This year something special happened...my husband bought me a KitchenAid mixer!!! I have wanted a KitchenAid for as long as I can remember. My mom had a KitchenAid. It was yellow...and beautiful...and magical. Now I have one of my very own!
I am not a baker. I try. And try. But I just can't do it. That is, until last Friday. We had planned to get 'the mixer' after I was done with school for the day. I was rife with anticipation all day long.
After school I met my husband and we drove to Sam's. I was giddy, like a little girl. We found our way to the small appliances and I could barely stand it. So many choices! Who would have thought that there could be so many colors to choose from. Red, black, stainless steel, black with stainless steel. I really wanted the red one. It was gorgeous, but red wouldn't match out kitchen decor. I'm not much of a Martha Stewart...but still. I went back and forth, debating with myself about the color...but I just had to have the red one. I put it in our buggy and skipped down the isle. Off to the baking goods.
By the time we were done I not only had the most beautiful mixer in the world, I had new baking sheets, fresh baking ingredients, and crispy, white aprons! I was ready! It wasn't until I got home that I remembered that I was terrible at baking...
Armed with the magical mixer, delicious Ghirardelli chocolate, and garbed in my new apron, I set out to prove something to myself (and to those who have had to eat my cookies). And guess what? A miracle happened! My cookies turned out perfect! Golden, chewy, sugary goodness! I made chocolate chip cookies; peanut butter cookies; oatmeal and chocolate chip cookies with cranberries; sugar cookies; fudge; macaroons, chocolate sandwich cookies with chocolate malt filling, Snicker doodles; and...Russian Tea Cakes. Whew! I have baked everyday, all day, since last Friday. And I have LOVED every minute of it (I do have a weird soreness in my feet and back...).
I'm convinced that it's the KitchenAid. It really is magical. It has to be. After all, I have not changed. I have not had cooking lessons, or spent hours in front of the T.V. watching the Food Network. It must be 'the mixer'. That beautiful apple-red appliance that has a new home on my kitchen counter has brought me a week of joy. A week of rejuvenation and renewal. For the first time in many, many years I have taken plates of cookies to my country neighbors. I spent an hour talking on one neighbor's couch...we have not talked like that in years...
Yep, it's a miracle. And just in time for Christmas!
It turns out...wine and baking are a great mix (Sonoma County Korbel Cabernet, 2007)
~Cab Lover
No comments:
Post a Comment