Gadget Gift

My husband is not the kind of spouse who buys appliances for his wife. He is not the guy who picks up a toaster or blender and plops a bow on top.

His gifts are always thoughtful, and reflect my interest and taste of the moment. He is very skilled at gift-giving. He often surprises us with little tokens of love out of the blue (chocolate for me, a magazine for Fi, toy cars for Jo). He is the gift king in our house!

Yesterday, he came home from his trip to town. I put on my shoes to go help unload the car and he asked, "What are you doing?" with a silly grin on his face.

"Helping unload the car," I replied with a bit of a "Duh!' tone in my voice.

"Well," he says, "Your Mother's Day-anniversary-birthday present is in the car. Do you want to see it now?" (All three celebrations are within a month of one another.)

Silly, adorable man. Of course I want to see it now!

He trekked out to the car and came back bearing a large appliance box. Not dryer sized, but big enough to hide Jo behind it. It was a standing mixer.

Some background here, for those of you who have not yet met my inner domestic goddess (yes, even I have one). Living way out in the bush means no quick trips to the grocery stores for 2-Bite Brownies, and runs to Tim's for a danish, etc. It means that if you don't have it you don't eat it. This is very good for the waistline. It is very good for cultivating patience.

It has also caused a change in my taste. I used to be a chocolate or sweets in volume kind of girl. The chocolaty-er the better, as far as I could see. I don't think that way anymore. I have become fussy. In fact, I now prefer the brownies I labour over at home to those in the coffee shop (even the fancy ones in the fancy coffee shop). I would rather craft my own banana bread and eat it warm with butter melting off the edges than buy a piece. I have been itching to try homemade bread again - and have been ogling bread machines. And since last summer where we had homemade pizzas on homemade pizza dough at my parents, I have had a craving to try my own hand at it.

So, with all this in mind, my deeply adored spouse did his research (which is standard pre-purchase protocol in our house) and found a gorgeous standing mixer ON SALE for Mother's Day.

So good on so many levels; sale price, high quality, and capable of mixing bread and pizza dough just to name a few. Think double batches. Think multi-tasking (oh be still my beating heart)!

He prefaced the opening of the box with a request for me to think about whether I really wanted it before opening it. So I waited until after dinner. Then we broke that baby out and placed it on the counter.

My, oh my.

I think I understand the thing guys have with their car or bike. I have a new respect for Nigella. This mixer is SEXY.

I spent the first part of my evening researching online. Then I made Mark Bittman's banana bread (from How to Cook Everything) with it. The making was fun, and even easier than making by hand. The eating was divine - and I was able to restrain myself to one slice. This is truly the best banana bread on the planet; having both coconut and walnuts in it as well as the requisite bananas.

Clean up was a breeze. And it sits on the counter looking sleek. It's calling to me this morning. What will you make with me today, Emily? Are you ready to try bread? Pizza dough? Cinnamon buns?

I may expire from the options. I will definitely be baking this afternoon.