My new best friend

Meet Beverly.

She was my anniversary present and is my new best friend.  I came home from work on Saturday afternoon to find her sitting on my counter, begging me to play.  I obliged.  I realize that getting a stand mixer is not on everyone's list of highly prized gifts, but let me just tell you little bit about this sweet fine piece of machinery.  First of all, Bev is industrial strength (this is what comes of having a husband who is a chef...we may eat hamburger helper occasionally, but we do not half-ass our kitchen appliances).  Second, third and fourth: she has a paddle attachment, a dough hook and a whisk.  I have dreamed of a stand mixer for years and now it is all I can do to stay away from my cookbooks, looking at all of the things I can make.  I have lists in my head of what Beverly and I are going to create together in the kitchen. 

We started out right away on Saturday afternoon.  I made some coconut infused cupcakes using the paddle attachment.  It made the smoothest cupcake batter and they baked beautifully.  I have since frozen them for Abby's birthday party because I cannot, under any circumstances, eat cupcakes right now...they are not going to help me loose any weight.  Plus, my mother-in-law made us a cake topper for our anniversary, so I've been nibbling on that this week and subsequently not losing any weight because of it.  The Wii actually heckles me.

After I finished the cupcakes, I realized that I had some egg yolks left over and instead of saving them for scrambled eggs, I made an egg bread using the dough hook.  First of all, they were farm fresh eggs, so the yellow color of the yolks is amazing; they have so much more depth than store eggs.  The dough came together in a way that cannot be done when I do all of the mixing by hand.  It made the most gorgeous bread dough I have ever seen; it rose amazingly the first time and then when I punched it down and left it to rise again, I was amazed at how good the dough looked.  And it baked into this:

Crusty and golden on the outside, chewy on the inside...and with butter, it makes a great snack!  My house smelled heavenly on Saturday and Abby could hardly contain her excitement.  I used to make bread every weekend.  I liked the idea of something homemade and wonderbread, while good in a pinch, just does not have the same texture and fill-factor as homemade bread.  And there is something cathartic about kneading dough and watching it rise and have that yeasty smell fill up the entire house.  Abby got used to homemade bread and told me she was kind of disappointed when we stopped doing that every weekend.  I don't think I'll go back to making bread every week because we just don't eat that much bread in our house, but maybe once a month I'll pull out that dough hook and go to town! 

In the meantime, I have a recipe for honey rolls that I want to make for Thanksgiving.  And I want to make some cookies with Beverly...some Rocky Road cookies, to be exact, and Christmas cookies are going to be so much fun to make this year.  And I have to use the whisk attachment yet, so I guess a lemon meringue pie is in our future - or I'll make a pumpkin pie and whip some fresh cream or I could make a pecan pie...I found a recipe for pecan pie with a ginger crust, so I'll add that to the list.   I also want to make a mashed potato casserole with some really smooth, whipped potatoes and cheese...together Beverly and I are going to have a long and lasting relationship.

And this is my sous chef:

He's very helpful in the kitchen.  He likes to babble and suck on his fingers and wiggle and squeal.  He keeps me company and he does not tell me what to do.  Together Finn and I are going to have a long and lasting relationship.