My New Toy

After years of dreaming and ogling over mixers, I finally pulled the trigger and got "the cadillac". Haha.  I am now the owner of a 5 qt Artisan KitchenAid stand mixer in my favorite color - tangerine orange! Steve tried to convince me to pick out a more neutral color, but since it's my toy, I got what I wanted. Plus, it matches all the other orange items in the kitchen like utensils, pot handles, and dishes.  I finally pulled the trigger on it, because I got a FANTASTIC deal on it.  I got a refurbished model for just a little over $200.  The deal is running for a few more days from KitchenAid via Ebay.  I don't understand it, but I got my mixer for the best deal and I'm happy :).

In its inaugural use, I made cloverleaf rolls from scratch.  I've only attempted to use yeast one other time, and it didn't work the best.  This time, I followed the recipe verbatim, and was very successful!  I see much more bread and rolls in our house in the future.  Yum-o!

(I was on a time crunch and needing to get the dough rising.  Bean decided to be difficult and not lay down like she was supposed to.  So instead, I strapped on my other new toy - ergo baby carrier - and got to work with her hanging on.  I even let her "help" by holding onto a measuring cup.  Once I got the dough started, I gave up on my plight to make her nap and let her play instead.)

(Who needs to nap when you can just play?!)

(I had dreams of having fresh hot rolls when Steve got home; however, I was still in the proofing phase.  He walked in the house and immediately smelled the bread and saw the mayhem in the kitchen.  I had a stressful time trying to get the rolls going, make dinner, attempt to get Bean to nap, and clean up the mess in an hour.  I didn't make my time but in the end, everything got semi- accomplished.)

(I got fancy with the rolls and made "cloverleaves".  You take a ball of dough, cut it in half, cut those in half, and place the four pieces in a greased muffin tin.  I followed the recipe that came with the mixer.  I wanted to make sure if they turned out bad, it was because of me and not because of the recipe!)

(Steve wanted to document the mixer.)

(Yum-o!  The recipe made 24 rolls. I put a cap on how many rolls Steve was allowed to eat that evening- no more than 6!  That way, I was able to divide it into 3rds and freeze the remaining 16 rolls to be eaten at other times.  He laughed at my cap, saying that they were filling rolls and he wouldn't eat too many.  He ate 5. I guess that means they are good!)

Now. . . what to make next?!