Dear Santa...

Nathaniel and I moved in together before we were married. Most of our belongings were and still are hand-me-downs. This was a great help to get our household started but everything together made for quite an eclectic mix. We've begun to replace some of the things we have with things that reflect more of our personality, design tastes, and needs. Our furniture is fine for now, so we've been focusing more of our attention on updating our older small kitchen appliances. We both enjoy cooking so we figured this was the best place to start. We've already replaced some pots and pans, and small kitchen gadgets, right down to the towels and dish cloths. Next on our list is our stand mixer. It came to us brand new and has worked out ok for small jobs, but it's a cheaper brand and the quality isn't very good. The "stand" for our mixer is a flimsy plastic contraption that has been used maybe once or twice. The good thing about it is that it's removable! Try making Divinity with that thing! Between watching things on the stove and mixing other ingredients it was a hazard. It gets a weird smell if it runs for too long at too high a speed, it's loud and with the stand it's very tipsy. Not fun to work with at all!

By the way here's my favorite recipe for Divinity. It came to me from my Grandmother when I got married. It's one of the hand-me-downs I'll never replace. The holidays just aren't the same without my Grandmother's Divinity. She makes it every year, I guess I'll be the one to carry on the tradition when she is no longer able.

To the recipe...

Divinity

2 ^1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1/2 cup water
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 egg whites
1/2 cup chopped pecans or cherries (optional...my Grandma used cherries...yum!)

1. In a 2 quart saucepan combine sugar, corn syrup, water, and salt.
2. Cook to hardball stage, (260 degrees), stirring only until sugar dissolves.
3. Meanwhile, as temperature of syrup reaches 250 degrees, beat egg white till stiff peaks form.
4. When syrup reaches 260 degrees, very gradually add the syrup to egg whites, beating at high speed with electric mixer.
5. Add vanilla and beat until candy holds its shape, 4-5 minutes.
6. Stir in the chopped nuts or cherries, if desired.
7. Quickly drop candy from a teaspoon onto waxed paper, swirling the top of each piece.
8. Let cool.

My mouth is watering already!


Ok, back on topic...

I've been looking about online for a nice stand mixer and have been ogling a Hamilton Beach® Stand Mixer. This baby has 400 watts of power which is almost double the power of mine! It's quiet, comes with 3 attachments for mixing, and it has 12 mixing settings...again, double what mine has. It's also a lot sturdier which would make my job so much easier. The price is very reasonable too which is important to me. A friend of mine got a Hamilton Beach® Stand Mixer last year for her birthday and she really likes it and uses it. I love to bake but with the mixer I have I rarely do any because it's such a beast to work with.

Christmas is coming up so Santa, if you're reading this, all I want this year is an Eclectrics® Mixer in either "Apple" or "Pineapple", I'm not picky!