A Fortunate Baker

Internet, I would like to introduce you to a recent acquisition of mine. You might be familiar with it. Maybe you even have one yourself. But I wager that no one loves theirs as much as I do mine. If you would prefer not to spend your time reading a love letter to a mixer, you might want to move on. Perhaps to this post, as it is one of my favourites. We'll see you later then.

I have coveted the Kitchen Aid stand mixer for years. I haven't always been a baker, but once I became familiar with the high of the perfect muffin or cupcake (some people speak of a runner's high, but I prefer the one induced by the combination of flour, eggs, and sugar), I knew we were meant to be. Me and the Kitchen Aid, that is. A graduate student budget, however, does not allow for kitchen purchases of this sort, so I waited. And waited. I didn't even include one on our wedding registry because I feared our generous guests might roll their eyes, What kind of graduate students do they think they are? Kitchen Aid stand mixers are for professionals. Or for people who have savings accounts. But my mum, always the keen observer, saw that my kitchen was a hollow shell without one, and last year she offered to gift me with one of my very own to celebrate the completion of my PhD, maybe in a year. I should have known then that if my greatest motivation for writing my dissertation was a mixer, then I was probably in the wrong field.

Fast-forward one year. Having mourned the loss of my plans for a PhD, I began wondering when I would afford my Kitchen Aid. I certainly wasn't going to ask mum about her promised gift, since I hadn't fulfilled my end of the bargain. But of course, since I have the most generous mum on the planet, out of nowhere last week she told me that she'd like to buy me one. Of my very own. Mum, it is so, so, so beautiful, and very, very, very red. Thank you for knowing how happy it would make me, and I only wish you lived closer to enjoy some of the baking. Oh yes, there will be baking.

It arrived yesterday and I certainly couldn't go to bed without trying it out. Just a little spin. I decided to try these millet muffins from the soon-to-be-released, Super Natural Every Day, by Heidi Swanson. I had never eaten millet before last night, and maybe it was the magic of my new red mixer, but these muffins were perfect. The millet is a bit crunchy, and the muffin was light and not too sweet. I think you should find yourself some millet today and try these out.

Now if you'll excuse me, my mixer needs a little polishing.
Thanks, mum xxx