Here's that salad I ate a few days ago on the new plates I bought. Gold star for color!
I'm proud of the plates mostly because the bowls are good for udon (once I find/make it) and the mugs feel good. I kinda wish it was a set of 6, not 4, but what can you do? Practically speaking, I don't need service for 8.
And I made chocolate mousse tonight! It tasted...exactly like it came from a Kitchenaid manual-slash-recipe book. (Which it did.) Think like the nougat from a 3 Musketeers bar, but chocolaty. Yeah. Sad. But I got to try the hand blender out (it's huge!) and I didn't have to separate eggs, so yay me. Someday I'll try real chocolate mousse. Someday.
Riiight. I bought a hand blender because it was super on sale. Sue me. Once I started comparing kitchen appliances to shoes, I got all spendy. I mean, I'm willing to drop money on shoes, but I balk at kitchen items? Where's the logic in that? Yes, the hand blender is way frivolous, but so were those silver boots I love so much but have only worn once. And that blender was way cheaper than the silver boots.
...I would cut off the proof of purchase stickers for the three mixers I've received and send them in for three $30 rebates and six magazine subscriptions. (It'd be three copies each of two magazines, but hey, I've got friends!) All it takes is the proof of purchase and a dated packing slip. Man. But I'm all for respecting karma, so I'll just send in the final one. So long as it arrives by March 31st. If it doesn't arrive in time, I'm totally using one of the old ones to get the rebate in time.
And yep, I think it's about time I added a new label. (See end of post.)
Ohhhhh, and the itchy fingers bought some nice measuring spoons and measuring cups. (Not me! The itchy fingers!) The guilt is pretty bad, but I'll need them eventually! And I went through two sets in college, mostly because I was fond of using the tablespoon for scooping cookie dough. So now, no more paint scraping off! No more rubbed off measurement labels! I'll...buy a melon baller for scooping cookie dough...[updated 3.19: "melon ballers for cookies" are called dishers, and they come in a bunch of different sizes. Another gadget! I'm screwed.] And it's not like I bought the All-Clad ones that are "inspired by their classic sauce pan". Or the ones made to look like normal spoons, as humbly appealing as they are.
For those of you who appreciate how absurd I am, the UPS guy will be coming at least four times in the next week...probably more like six times. He's already been here at least ten times. Blame the mixers. And the itchy fingers.
Look! Shiny!
And shinier! (= more expensive!)
Not as shiny, but I bet I would accidentally use one for cereal.Today was like Christmas! My dad remembered a bunch of extra kitchen stuff in the den--castoffs from my grandmother when she moved to a smaller house, and from my aunt who left stuff here after she moved--and hauled it out for me. Three boxes! The first box wasn't that exciting...a Laurel Birch mug, (link to image search, you'll know it when you see it), some unappealing stemware, and a box for a sauce pan that contained a couple glasses and a dolphin paperweight that I used to be fascinated by as a child. I might take that.
Boxes 2 and 3 made up for the first box. Pyrex bakeware! A pizza pan! A lead crystal serving bowl! I won't list it all, but much more useful than, say barbecue tongs. Although I do see the merit in keeping those for later. Hmm. Anyway.
All the stuff that should've gone with me to college (well, not the lead crystal) but ended up forgotten in a corner of the den. All the things that should've gone to my sister had she not inherited all of my college stuff. Lucky me! My embarrassingly long list of kitchen supplies has been cut down, and I can feel a little less guilty about buying a giant stand mixer and an immersion blender before getting practical things like, oh, plates and cups. Plates and cups have a better chance of breaking in a big move! Ha. I just came up with that justification.
So yay for saving things! I just know there's more (from where I'm sitting I can see a juice pitcher and tumbler set and more tupperware), but this is a good start. Also, I feel a little bad pawing through my parents' stuff, even if they've never used it.
It has as an even bigger patch of missing paint. Like someone smeared it while the paint was still setting.
I wonder how long it's going to take before I get a flawless mixer? I feel a little guilty, because that's another trip for the UPS guy, but I wouldn't stand for a shirt with a hole in it, no matter how small. Yes, it's a cosmetic flaw, and I wouldn't be surprised if I someday chipped a little paint off myself. Yet I'm not going to settle for a $250 piece of equipment that's been "broken in" for me.
::sigh::
Mixer #2 is going back because there's a chip in the paint, the size of half of a pencil eraser. There's a chance it'll rust, so the customer service rep didn't want to take any chances. (I even asked if I could keep it once I realized she wanted to send me a new one. I'm going to be really sad if I get downgraded...)
It's a great mixer, works fine. But the time line is getting ridiculous:
2.11 ordered the mixer
2.14 mixer arrived with a nicked electrical cord and a scraped paddle
3.06 mixer #2 arrives with a defective whisk.
3.07 mixer loses paint
3.08 customer service says it's going back.
I should've kept my mouth shut.
Yesterday I got my package from JCrew. I splurged on final sale scarves. Too bad one came in black instead of the bright blue I wanted, and it's vanished from all retail stores "from Boston to Los Angeles." I think I'll keep it, because it was $15 and I'm too lazy to go to a real store to see if I prefer "heather latte," "heather silver," or "muslin." At least it's not a terrible color, and it's wasn't something I was really attached to in the first place. I'm just a sucker for a $15 scarf.
So that's my JCrew story. Today's story is more exciting.
Today the UPS guy came again (poor guy, that's the fifth time in a month) with my replacement mixer. Hooray! It even came in a pretty box with all the features printed on the sides. (The first mixer came in a regular cardboard box.) And I opened it! And it's...the wrong color. Crap, I thought. Two days in a row. At least it's not white. It's this pearly greenish color.
Which only is available on the pro 600 mixers, the top consumer model at the moment.
And then it sank in, I got an upgrade! For free! Should I tell them? It's on the invoice, so that means they know what happened, right? After I set up the new mixer and checked for flaws (none! except that one of the wires on the whisk was detached--I'll just swap that with the old one), I wondered if I should report the error. That's a $100 difference on amazon. I finally decided to be a terrible, opportunistic person and keep the new one.
Then my mother came home, read the invoice, and noticed this lovely line that I overlooked:
DO NOT TRW NO PRODUCT LEFT.
And that, according to me, means that they didn't have any more pistachio 450 watt mixers. Instead of trying to give me a different color (or maybe because they were completely out of that model), they gave me the closest color in a 600 watt mixer. Hooray! Hooray for KitchenAid customer service! And absolutely, hooray for dumb luck.
I'm going to break it in tomorrow with that molasses cookie recipe. Hopefully nothing explodes on the initial run. But still, yay for happy endings!
They're multiplying.
Like Pepper (the family dog), but smaller and dare I say it, smarter.I'm on another "everything is awesome on the internet" binge. (Currently lusting after sneakers in different bright colors.) Luckily, I don't splurge on internet shopping that often. Last week (hat, mixer, cd, books), was an exception. Tonight I found something fitting for Gwynwong:
Pointy!Today I got presents! Well, presents from me, and not in celebration of Valentine's day, but still, presents! I got the Cat Empire CD (only 10 bucks! recorded in Cuba!) and my giant kitchenaid mixer. Hooray! It's huge and heavy, and we were totally going to be friends and make molasses cookies, but then it decided to be all shitty.
(Here comes more kitchenaid obsession!)
Well, not that shitty. But the flat beater slightly scraped the bottom of the bowl, scraping the paint off the bottom of the flat beater. I think. I called customer service, and she listened to my mixer over the phone, and made me put a dime in the bowl to prove that it was doing what it was supposed to (all that metal on metal scraping just makes me cringe), and tried to convince me that it probably came that way or it happened at the factory. She was nice though, and eventually gave in and said she'd send me a new flat beater. Whee!
And then I mentioned problem #2, a nick in the electrical cord. The cord's thick enough, right? It's not a big deal, right? Wrong. Dam-mit. Those cords aren't detachable like they are on sunbeam mixers. So that means the whole thing's going back. She was pretty firm about that. I didn't even get to ask if I had a 90-day warranty like amazon.com said, or a year long warranty like the pamphlet says. But it's pretty hassle-free. All I have to do is pack up my old mixer, wait for a new one (a couple more weeks, sigh), and a few days after that, UPS will pick up the first machine for free. For free! Kitchenaid gets an A+ for customer service from me. The only thing I have to worry about is whether the next mixer is the right color and if it's louder than the first one (which, strangely, is an issue). Pretty great.
So, bye bye new mixer, glad we got to spend the afternoon together.
Didn't even get to name it. Bummer.[Summary: This post is about obsessing over Kitchenaid mixers. With lots of research links. Just to warn you.]
So I've been baking lately, mostly out of boredom. I've baked molasses cookies (that recipe) five times in the past month, and I'll need to find a new favorite recipe soon, because I'm getting bored with that fantastic spicy flavor. (Say it ain't so!) But since I've been baking, and that recipe makes a pretty sticky dough, I've become very good friends with two stand mixers, a Sunbeam from the 70's (Mom's) and an even older Sunbeam (Grandma's). Lots of coaxing and hand mixing, so the motor doesn't burn out. Grandma's mixer's on/off/speed changer switch no longer works, so you have to plug it into a power strip with a switch to turn it on or off. One speed only. We became very good friends.
So that explains why I've been obsessed with stand mixers. Today as I was procrastinating on the internet (I swear I'll get the car washed tomorrow!), I found a Kitchenaid that's on sale on amazon (sweet sweet amazon!), and told my mother about it. Even though I won't be moving out any time soon, she advised that I buy it. That's probably the longest, most interesting, and most civil conversation I've ever had with her. Over a kitchen appliance. (A lovely, calming, pistachio green one!) It's a step in the right direction, I suppose. I just found the whole exchange bizarre. Here I am, still unemployed, looking at a $250 stand mixer. That I don't need. I guess it's more practical than a pair of shoes, but still.
And just in case anyone else wants to benefit from my research, here you go:
Kitchenaid
Kitchenaid store (they really need both?)
America's Test Kitchen (a pretty good article--18 mixer test.)
Cooks Illustrated review chart (pdf companion to ATK)
Consumer Search reviews
Fanboy account of visiting the Kitchenaid factory
In a nutshell, Kitchenaid wins, hands down. Although they're pretty heavy. If you do bread a lot, a more powerful motor (pro 600) is better. The lower end Kitchenaids (classic, artisan) can handle it, but they kinda jump around, and take longer to knead bread. The artisan has a bajillion colors to choose from (Tangerine. Grape. And then the expensive metallics.) I'll stop there.
But honestly, it's like when you get a new car, or a trendy shirt. You start seeing it everywhere. I was watching Ugly Betty (I dig it), and her family had two Kitchenaid mixers. I always thought their family was supposed to be kind of poor (in one episode they couldn't afford a Christmas tree!), but if Kitchenaid pays for product placement, then I guess a struggling Latino family in the Bronx can afford two of 'em. Maybe they're refurbished. I hear those are a good deal.
Man, I should really look into that LJ-cut hack for blogger.
But wait! Pictures for dessert! I haven't abandoned my picture-a-day thing--although I've missed a handful--but I don't feel like organizing them now. Have some cookie photos instead.
Grandma's mixer. The piece of paper wrapped around the middle informs you that the dial doesn't work.
Batch #1. They're like a soft gingerbread. Or a gingersnap. 
Batch #3. Look how uniform and puffy!
Batch #4. Not enough spice! But so pretty.
Grandma's scary old molasses. No one got sick, but still. OLD.© Blogger template Newspaper II by Ourblogtemplates.com 2008
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