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Monday, March 30, 2009

KitchenAid stand mixer - 5 quart Sam's Club

I finally had a REAL chance to put my new KitchenAid stand mixer to the test this past Christmas, I made 8 loaves of banana bread. I made four loaves of banana bread at once and realized very quickly that maybe I should have made only three at one time; it barely made it. But the loaves of banana bread were not the real test; it was the one batch of potato rolls.

The potato roll recipe that I've made for many years in my old stand mixer was always a problem when I added the last cup or two of flour. At that point, the bowl would be overflowing and I would have to quickly shut it off. I knew this recipe would be the real test. I wish I had remembered how large the bowl was on my last stand mixer before I purchased the Kitchenaid stand mixer.

The potato rolls recipe calls for 9 to 10 cups of flour. The box on the Kitchenaid stand mixer said "11 Cups Flour Power", so it seemed it should be the right size. It worked like a charm. I probably could have gone with the next model down, but I'm really glad I went with the 475 watts and 5 quart bowl. I never went past 4 power with the banana bread or the potato rolls. I can't even imagine how fast this thing would go on #10! At the time I purchased this, it appeared that Sam's Club had the best buy on this, with Amazon.com right behind.

Downside?: I'm not sure if it is a downside or not...This one is a bowl-lift design -- I do find it a little annoying when trying to scape the bowl. I'm not sure if the tilt head design might have been better. Before I purchased, I searched the internet for reviews and found reviews that said the bowl-lift design was better. Some say the tilt model has more moving parts to break or get food stuck in. I'm not sure I understand why there are two designs. It seems they should only sell the one that is better. If you're looking for the tilt style, you'll have to go somewhere other than Sam's Club. Try this: Standmixers
on Amazon.com

Would love to hear your comments!

Sunday, March 29, 2009

Hot Tools curling iron

I have FINALLY found a curling iron that works on my hair! I've probably purchased 15 curling irons in my lifetime and 14 of them have ended up in the "curling iron cemetery". Since the only complaint I have with my Hot Tools flat iron is that it gets my hair too straight, I figured it might make sense to look for a HotTools brand curling iron.

I was able to find a 1 1/4" one on eBay for, if I remember correctly, approximately $25 including shipping/handling. The specs on this note that it gets up to a temperature of 430 degrees. I believe it is 85 watts and has an 8-foot swivel cord. No wonder my other ones wouldn't work -- they ranged between 22 and 25 watts!

Sunday, March 22, 2009

Cuisinart Food Processor Pro Custom 11 Review

Just before Christmas I decided to retire my 17-year-old Braun food processor. I decided it was time to be on the look-out for a new one, since some of the plastic parts were breaking. This food processor has been really good to me. If I hadn't heard that Braun was no longer making them for the US (which I'm not sure is true) I would have bought one in a flash!

I was not looking forward to spending lots of time researching which food processor might be the best, so I decided to cheat. A friend of mine had recently purchased a Cuisinart and I knew she had put a lot of time into researching them. I happened to see an ad on television that Macy's had the Pro Custom 11 for only $99. Aside from Macy's, the lowest price I could find on this 11-cup processor was about $150. Given the savings, I decided to purchase it.

With all the cooking and baking I did during the Christmas season, I was able to give it a pretty good workout. The motor is nice and quiet. I was disappointed that it did not come with very many accessories. It came with 3 discs: a shredding disc and the 2mm and 4mm slicing discs. It also came with a spatula, knife blade, dough blade and flat cover. I keep the knife blade inside because it does not have a holder for it like the Braun. The food pusher cover does not come completely apart for cleaning.

I do believe that Cuisinart has become the leader in food processors and I'm not so sure I understand why. I wish I had looked around before I purchased this one and I believe I would NOT have purchased a Cuisinart.

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Kitchen Aid stand mixer - 5 quart Sam's Club

This is a 475 watt professional mixer. Before purchasing, I searched online for reviews and found that this "bowl lift" style was better than the "tilt head" style. I'm not sure yet if I would agree. I will be making potato rolls for Christmas which will give it a really good work out. I'll let you know more after the potato rolls.

I'm very impressed with the noise level and the motor power. I have used it quite a bit and have not yet gone over "3". This seemed to be the best value at Sam's Club.

Monday, March 2, 2009

TGI Friday's Jack Daniel's Sauce

Just sold some Tupperware on eBay and while checking it over to make sure it was clean, I noticed one of the lids was not. Washing it, I could actually smell the TGI Friday's Jack Daniel's Sauce. Yum, Yum, Yum!!! If you have never tried it, I would highly recommend it. I usually purchase a quart bag of it in the bar and marinate steak tips from Sam's Club or BJ's. I leave them in for a couple days, put them in vacuum seal bags, let them freeze overnight, then vacuum seal the bags. They are always a hit with the family and company!

Sunday, March 1, 2009

Ninety Nine, Hooksett, New Hampshire

February 19, 2008 Ninety Nine, Hooksett, NH

I’ll keep this one short and sweet. The portions were too small for the price. We were however, very impressed with the mashed cauliflower. We could not quite identify what spices were in it, though. Garlic? Parmesan maybe? Dessert looked good, but was a big disappointment.

About Me

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Lydia Blogg is a decorator/designer who specializes in designing and fabricating custom window treatments. When Lydia realized she loved her weekend remodeling jobs more than her office job, she made a career change. Through years of hands-on experience, she has become expert in decorating, custom window treatments, interior/exterior painting, tiling, sewing, refinishing furniture, flower arrangements, home and office efficiency solutions, home repairs. She has years of experience in accounting and the list goes on.... Lydia loves to write and is currently working on a weight-loss book. If you have a blog you think Lydia might like to follow, please email her at lydiablogg@gmail.com. Lydia's motto: "It's just as easy to be nice as it is to be mean and rotten!" PLEASE NOTE: The artist has a copyright on all art work on this blog - Thank you for not copying them.