THE HAMILTON BEACH

Mixing cookie dough is hard work. WHEW. Glad that part of it is finished. I was thinking about Mother's counter top Hamilton Beach mixer and how it would drone when the batter was heavy. Perhaps I listened carefully because the beaters would be ready to lick and I had to be quick to get one before Greg got two.

It isn't that I can't have a counter top mixer, it is just that it is a space taker when one doesn't bake anymore often than I do. But it is hard on the arthritic hands when you are squeezing the dough between your fingers. Well, maybe it is really good for them but it doesn't feel like it.

I was also thinking about those big Hobart floor standing mixers the school system used and how they would mix the dough for a few hundred buns at a time. And it seemed so easy! Why? Because they had the right tools.

And isn't it that way about most things? Have the equipment one needs to make the task pleasurable?

And what about upgrading? How does that work? Does an appliance quit or does it serve its purpose and is replaced by a much better product? And is the product much better or do we learn to use it for its full function?

Take the case of an iron. Seems simple enough. Grandma used one hot off the stove. We have a gas iron in the basement. Mother had a dry iron for years but it didn't matter because she sprinkled everything, rolled it up and ironed the next day. My iron quit. DONE. And I bought a professional iron to replace it. GLIDES who ever knew ironing could be so easy.

Now when it comes to knives most of us have tried the electric knife route and found the only thing it is really great for is angel food cake and bread. We have a drawer full of old knives, yours, mine, ours, Erna's and Ella's. That is, until Tom bought me two wonderful paring knives with a great handle that works for these old hands. This signaled a replacement for all the old stuff and a time to retire the fillet knives.

We went on a hunt to find a big, mean butcher knife in the same style and brand of the paring knives and can't find one. So we ordered a set from a well known retailer. It seemed like a great buy and if they were that good, we would buy another as a gift.

And the box arrived. And instead of knives.....IT WAS A POT!!! Now, we can't use those sort of pots on our glass top stoves so I sent it back. And when I got the notice the item had been shipped, it did not say POT RETURNED, KNIVES IN SHIPMENT. It said knives returned and knives in shipment. And I growled.

And then, MST stated they probably did it that way because they didn't have a line which read WRONG ITEM sent. So, now we wait, will we get a pot or knives?

Maybe it will be a counter top mixer and the dough rounded up on the cabinet can get tossed in for good measure!

Where is Hamilton Beach and the two white glass bowls when you need them?

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