I love getting things in mail. The sense of excitement I get when I open the mail box and see something inside is great. Over the years, I have signed up to receive various catalogues so now, it is a very rare occurrence for me to open the mailbox and see nothing inside. I am embarrassed to say that most of the time, the catalogue goes unread and finds its way into the recycling bin rather quickly. My favorite things to receive in the mail are cards, wedding save the dates and invitations and of course packages. Today was a great day, as I came home to find a package, from a loyal blog reader, waiting and I had no idea what it was.
I brought the box upstairs to our apartment and hurried to open it. Inside was something I have been obsessing over for longer than I would like to admit – a glass, anniversary edition KitchenAid bowl (and just when you thought I couldn’t get any dorkier…)
I have wanted a KitchenAid for years. Basically, as soon as I found Martha Stewart owned one, I wanted one for my own kitchen. Growing up, my mom baked a lot, but for some reason she never upgraded from her hand mixer to a KitchenAid. Once I graduated and got my own apartment the thought of buying myself a KitchenAid as a house-warming present, entered my mind. I just couldn’t justify spending so much money on a present for myself, especially when I wasn’t baking that much. Like my mom, I settled for a hand mixer and added it to my Christmas list that year.
However the thought of the mixer lingered and I visited many Macys, William Sonoma and Bed, Bath and Beyond stores to “visit” the glorious machines. A year ago, I told myself that if I found a new job, I would reward my hard work and finally buy a mixer. I picked out the size and color and was ready to drop more than 300 dollars, so that I too, could bake like Martha. Last June, at the beginning of the month, I was offered my current job. While I had met the requirements I set forth for myself, I still couldn’t bring myself to buy the mixer. Matt and I were moving into a new apartment and I didn’t want to overwhelm him with countless kitchen supplies and tools (Silly me, I actually cared about his opinions back then!)
Well, lo and behold… my mom came to the rescue. She realized that I, much like her, couldn’t justify spending so much money on something that I didn’t really need – the hand mixer worked just fine. Macy’s had a sale one weekend and she purchase me the cobalt blue KicthenAid mixer as a housewarming gift. When it arrive in the mail, it was love at first sight.
Right around the holidays, my parents came to visit me and we stopped in at William Sonoma. I spotting the anniversary edition KitchenAid mixer right away. At first, I wasn’t impressed. The mixer was red, which doesn’t really get me too excited; however, then I noticed the bowl. Unlike my mixer that came with a stainless steel bowl, this one came with a glass bowl. As soon as I saw it, I had to have it. Unfortunately (or fortunately according to Matt) the bowl was not sold separately and I was NOT going to buy another mixer, no matter how much I wanted that bowl.
I have searched for the bowl on google, kitchenaid.com, amazon and eBay. Sadly, all of my searches came up empty. I told my mom of this sadness, which she clearly understood. I told myself that the stainless steel bowl was perfect as it matched my appliances and I eventually moved on.
However, when I came home from work today and opened this unexpected package, all of my original feelings came rushing back. I immediately washed the bowl and started searching my refrigerator and cupboards to see if I could scavenge together enough ingredients for ANY of my baking recipes. Thankfully I ALWAYS have the basic baking ingredients on hand (flour, sugar, vanilla, eggs, etc) and I was able to bake a vanilla cake.
I am now sitting on the couch, perfectly content with my new glass bowl and my beautiful cakes, which are cooling on wire racks in the kitchen. The delicious smell of melted butter has taken over our apartment and I am happy.
Stay tuned to find out if the cake actually tastes good (Matt will be the judge of that as he is typically my taste tester). I will post pictures tomorrow after I have decorated the cake. Please leave suggestions for decorating ideas. Just remember that I am not Duff from Ace of Cakes, although I wish I was.
The Little Things 