Santa came early . . .

[dugarner]

Well, Santa didn't come and visit (yet). Hubby did this morning, though. I was baking Christmas cookies for church members last week (I made 12 dozen last weekend, and need to do 18 dozen this weekend), mixing the dough using my hand mixer which I've had since college.

At the end of mixing gooey butter cookie dough, I saw smoke, sparks, and smelled burned rubber. Yes, my mixer gave up.

I thought I needed to let it rest, but this morning when I tried to turn it on, it wouldn't run. Hubby said, okay, you need a Christmas present to cheer you up.

He put a huge bag on my lap . . . and I opened a Kitchen Aid Artisan tilt-head mixer! I'm an avid cook, though not adventurous, and I routinely prepare meals and/or dessert for 20-50 people, depending on the event. I've been wanting one of these for fifteen years, but they are so expensive!

If anyone uses one, please give me tips on what I can do with it. (Besides the obvious cookies, cakes, bread, etc.) I'm planning on acquiring the pasta attachment rather soon.

A friend already showed me how to shred chicken with it. I make a ton of recipes with shredded chicken and I don't like the texture of cubed chicken where shredded is called for, so I'm really excited about that!

What do you like to make with yours?

[Scrapbird]

I can't help with ideas, Sarah, but I hope you really enjoy it!!

[dorah]

Sounds like Santa brought you the perfect present. Have fun.

[PaulaSG]

That's wonderful Sarah! Santa brought me one a number of years ago and I love it! I use the dough hook for making pizza dough. Other than that, I mostly make cakes and cookies. It's so much speedier than a hand-held! Enjoy!

[echogirl]

congrats Sarah. Cakes, cookies, muffins, icing, marshmallow are so much easier to make!! enjoy!

[Starlite9711]

Shredding chicken??? Please elaborate!!! I love my KA, but I guess I just use it for the normal stuff cookies, cakes, dough...

[dugarner]

Originally Posted by Starlite9711

Shredding chicken??? Please elaborate!!! I love my KA, but I guess I just use it for the normal stuff cookies, cakes, dough...

Bailey, the recipe says "A great trick to getting perfectly shredded chicken in just seconds.... throw the cooked chicken into your Kitchen Aid stand mixer with the cookie paddle attachment. Turn it onto speed 4-6 and in just 20 seconds you'll have perfect, restaurant style shredded chicken. Tip: Make sure the chicken is warm/hot before you shred it. Refrigerated chicken is harder and may harm your mixer."

[dugarner]

Originally Posted by echogirl

congrats Sarah. Cakes, cookies, muffins, icing, marshmallow are so much easier to make!! enjoy!

Ugh, I see insulin in my near future. Either that or I'll need to open a bakery so I'm not eating all the good stuff!

[anke]

Well, congratulations, that is awesome! I have had mine for years, they don't wear out I just use it for the usual, bread, cookies, cakes etc. Thanks for the tip on the chicken, that might come in handy It seriously whips everything up in no time at all! Enjoy!

[Jen D]

I love mine Sarah... my hubby bought me one in October for a early bday present so I could use it for holiday baking. I have baked up a storm this year

My favorite thing is making pizza dough.... it comes out perfectly

[beehive50]

Oh, my... that's fabulous, Sarah! I've always said that if I had a KA, I would become a great cook/baker! (Since I don't do either very often... LOL) And, I think hubby's a keeper... he did better than Santa on this one!

[KimR+]

Lucky you!! What a wonderful gift and such a sweet and thoughtful hubby!! I love shredding chicken in my mixer!! Such s great time saver, and it's shreads beautifully!

[kcar08]

Oh, what an awesome gift! I have one and don't use it as much as I should. I have never heard of shredding chicken in it, though - will have to try that one!

Enjoy your early Christmas present!

[lisa.hinrichs]

I love all kitchen Aid products. I got my stand mixer first as a gift from my DH at least 10 years ago. I have the juicer attachementand love it for making tomato juice an V8 Juice with vegis from the garden. We just steam the tomatoes and other vegetables until they are soft and drop them trhough the juicer, it separates the pulp and juice from the seed skins then you can can it to use a juice or add to other canning recipes like spaghetti sauce, pizza etc. I put up a lot of product from my garden ever year and this handy dandy tool has made it a lot easier than using a food sieve.

Merry Christmas and thanks so much for the pulled chicken recipe. I wonder if it would work with pork and beef too?

[dugarner]

Originally Posted by lisa.hinrichs

I put up a lot of product from my garden ever year and this handy dandy tool has made it a lot easier than using a food sieve.

Merry Christmas and thanks so much for the pulled chicken recipe. I wonder if it would work with pork and beef too?

Merry Christmas to you, too! I think it would work just as well with pork and beef, in fact, I was considering using it as a catalyst to try tamales over Christmas. My hubby asks for them but I have no clue---particularly, I don't have a great steamer setup for the husks. Anyway, I make a lot of pulled pork, I'll try it! I plan on making my twice-baked potatoes with it on Sunday, as well.

[ang66]

How wonderful for you!! Merry Christmas!!

[KimR+]

I've shredded pork in my mixer!! I'm not a huge red meat fan so I haven't done anything other than chicken and pork!

[carollee]

Sarah I am green with envy, you lucky duck.

But I am so disappointed that you missy haven't told us, nor anyone has asked you, what colour did you get?

I want to get a red one (cause red goes fast yanno) but I live and dream.

[Janet1949]

Wow Sarah, what a fantastic gift, they are soooo expensive here, but oh so gorgeous, I love the red one too Carol.. one day!!!

[dugarner]

Originally Posted by carollee

Sarah I am green with envy, you lucky duck.

But I am so disappointed that you missy haven't told us, nor anyone has asked you, what colour did you get?

I want to get a red one (cause red goes fast yanno) but I live and dream.

Ooh, well, it's silver. Hubby asked me last week in a rather nebulous way, do you like red, silver, or black? I said if it's for clothes, I like red. If it's for the kitchen or the table, silver (because I don't at all care for gold). I don't like black. The store he went to had one of each color, so he got silver. If I had known that's what he was asking me about, I probably would have said red, but I love the silver, too. Very professional looking. It looks great on my counter!

[sal4gal]

I have been using mine for 36 years and it is still going strong!!! You will LOVE it!

[Limequilla]

It beats egg whites very well - many, many egg whites into beautiful meringue or cholesterol-free souffles. Here's the recipe for the souffles. A dozen egg whites, or at least 1 1/2 egg whites per person (use the yolks for flan or custard - just refrigerate for up to 3 days); 3 Tbs sugar (superfine if you have it); and a can of SOLO date filling (these are 12 1/2 oz cans and they are either way up high on the shelf in the grocery or way down low, but look near the apple pie filling). Open the can, beat the egg whites until pretty stiff and with the machine still running, add the date filling by the spoonful until it looks pretty dark. You will not use the whole can, but you can make a separate sauce with it by adding some water and heating it all together in a saucepan. Then put the batter into little individual ramekins and bake them in a waterbath at 350. I forget how long, but I believe it's 20 minutes. They go waaaay high and are very dramatic for Christmas. As soon as the first person puts their spoon into it, it goes really really flat - it's pretty funny to watch people's faces when it happens to them. I usually take the extra Solo filling and thin it with a tablespoon of water or a little more, and heat it in a saucepan and serve it as a sauce.

I used to make these for Christmas dinner dessert because my brother in law was diagnosed with high cholesterol, and just ran the mixer during dinner (away from the dining room table because of the noise) and then excused myself halfway through dinner to throw them in the oven. I served them hot, hot, and put them right on my good china dessert plates which never broke, but I was always worried they might. Now he's on Lipitor and he gets apple pie and ice cream with the rest of us. LOL!

New topic: I burned up my first Artisan the day I got it. I think it was a lemon, but I want to tell you about it because they were really bitchy about replacing it. I made egg noodles and I used the noodle recipe in the Kitchen aid cookbook that came with the pasta maker attachment (or else it came with the mixer itself). I prepared it exactly as they said and smoke started coming out of the motor housing. I shut it down as soon as I noticed, but my mixer wouldn't work again. This was the SAME DAY I bought it, and the Kitchen Aid person on the phone accused me of several things, one of which was not using one of their recipes. I really was put off by her attitude, but I really wanted my mixer!!! I guess I was just going to say to put it through its paces while it's still new and under warranty - even sooner than that, within a couple weeks. Use every attachment and make lots of stuff with it!!!

[Melissa Hill]

You are sooo lucky! This will also be on my list for the next 15 years and one day I'll get one and come back and ask you for recipes and tips!! Have fun with it!!

[emfullante]

Yay for you! I love my Kitchen Aid and have for years! I bake a lot of bread/pizza and love that the mixer does ALL of the kneading for me. I haven't kneaded dough in years. It also turns heavy cream and a wee bit of sugar into whipped cream in no time. No more Cool Whip for us!

[dugarner]

I made candied pecans on Christmas Eve, it whipped that egg white up in about 10 seconds. Actually, it did it a little more slowly than my hand mixer, but it did it BETTER. It was a more consistent texture, for sure. I also mashed my potatoes with it for twice-baked potatoes last night. Delicious! I want to make a cheese ball tonight for part of our dinner, too.