder.
Not quite.
"I like your thinking," I said. "But get the KitchenAid."
She said thought of that, she said. But the KitchenAid is a lot more. Almost twice as much. This is a better value. It mixes.
"Ninety-nine percent of the time we're just going to be looking at it," I said. "The KitchenAid is a classic. If I'm going to look at at mixer sitting on the counter for the next 20 years, I want it to be the good one."
No, she said, that wasn't happening. Okay, I shrugged. No biggie. It was her project. She could get what she liked. It would still beat eggs.
A while later—a half hour, a half day, three days, so hard to tell during the plague's second year, which looks like it'll be foreshortened, but ain't over yet. I saw her purchasing the KitchenAid in what I call "Tiffany blue." Well look at that. I smiled. I can't tell which made me happier: getting the cooler, better albeit more expensive, machine. Or the fact that I actually had had some input into the running of the household. An idea of mine was good enough to put into action in the living world.
I was even happier when it arrived—heavy—and we opened the box and put it on the counter.
"Our grandchildren are going to be using that," I said, looking at it closely. It gleamed like a gem.
"You never even have to use it," I continued. "In fact, I prefer you don't. I won't get dirty that way."
Here my wife, wisely, chose not to listen to me, and did use it, almost immediately. To bake pinwheels. It isn't like you can buy them anymore. The results speak for themselves.
"You never even have to use it," I continued. "In fact, I prefer you don't. I won't get dirty that way."
Here my wife, wisely, chose not to listen to me, and did use it, almost immediately. To bake pinwheels. It isn't like you can buy them anymore. The results speak for themselves.
Congratulations - a wise decision. Such beautiful pinwheels - they came out just like the picture in the cookbook!
ReplyDeleteBravissimo
ReplyDeleteStuff the grand kids, I'll be buried with my Kitchenaid.
ReplyDeleteHey buddy, you need my mailing address for the extra pinwheels?
ReplyDeleteNot sure why Neil's baker son would need an electric mixer. Seems to me that at least half the fun in baking is in grasping, squeezing, pummeling the dough. Of course, if you're making bread (or cookies) for the masses, I guess you'd need a mechanical device, but for the elite, manual is the way to go, in my opinion.
ReplyDeletejohn
It depends on what bread you want to make. If it's a wet, sloppy dough, like for ciabatta, you definitely want the Kitchenaid. An "elite" baker would even use one.
DeleteGood work, both of you.
ReplyDeleteMy mother had one of those classic black-and-white Sunbeam Mixmasters from the early Fifties. My kid sister always got to "lick the beaters" when it was used. It had all the accessories...even a juicer. I loved watching the oranges become orange juice, which would then pour out of a spout and into a shiny white bowl.
ReplyDeleteMy mother used her Mixmaster for over fifty years. When she moved back North from Florida, and into a senior apartment building, it still worked. So she donated it, along with everything else in her kitchen, to an outfit down there that specializes in the recycling of kitchen equipment. I'm sure somebody snatched it up almost immediately.
We received our Kitchenaid as a wedding gift 25 years ago. For 10 years or so my husband made and sold mini gingerbread houses. That mixer cranked out literally hundreds of batches of the dough and royal icing without fail, one year alone he made over 500 houses. I can't even guess at how many cookies and breads I've made over the years with our Kitchenaid, and it still looks and runs like new. That is one piece of equipment that is worth the money.
ReplyDeleteThe KitchenAid is a fine mixer. I got mine about 10 years ago as a reward for 35 years of service at my company. They have a catalog to pick from and I decided that I was going to try baking when I retired. It is a very relaxing endeavor and I'm getting fairly good at it. My granddaughter asked me to bake her a cake last year for her 10th birthday. The only downside to the mixer is it's weight. So I built a little "garage" to store it on our kitchen counter so that I or my wife can slide it into position when we want to use it.
ReplyDeleteHow the hell did we cook without food processors and Kitchenaids with dough hooks. I remember my mother-in-law making pesto, chopping parley with a double mezzaluna for 15 minutes and making pasta by hand, cutting it by hand, making ravioli freestyle with no fancy molds. Julia Child making all that glorious food with few or no gadgets in a tiny oven.
ReplyDeleteThe Kitchenaid is gorgeous as are the pinwheels.
We bought a Kitchen Aid some thirty years ago that looks just like yours except the bowl isn't chrome plated. It was at the time a major investment which has been more than repaid by good service over the years.
ReplyDeleteTom
Mine sits proudly on my counter just waiting to mix up cookie batter. I’ve had it for >30 years, still works like a charm.
ReplyDeleteI had to leave my first Kitchen Aid behind in storage when we relocated from IL to the EU. I lasted four years before I purchased one that runs 220v. I enjoy life more when I have one in my kitchen. I recommend upgrading to the glass bowl - it makes everything just a bit more fun!
ReplyDelete