Don’t you just hate it when friends get a new mixer and you don’t?

Well… evidently, I did.

I bought a KitchenAid mixer almost 40 years ago at the former Service Merchandise store in South San Francisco for $189.00 – a lot of money back in those days. (It’s about $525.00 in 2024 dollars).

It did me well for years, although not without its issues. I had to regularly adjust the speed because it kept creeping up – I’d start it at 1 and flour would fly – and it would sometimes overheat mixing a strong bread dough.  The 4 1/2 quart bowl was sometimes too small for the breads I was making, and while I’m famous for making a mess in the kitchen, I can do it all by myself – I don’t need mechanical help.

Still, it worked.

I thought of getting a bigger KitchenAid, but it wouldn’t fit under our cabinets – and our kitchen is small. I was resigned to dealing with what we had – and then friends replaced their newer KitchenAid that ALWAYS overheated with a new GE Mixer.

::Mixer Envy, Party of One…::

Figuring that one day we may need to replace our current machine, I went into the kitchen with a tape measure to see if the GE would fit.

Victor: What are you doing?
Me: Just seeing if a 17″ mixer would fit under the cabinets in case this one ever craps out.
Victor: I thought you were up to no good.
Victor, again: Do you have mixer envy?
Me: Totally.
Victor: So order the damned thing – we’ll put that one in the shed or give it to one of the kids.

I broke the land-speed record getting to the computer.

One of the biggest selling points was it fits all the KitchenAid attachments – we have several. It has bells and whistles we will probably never use – it hooks up to Alexa, can be used remotely, and can even stop when butter and sugar are properly creamed – stuff like that. I’m a bit more eye/touch/instinct, but, who knows… it may all come in handy in my dottage. In the meantime, I’m just enjoying the new 7 1/2 quart bowl and the built-in scale.

It’s too hot to turn on the oven, so the first thing I made was pizza – to cook on the grill outside.

Two Day Rise Pizza Dough

This is the perfect pizza dough. It really develops flavor with the slow refrigerated rise. This is a take on a pizza dough from La Cucina Italiana, but it’s also pretty darn close to the dough I used to make at Pirro’s in San Francisco back in the ’60s and early ’70s.

  • 1 3/4 cups warm water (100º to 105º)
  • 1/4 teaspoon active dry yeast
  • 4 cups “00” flour or unbleached all-purpose flour plus more for dusting
  • 2 teaspoons kosher salt
  • olive oil for bowl

Sprinkle yeast over warm water in bowl of mixer fitted with dough hook. Let proof about 5 minutes.

Mix together flour and salt. Add to yeast mixture. Mix on low speed about 4 minutes or until dough forms a coarse ball. Stop mixer and cover bowl with a towel. Let dough rest about 5 minutes, then remove towel and continue mixing another 2 minutes or so.

Lightly oil a large bowl. Form dough into a ball, transfer to bowl and turn to lightly coat with oil. Cover bowl tightly with plastic wrap and let stand at room temperature 30 minutes, then refrigerate overnight.

Punch down dough, re-roll, and return to bowl. Tightly cover bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 4 hours or up to 24 hours.

Divide dough into 2 pieces; shape pieces into balls and place on a lightly floured work surface. Loosely cover with a damp kitchen towel and let rise at warm room temperature until doubled, about 2 hours.

Pizza cooks best in a really hot oven – we kept the ovens at Pirro’s just shy of 700°F – so if you can get yours up to 500°F, all the better.

I see a lot of bread-baking when the weather cools – and maybe even more cakes and other fun things – like bagels!! And I really want to revisit a recipe for Danish Pastries that I got years ago from The Love To Bake Pastry Cookbook from Fantasia Confections in San Francisco, written by founder, Ernest Weil.

It’s definitely going to be a motivator to get out of the cooking rut.

And… If you’re in the market for a new mixer, they’re on sale at King Arthur!