Beating the Price
I got up yesterday morning, and checked to see if my new Kitchenaid Pro 600 mixer had been shipped yet. No sign that it was making its way towards me. I was curious, however, to see if the bowl was as big or bigger than that of my existing bowl, so I went online to check. To my surprise, the mixer — the very same one — was on sale at Crate & Barrel — the very place from which I purchased mine — for $150 less. Yikes. As soon as the stores opened, I called our local Crate & Barrel, and they told me that yes, indeed, it was on sale, but sorry, no, we can’t help you. You have to contact the online folks. She gave me the phone number. I called the number, made my selection of the area to which I wanted to be forwarded, and waited. And waited and waited and waited. A full 30 minutes on hold. Finally, I did what the recorded voice kept begging me to do: I left a text message. Some hours later, I got a response. The situation was handled without a problem. The difference was refunded onto my credit card within 15 minutes. And I’m supposed to get my mixer tomorrow. Oy vey. Such a lot of angst over an appliance.

Meanwhile, Back on the Farm 
Bill likes a good challenge. So while I was dealing with the folks at Crate & Barrel, he began taking apart my Old Faithful Kitchenaid. Within an hour, he had figured out what was wrong, found a place to buy the part, and had ordered the part. When it arrives, he will undoubtedly fix it, making it worth more on the selling market. And yes, I will break down and clean it….

Kolaches
An old high school friend of mine commented on my blog yesterday in support of Kitchenaid mixers. He then mentioned that he was on a quest to learn how to make a good kolache. Now, my dad didn’t make kolaches because they are part of the Czech and Polish cultures and not German. But, I happen to have the recipe from the housekeeper of one of my high school friends, and she made a mean kolache. I remember asking her for the recipe around the time I left for college. She looked at me, very puzzled, and told me she didn’t have a recipe. She learned it from her mom who learned it from her mom, and made it from memory. She did, however, write down a recipe for me, and I shared it with my other friend. Now I’m determined to make that one of the first things using my new mixer. And I wish him luck!

Egging Me On 
We go through a fair number of eggs. My favorite eggs are from Whole Foods. However, most of the time I buy King Soopers eggs because that’s where I mostly shop. I always buy large brown eggs. I know there is no difference in taste between brown and white eggs, but I just think they are so pretty. Yesterday I decided to make a poached egg for breakfast. I opened the box of eggs, and was surprised to see that out of the six or so eggs that remained, one was considerably larger than the rest. I chose that large egg, and it was delicious. I don’t know if an extra large egg snuck into the egg carton, and I don’t care. I enjoyed my poached egg…..

Birthdays 
Yesterday was my mother’s birthday. She would have been 94. It’s hard to believe that she has been in heaven for nearly 25 years. Happy birthday in heaven Mom!…..

Ciao!