I thought for a long time about what the first thing I would mix in my new Kitchenaid mixer would be and this past weekend, I finally got to get mixing.
I’ve wanted a mixer for over a year. How anyone goes to a department store and doesn’t drool over the arrangement of brightly colored mixers, I will never know. And finally, my time came.
My brand new KitchenAid Artisan stand mixer in Imperial Black, ready and waiting to start mixing.
I ordered my mixer on Tuesday after long deliberation about exactly what I should get. Is 325 watts enough? Should I get a tilt-head or a bowl-lift? Red or black?
I went around and around with these three factors for a long time before I decided on exactly what I was going to get. My very own KitchenAid Artisan 5qt Tilt-Head stand mixer – in imperial black.
Last week may have been the longest week of my life waiting for it to finally arrive, and when I saw the box sitting on my parent’s doorstep on Saturday afternoon, I was giddy.
I’m not even sure the car was off before I hopped out to retrieve my box. Then, my kitchen was changed forever.
I took it home, unpacked it, and just stared at it for a while. Then, I was ready to mix something!
But of course, I needed to wash the mixing bowl and the beater attachments, so I stuck those things in the dishwasher and went to the grocery store.
I was going to make a chocolate pie. And not some wimpy chocolate pie, either. This is the pie that my family has been making for generations. I had never made it before, but I was ready.
Of course, it didn’t go like I was expecting.
My custard thickened way too fast. I’m talking in less than 5 minutes. The recipe said to expect for it to take 20 minutes. I had no idea what I was doing anymore, but I just kept moving forward.
I poured my custard in the pie shell and started working on my meringue.
It was finally time to turn on my mixer! I’d never made a meringue before, either. (Saturday was a day for trying new things, obviously.)
I whipped my egg whites and got mesmerized at how beautiful they looked in my mixer. Sugar, cream of tartar, vanilla… my meringue was finished!
When the custard and pie shell came out of the oven, I realized how much meringue I had – a lot. As I was spreading it, I felt like I had a foot of meringue on top of a wimpy chocolate pie.
Of course, it ended up being exactly the right amount of meringue once everything was said and done. And the pie was delicious.
Delicious.
Everyone go home and make a chocolate pie. Or some other wonderful family recipe.
(This article was originally published in the Daily Times Leader on Wednesday, April 17, 2013)
