Monday, October 5, 2015

Finally!... Got Myself a KitchenAid® Artisan® Design Stand Mixer

For years I've been dreaming of owning a KitchenAid® Artisan® Design Stand Mixer but, I've never really had that extra cash for one. With the deal I found, I just couldn't pass it up. Now, I just have to go pay that credit card! Hahaha!

THE MIXERS

These KitchenAid® Artisan® Design Stand Mixers are so beautiful, so nice and they come in a few gorgeous colors. There is a model that comes with a stainless steel bowl and plastic attachments and a model with a glass bowl and metal attachments. I said to myself that if I ever got one, I'd want the mixer with the glass bowl.

They also have a Pro Line® Series, a Professional 6500 Design™ Series and a Professional 600 Design™ Series as well as a couple of commercial series models.

These mixers have a 59 point planetary mixing action and there are 15 optional attachments to use with your mixer. From food grinders to pasta makers and more. The attachments are sold separately. Unless, there is some kind of promotion like the one I received with my mixer (FREE Food Grinder).


Between all the different models, they come in a huge variety of colors. Good luck trying to choose one color.

PRICING

Because these mixers are a tad on the expensive side, these last couple of weeks I did some pricing research. Online, I checked out Bed, Bath & Beyond, Target, Sears and Kohl's. The following prices for Target and Sears do not include taxes which would be around $18 - $20.


The regular price of a Candy Apple Red mixer is $499.99 on KitchenAid.com. On Amazon.com a Candy Apple Red is priced at $479.00. There's a bit of a price savings buying from Amazon.


NOTE: The following pricing was during the last week of September and first week of October 2015.


Target:

Regular Price: $399.99 - $459.99
Sale Price: $320.00
No Coupons
Site did not state FREE Food Grinder

Sears:

Regular Price: $459.99
Sale Price: $314.99
No Coupons
FREE Food Grinder: Value $50.00 - $60.00 (depending where you buy it)

Bed, Bath & Beyond:

Regular Price: $399.99
Sale Price: $399.99
Total (with the following coupon) $320.00

20% Off Coupon: $320.00

FREE Food Grinder: Value $50.00 - $60.00 (depending where you buy it)

Kohl's:

Regular Price: $469.99
Sale Price: $439.99
Total (with the following coupons, discounts and taxes) $319.80

30% Off: $308.00

Kohl's Cash: $10.00 off  = $298.00
Note: For the 30% off, I signed-up for the Kohl's charge card

Kohl's Cash Received: $60.00

Kohl's Gift Card: $30.00 (my mixer model ended up not qualifying for this gift card).
FREE Food Grinder: Value $50.00 - $60.00 (depending where you buy it)
Total of around $120.00 back from Kohl's

In the end, if I would have gotten the mixer with the stainless steel bowl, I would have saved quite a bit more money but, I wanted the glass bowl right off the bat. LOL



GREAT DEAL

The best deal (I thought) for the mixer with the glass bowl was at Kohl's. Since they didn't have the mixers with the glass bowls in-stock at the store, I had to order it. I placed the order through their kiosk. I chose the Sugar Pearl Silver color (model: KSM155GBSR) because, hopefully, next year I can upgrade all my kitchen appliances and I would like to get stainless steel.  

I would have liked to get the Chrome mixer but, those cost $670.00 at Kohl's

Currently, I have all GE/GE Profile appliances in white. This coming January (2016), I will be starting 18 years of owning my house. So, I will have had my appliances for 18 years. It's time to upgrade!


Kohl's gave me $60.00 Kohl's Cash and I have until October 12 to spend it. If I buy something that comes to total $61.00, all I will spend is $1.00! Anyway, if I don't get an attachment for my new mixer at Kohl's, I'm thinking of a new silverware set or, a nice set of cookware like Cuisinart would be awesome!


It would be great if Kohl's had some of the KitchenAid® Artisan® Design Stand Mixer attachments on sale like the pasta maker or, the stainless steel bowls, etc. I do know that they carry the pasta maker but, I don't think they have either the glass or stainless steel bowls in-store. I'd like to get an extra bowl or two such as another glass bowl as well as a stainless steel bowl with the splatter cover. An extra beater would be nice too like the one that has the scraper.


MIXING and BAKING

I have read that batters come out better when mixed with a KitchenAid® Stand Mixer (most likely with any other mixer as well) than mixing it by hand. But, on the other hand, a lot of people say mixing their batter by hand (with a wooden spoon) is better. 

So far, I've used my new mixer once. I made a batch of chocolate chip cookies (pictured on the right) and the batter seemed to come out really good as well as the end results. The cookies came out great!


For this batch of cookies, I got the recipe out of the KitchenAid® booklet that came with the mixer. It was super simple and I had all the ingredients on hand.


I can't wait to make other baked goods such as cakes, brownies, pies and more cookies. Did I say "more cookies?" Hopefully, one day soon, some homemade pasta too! In that case, I'll have to make the pasta sauce from scratch. LOL


FAVORITE KITCHEN APPLIANCE

My favorite kitchen appliance is my new KitchenAid® Artisan® Design Stand Mixer. I hope it does last me forever so that I can hand it down to my one and only child.


What's your favorite kitchen appliance?


Monday, September 28, 2015

Spices for Chicken, Potatoes & Sauces

One of my favorite stores that I like to go and bum around in is "Home Goods." There are four of those stores in neighboring towns not too far from me. On my weekends, when I get bored and/or don't have anything to do, I will go to one or two of my Home Goods stores to see "what's new?"

Sometimes, I'll find a spice that sounds good so I'll buy a bottle and try it out on chicken, beef, potatoes, etc. Thing is, I have learned that if you find a spice you like, you'd better go back ASAP and get a few more bottles because next time, they won't have anymore.

One spice I found a while back that I really liked on chicken and potatoes is Honey Aleppo Pepper by Victoria Gourmet.

After I used this spice, I was in love! Just a few months later I wanted to get some more but, it was nowhere to be found. Every time I'd go to a store, I would look and look but no luck. Also, since TJ Maxx stores are a part of Home Goods stores, I would check those stores out too. Guess what? There was a TJ Maxx store on my way to and from my recent temp job. So, I decided to stop and check if they might have any of my spices and, they DID! They had about four bottles of the Honey Aleppo Pepper for the regular price of $4.99. While I wanted to buy all four bottles, I bought two.

Also, they had three bottles of a Sicilian Seasoning (which is really good too) on clearance for $3.00 a bottle so I bought one. I already had a small bottle of this seasoning and I had tried some in some jarred spaghetti sauce. It really made a difference and gave the sauce better flavor.

Of course, I really wanted to buy all four bottles of the Honey Aleppo Pepper and all three bottles of the Sicilian Seasoning.

Yes... I can order these spices on the Victoria Gourmet website (if they have them in stock) but, I think they're a bit more expensive. Then there's shipping and handling. For now, I'll stick to buying them at Home Goods (and, buy more than one bottle at a time).

What's your favorite store to shop at?


Thursday, March 5, 2015

Practice Using Adobe Premiere Pro

I learned the basics of Final Cut Pro in my spring 2011 Multimedia class. Since I don't have a MAC at home with Final Cut Pro, I do have a PC with the Adobe Master Collection. So, I thought I would practice editing video using Adobe Premiere Pro.

Project: Short Music Video
Software: Adobe Premiere Pro
Song: Tom's Dinn Daa Daa

Created, shot, produced and edited by Elvira (Visual Xplosion). This is a practice project.



Visit my You Tube Channel SaFire98 to view more video projects.