In the kitchen.....

A friend of mine posted a rather random note on his facebook page about his mother's Kitchenaid mixer. He was thinking about how silly it was that throughout his life he always remembers that mixer as being a constant, and it got me thinking.

A Kitchenaid mixer has been a part of my life since I was born. My mother had one, my grandmother had one, my aunt had one, and now, my sister and I both have one in our homes, both of which were wedding presents. It is almost like the mixer itself is a family tradition.

I remember my mom used hers so much that she burned out the first gear on it. I remember many many hours helping my mom in the kitchen as a kid, standing on a stool using that mixer. I remember several years of baking Christmas cookies where you had to be careful not to throw the flour everywhere because when you turned it on, it came on in 2nd gear! We have pictures of me using my mom's Kitchenaid mixer when I was less than 2, now I have similar pictures of both of my kids!

The heart of the home was once, and in my humble opinion, should still be, the kitchen. It was mentioned the other day that kitchens are now simply "warming stations". A generation or two ago, things were created in the kitchen. You started with flour, sugar, eggs, milk, and created a meal or a dessert or whatever. Now, you take some pre-packaged, pre-processed, pre-cooked meat substitute, and warm it. I remember when all of life's problems were solved in the kitchen. Dinners were made in the kitchen, desserts and cookies were made in the kitchen, and the kids were messy enough afterwards to prove it. Memories were made in the kitchen.

No, I have decided that there is nothing silly about the memories in a mixer. I have several stirring around in there myself. And with the holidays coming, I plan on adding a few more. :)