An ode to KitchenAid

I recently became engaged, and had 2 engagement parties - one in my home town, one where I live now. My fiance and I were lucky enough to be given 2 amazing KitchenAid appliances as engagement gifts - a food processor and a stand mixer.

The food processor weighs 9kg and comes with so many attachments that you may never need to pick up a knife again. Firstly, there are 3 work bowls of differing sizes. Unless I want to do something really small I think I will stick with the main bowl (the biggest). There is a ultra wide food chute on the lid, and of course something to push the food in with. Then there are blades and plates that will chop into many different shapes and sizes. There is also a dough blade, and an attachment that can be used to whisk eggs. Most of the plates and blades fit into the 2 bigger bowls, and there is a separate blade to use with the small bowl. All the attachments come in a case, so they won't rattle around in your drawers. There are some other attachments you can buy - to cut into different sizes, but the selection that comes with the food processor seems sufficient for a home cook. The warranty is good (10 years) and there are plenty of good reviews of it on the internet.

I have made a chicken salad (for sandwiches), dressing and crushed nuts in it - all so quick, and so easy.

The stand mixer weighs 12kg. I am giving the weights as an indication of just how good the motors on these appliances are. Most of the weight is in the motor in each, and is a significant reason why the appliances are so good.

The stand mixer comes with 1 bowl (4.8 litre capacity) and 3 attachments: a whisk, a dough hook and a paddle. There is no attachment case, but no real need for one as the idea is to keep one attachment on the mixer (I chose the whisk as it takes up the most room) and have put the other 2 with the food processor attachments. There are a lot of other attachments you can buy - an ice cream churner, a sausage maker, a meat grinder, a pasta roller. All of which are unnecessary for now. I think I would buy the ice cream churn if I had a big enough freezer to keep it in. The warranty is, again, generous and many positive reviews abound.

The first item I made using the stand mixer was a batch of cupcakes. I used my tried and true Australian Women's Weekly vanilla cupcake recipe and they were so moist and light. I made a cream cheese icing which was the smoothest I have ever made. I am very much looking forward to making meringues (so much easier than beating the egg whites by hand)