Domestic Goddess in the making

Recently I got quite into watching the Great British Bake Off on BBC2.  I was very pleased that the lady who eventually won, came out on top as all along she seemed the most normal and down to earth, as well as being a very good baker, even if she she did forget to line her cone for her profiterole tower which lead to her sitting on the floor hugging it to try and get it to melt enough after its 3 hour stint in the freezer so she could get her creation out of the cone and onto display for the judges. Hilarious.  Whilst watching this bunting fest each week, I was quite taken by the beautiful Kitchen Aid mixers which were in use by each contestant in an array of different colours.  I have been eyeing up these domestic goddess making machines for a while but could never justify buying on as I don't as a rule do much baking or cooking which would require one, and more importantly Kitchen Aid did not make one in pale blue to match the rest of my kitchen accessories. So when I spotted an ice blue version sitting quietly on one of the work surfaces of the afore mentioned television series, I sat up and took note.  All of a sudden 50% of the reasons why I could not have one had vanished. And it wasn't long before the other 50% began to dissolve as now I have my pain relief more under control, meaning I feel more normal, when I am awake I have quite a lot of time on my hands.  Time I could be spending learning and practicing a new skill.  Like baking.

So the new Kitchen Aid in Ice Blue has been stylishly decorating my kitchen for the past couple of weeks, waiting for me to be awake enough to use it.  I did make some cupcakes in aid of my MacMillan Coffee morning a few weeks ago but since then, both it and I have been pretty sleepy.  Until yesterday that is, when I got an early seasonal craving for Mince Pies. Now I love Christmas, and I mean really love it.  I get very excited about giving and receiving presents, going to and hosting Christmas parties, seeing all the lights, making nice Christmas food and spending time with Mr Man watching Christmas TV on the sofa being all cosy and warm.  But I am very strict that Christmas must never exist outside December.  There may be a need to do some planning in November, for example advent calendar preparation has to be done in November otherwise you would miss it, and it is acceptable to start Christmas shopping in November, but the act of celebrating Christmas and being festive is only acceptable in December.  Regardless of what the shops are telling us.  So, yesterdays craving for Mince pies was not down to it being Christmas because it is not yet time, but instead because I really like them.  So, I set about making a batch of Mince Pies because they are delicious. Usually I have to confess I would  buy ready to roll pastry and go from there, however I did not have any in  yesterday and I could not be bothered to walk to the supermarket, and so instad decided to make some pastry.  How hard could it be?  I found a recipe and started to rub the flour and butter together when I my eyes glanced to the line below in the recipe which said, "Alternatively put all ingredients into a food mixer and switch on to a low setting."  What was I doing?  I have a food mixer now and I should be using it.  All ingredients were transfered to the stainless steel bowl of the Kitchen Aid and within minutes I had an amazing, perfectly evenly mixed pastry dough. To answer the earlier question, of how hard can it be?  With a  pretty Kitchen Aid, not very!  Fifteen minutes later after allowing the dough to rest in the fridge I was rolling out the pastry and making the mince pies.  I actually think the pastry was better than the ready to roll stuff as well.  Result.  Sadly Mr Man does not like mince pies.  Something to do with them being sweet and not actually containing mince as in beef. I'm sure it is all in the semantics though and so if they were called sweet and spiced dried fruit pies he would be more of a fan, but he has decided he doesn't like them now and so it is too late.  Luckily however, Little Sis and Bil do like Mince pies and so they were the lucky recipients of half a batch of deliciousness yesterday afternoon.

So, now I have discovered the ease of pastry I am sure there must be lots of other things I can make to utilise my newest kitchen toy.  I also know there is a world of cakes and biscuits just waiting to be discovered but I am hesitant of making too much as my appetite is still not right and I would not want all of my hard work to go to waste.  I am sure though that when December gets here and festiveness is allowed, I can make some more treats which I can share with others in a festive way whilst I practice becoming a bona fide Domestic Goddess.  Now, I just need to find some hungry visitors.....