Diana Stewart

Have I mentioned how much fun I'm having with my new toy? I'm having lot's of fun. So far I've made a meatloaf and a batch of dog cookies! When I play I play hard.

My original idea was to christen my new toy with a people cookie recipe - Wild, I know! because I thought that it would be nice to take my toy out for a test spin with actual people food instead of dog treats. While I was on vacation I found this completely awesome cookie recipe in the back of a seven-month-old Martha Stewart Living and I couldn't wait to try it out. When I got the mixer I thought that it was a match made in heaven -  a new awesome mixer and a  new awesome recipe, what could be better?

And then I started to read the recipe in detail. I don't keep grade A maple syrup - Martha  insists that I use pure maple syrup instead of a lesser imitation, she totally read my pancake syrup substituting thoughts, or light brown sugar or sanding sugar or parchment , which is apparently not the same thing as what the Declaration of Independence is written on around the house and I'm not sure my freezer is big enough for a cookie sheet unless its okay for the cookies to bunk with bags of boneless-skinless chicken breasts.  I bet Martha has a special cookie freezer.

It goes onto say Coat baking sheets with cooking spray, line with parchment and coat parchment. How badly behaved is this dough? I mean what the hell? I've made really badly disciplined over-peanut buttered peanut butter dog treats that weren't that sticky. At the end it says cookies will keep for up to 2 days, again, the hell? Two days? Shit. She must mean "Will will keep for two days if left uncovered on the kitchen counter top in an unconditioned house. In August. With the windows shut.". It says it makes 8 dozen cookies... exactly how many of these does Martha think we can eat in two days? And even if we give them away, do you add a note in the clever-hand made-Martha Stewart-y gift box that the giftee better eat these but fast because in less than forty-eight hours the cookies are going to wilt? I mean come on! She can't tell me these cookies have less of a shelf life than a trout.

Even I can't put away eight dozen cookies in two days and I can put away cookies. I'm a machine.  I'm going to make those damn cookies. The Kitchenaid demands it.

I didn't make the cookies first, I made other things first. I met myself half way though, the first thing I made with the mixer was people food. I made a divine meatloaf - the texture was better when the machine did the stirring,  the ingredients were all evenly integrated and it just tasted better than my last loaf. The next day I got word that an old friend (Thank you Facebook!) just got a new puppy and new puppies need homemade dog cookies. Old puppies need them too, Dogger is getting very spoiled by the store bought cookies I've been giving her, and then I thought about the new next doors and that they have a dog and wouldn't it be neighborly to bring them some dog cookies as well? And sadly, I've lost two dogs from my holiday dog cookie list over the last year and I need to fill those spaces. I'm hoping that these new dogs will like the cookies and I can add them to Aunt Cookies list.

The mixer did a bang up job with the cookie dough. I've never had the opportunity to use a dough hook before and damned if it didn't work like a charm. The dough was much smoother and softer than when I did the kneading by hand. I still had to do some, but the machine took care of about 3/4 of the heavy lifting kneading-wise. I just stood there and added a little more water and a little more flour and the machine did the rest. All I had to do was the "fun part".

And it was fun.  Yay. Small kitchen appliance win!