Lady Lunchalot

Mankind has seen the Agricultural Revolution, the Industrial Revolution, the Cultural Revolution, the Sexual Revolution and the Digital Revolution. Each of which has had a profound impact on humankind. And each of which pales in comparison to the revolution that has taken place in our kitchen in the past few weeks. I have come to refer to it as “The KitchenAid Revolution”.

Not only did Jeremy and Quim fly all the way from Barcelona to see O and I get married a few weeks ago, but they also gave us a killer wedding present.

A KitchenAid Mixer.

I have been building a long term fetish interest in this appliance for the past six months, even going so far as to carry a KitchenAid brochure around with me in my handbag so I could drool over the pictures read about these fascinating appliances.

The boys from Barcelona surprised me at the hairdresser the day before the wedding, turning up with a bottle of champagne, some brie and crackers, and a beautiful brand spanking new, shiny red KitchenAid mixer.

Wow.

I managed to take it for a spin on Saturday, whipping up a quick sponge cake (with the Berry Berry Black Cherry Jam I’d made the night before). I moved through the gears slowly at first, watching the beater slide effortlessly through the batter like Ian Thorpe winning an Olympic final, or a Ferrari snaking along the clifftops of the Cote d’Azur.

Then I got cheeky, slipping on the whipping attachment and sliding it up from second gear into third, my pulse racing as I pulled the lever into fourth.

By now my the motor was really revving, the whip circling relentlessly through the batter over and over and over. No sponge cake of mine has ever had that much air!

Biting my lip, I slipped it into fifth to see what this baby could really do.

My heart was racing as I watched the batter thicken and stiffen before my eyes. Ribbons of mixture lay on the surface for a split second before the beater came around again to submerge it as another ribbon would appear in its wake.

Holding my breath, I pulled the lever back to neutral and the KitchenAid lulled into silence, the only trace of the revving machinery that had been roaring only a moment before was my throbbing pulse and sweaty palm resting on the machine’s warm red neck.

Needless to say, it was pretty hot stuff. And my morning’s kitchen shenanigans resulted in the perfect sponge cake for the girl’s lunch that afternoon!

Then today, I found myself home alone again, and could hear the KitchenAid beckoning me from the kitchen bench. I decided to test the dough function and make a bready-pizzary-sausage-shaped creation that I’d been imagining for ages.

I started with a fairly basic bread dough (flour, yeast, water) and added a healthy splash of olive oil. The KitchenAid was a maestro with the dough hook, and I couldn’t help thinking how much hard work it would have been to knead the dough by hand. I let it rise in the bowl for a couple of hours (the kitchen was nice and warm because I was also making lasagne), knocked it back and kneaded again for a couple of minutes. Then I rolled it out to a big rectangle and added some salami, provolone, anchovies, whole roast garlic cloves, fresh basil leaves, a few hard boiled eggs and a smear of tomato paste in a big red stripe down the middle of the dough sheet.

Next I rolled it up into a long sausage, shaped it in a circle and popped the roll into my biggest springform pan to rise near the warm oven for another couple of hours. When it was ready I baked it in the oven with my lasagnes for about 30 minutes.

The bread was perfect - definitely the best bread I have ever made with a fine loose crumb and a crunchy crust.

The KitchenAid has certainly lived up to its reputation. My kitchen will never be the same again.

Many thanks to the Barcelona Boys! Muchos gracias!

It’s arrived! It’s arrived! It’s arrived!

*Ahem*

Allow me to explain. Several months ago I took part in Blogging By Mail, a food bloggers event run by The Happy Sorceress at Dispensing Happiness. Food bloggers from around the world register with The Happy Sorceress and send a food parcel to another food blogger somewhere else in the world. I sent my package off to Europe, however the person who was meant to send one to me vanished mysteriously. The Happy Sorceress felt bad that I missed out, so she put together the mother of all food pacakges and sent it to me via seamail.

Needless to say, it took a while to get to the other side of the planet, and with all the excitement of the wedding and the honeymoon, I forgot it was coming, so it was a great surprise to receive it.

But it’s here now and it’s wonderful! The Happy Sorceress said that she’d tried to give me a taste of American life, so there were lots of sweets and sugary stuff, many of which I had heard about on TV and in movies (yay US cultural imperialism) but had never tasted. There were so many things in the package that I won’t list them all, but here are some of my favourites:

• Junior Mints (These made an appearance in an old Seinfeld episode, and are pretty yum)
• Animal Crackers, yes, like the old Shirley Temple song
• A CD of The Happy Sorceress’s favourite cooking music
• An assortment of Wonka sweets
• A can of chipotles, wich I opened to taste and am wishing I hadn’t as we will be having a bbq for new years eve and would have been great in a marinade
• BBQ sauce
• Pappy’s Sassafras tea Concentrate (this one intrigues me)
• Tang
• Milk Duds
• Tapatio Hot Sauce
• Some American food mags
• Annie’s Bunny pasta (Macaroni cheese)
• Taffy (I have no idea what this one is. Sounds like the name of a cartoon character if you ask me).
• A cute little handbag-shaped notepad.
• Some lavender aromatherapy spray.

So to the Happy Sorceress I say a big resounding THANK YOU from Australia! Your generosity has touched my heart. It’s a beautiful thing to receive such a thoughtful present from a total stranger on the other side of the planet. I’ll keep you posted on the creations I make with your gift.

Thought I might show you some pics from the reception. These were kindly taken by the lovely Kathryn and Tim. Thanks guys!

And many thanks to The Provincial Hotel, in particular to Kelli. The staff at The Provincial produce some truly outstanding food, and it was so wonderful for us to be able to have our wedding in such a beautiful room, with such delicious food, great service and a fantastic wine list. I can’t overstate how highly I recommend The Provincial for any functions you might have, or even to pop in for dinner. (And no, I did not receive any kickbacks for saying this!)

Crumbed calamari entree

Lamb shanks (O’s favourite)

Prosciutto-wrapped chicken breast

Our beautiful wedding cake from my favourite bakery, The French Lettuce in Carlton. It was a chocolate mud cake and it was soooo beautiful. I’m still getting compliments about the cake weeks later!