> > Machines suffer overuse injuries, too. Is Ron handy
> > with electricals? Could save money once in a while.
> He did fix a mixer replacing a broken gear, that was good on my first KA, then
> something else sent on it.  He's fixed my Professional as well (at that time,
> the entire planetary thingy fell out of the mixer "head" and fell into the
> mixing bowl). I don't use KA Professional for more than say one or two loaves
> of bread dough because I know the professional is eh.. touchy.  I used to make
> macaroni with it, using the attachments sold for it, but I don't think the
> attachment could really handle the work required, I see they now sell a
> different type of macaroni attachement :)
 
Companies live and learn as well as people.

> Anyway, now I have that and the much more powerful Bosch. For me, it's nice to
> know I probably will never test the limit of the number of loaves the
Bosch can
> make (I forget, 9 whole wheat or something?). And the blender for the Bosch is
> is insanely fast blending/grinding things.  800Watt moter compared to KA
> Professional's (525W).

If you make stiff doughs, that's important. I do recall,
though I don't remember where it was, that my friends 
and I caused a new generation KA to overheat on a recipe 
that Rosemary's vintage one had no trouble with.

> http://everyday-creative.com/bosch-vs-kitchenaid-the-great-mixer-showdown/

The P.S. however is a little ambiguous. It's like, oh, I 
wish I still had the KitchenAid as well, because it's
better for a lot of the things I do.

> > As my right wrist has been a major source of income
> > for me, and as I've had to keep it supple and strong,
> > I generally whipped cream and egg whites by hand.
> Hmm.. I'd _maybe_ be able to get it frothy by hand.. then my hand would say "I
> quit".. If I rested it I could continue, but eh.. well I think you get it :)
> It's ok, that's why I have mixers. :)

When you're in the middle of a 3-hour opera and your
hand says that it wants to quit, you just say no.
 
> I think trying to whip heavy cream say in a tupperware plastic bowl with a
> handmixer would not work.. just guessing there.  I may try it to see. The only
> hand mixer I have though is the typical 350W.. but I'd still like to see if it
> would work in typical tupperware plastic bowl.  IIRC, when I was first
starting
> to cook and using "The Joy of Cooking" either Irma or her daughter warned
about
> trying to whip heavy cream in a plastic bowl.  So I just never did (grin).
 The
> plastic bowl on the Bosch is very different from a tupperware plastic
bowl. You
> can also buy a stainless steel bowl for something like 140bux, no thanks :)

There are two main reasons. One, you can't get a plastic
bowl to stay cold enough, and two, they are porous and
collect impurities that inhibit whipping - the worst
thing I imagine would be to try to do egg whites. Also,
they're not hard enough, so any whipper worth his/her
salt can beat the bowl hard enough to cause bits of it
to contaminate the food. I don't generally see the
point of plastic bowls anyhow. Disclaimer of course
that the Cuisinart mixing chambers were made out of
polycarbonate (Lexan, as I recall).
 
> Hot soups like tomato are nice to blend at low speed .. nuts etc, I go all
> out..  I remember killing one blender grinding cece beans Lol.. I needed bean
> flour and so... that guy died right there.  I think this one could do it, but
> I'm not willing to cook the Bosch motor yet :)  I might do some searches
on the
> web for that first. ("DON'T" is what I expect to find... It's ok though, my
> jupitor grain mill can handle that).

You have to prebreak what my friend Charlie used to
call "cece nuts," because they're so hard. We used 
to call them checchy beans when I lived in the North 
End, spelled cecci or ceci. Faced with the need to 
mill them, I'd put them in a plastic bag  and go to 
it with a hammer, then blend the crumbs.

> > How good a facsimile is it of the real thing? I'm
> It tastes like "cheese cake" to me..  It was great, I loved it.  Ron says "it
> wasn't like a rich thick NY Cheesecake" but he was surprised at how much did
> taste like cheesecake.  And he liked it as well.

That's cool. Worth an experiment perhaps.
 
> > interested in vegan cheese not because of veganism,
> > god forbid,
> Understand that one :) :)

My friend Link swears by certain kinds of vegan
cheese, so I tried a couple - they seem to have
gotten the stinky part right but not the tasty part.

> > but because I get a good deal on pills
> > only so often.
> Yeah I can only eat/drink so much dairy or it does me in...  yogurt seems fine
> (regular one or two seem fine in as many days, too many greek yogurts not so
> good).. Whipped cream, well it depends on what else I've had that day..
Milk in
> general: barf except a drop or two in my coffee.  Ron bought the greatest
> sheep's milk yogurt at a store near us (not wegmans).. I was suprised how good
> it was.. Not sheep-y if you know what I mean..

To all those products I say bah! and ewe!

If there was a truly unsheepish one, I might try it.
Speaking of which, I forget where this was, maybe
Malaysia, where they gave me some halloumi, and it
tasted sort of like mozzarella with only the 
faintest nastiness. I was surprised.

Grilled Halloumi with Watermelon and Basil-Mint Oil
categories: starter, dairy, Bon App
servings: 4

1/2 c coarsely chopped fresh basil
3 Tb coarsely chopped fresh mint
- plus thinly sliced mint for garnish
1 garlic clove, coarsely chopped
1/2 c extra-virgin olive oil
- plus more for brushing
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
3/4 lb cherry tomatoes on the vine
1 pk (8 oz) Halloumi cheese, sliced crosswise into 8ths
6 sm triangles thinly sliced watermelon, rind removed

Build a medium-hot fire in a charcoal grill, or 
heat a gas grill to high. Pur˙e basil, mint, and 
garlic in a blender. With machine running, add 
1/2 c oil. Set a strainer over a small bowl; 
strain, pressing on solids. Season.

Brush grill rack with oil. Drizzle 2 Tb basil-mint 
oil over tomatoes and cheese; season with salt and 
pepper. Grill tomatoes, turning occasionally, until 
charred and bursting, about 4 min. Grill cheese 
until nicely charred in spots and beginning to 
melt, about 45 sec per side.

Arrange melon on a platter. Top with cheese and 
tomatoes. Drizzle remaining herb oil over; garnish 
with sliced mint.

Bon Appetit