My Favorite Things: In the Kitchen

This is the first of a series of regular posts I will be writing in the coming months. First, you might have noticed that I am finally adding advertising to my blog. I'm a little ambivalent about it, but the fact is, it's time for the blog to start paying its way. With retirement coming in May for me, I'm seeking new ways to pay the bills that will not stop coming when the paychecks stop. So, if advertising on my blog will at least cover my internet cost, I will be a happy blogger.

I promise you, my good readers, one thing: I will not promote anything that I do not personally believe to be worthwhile. The content of some ads are out of my control (you can just bet I would not have George Bush's book on here if was my choice!) but the items I link to and write about are things I have read or that have good reviews elsewhere (the librarian in my speaking), or items I have used or people I know and trust have used and spoken well of--or items that have had good reviews (down, Librarian, down!)

Having said that, I am going to start this series with a kitchen tool I never thought I needed, and actually kept down in the sink cabinet for months because I thought it took up too much counter space: my KitchenAid mixer.


It was actually my mother's mixer, and when we were cleaning out the house after Dad passed away, it ended up with me. Several of my sisters already had them--our aunt had been a food editor at Good Housekeeping for years, and she apparently had mixers to give away from time to time. I brought Mom's mixer home and made space for it on the counter. And never used it. So during a spring cleaning, I put it away in the cabinet.

I got it out again last year at Christmas and my goodness, what was I thinking? Do you know you can actually mix stiff cookie dough in it? And a lot of other things too. Suddenly the mixer became an important tool in my kitchen and I am lusting after the many attachments that can be added to make it even more useful, like juicers, grinders, etc. Mine has a dough hook, and one day I will get back into making bread and try that hook out too. I wish my mixer was red, but shoot, I'm just glad to have one at all!

If you  cook from scratch or do a good bit of cooking, then consider a KitchenAid. I'm a hard sell when it comes to appliances and electrical gadgets, but this, in my book, is no gadget--it's a necessary tool for anyone who likes to cook.

And just for fun, I'm adding the hand mixer, the red bowls, and the mixer cover to the links! I love those red bowls. Maybe they need to go on my "Santa" list for next year.