Last weekend I had the great opportunity to be with my daughter, her auntie and unc, and their friends in the Sonoma Valley, Northern California.  I had a great time, and was honored to be asked to make 50 cupcakes for a big engagement party. I had a thrill getting to use someone's KitchenAid Professional: huge 6 quart bowl, and a motor that's WAY more powerful than the Artisan model that I have.

Cream cheese, which often takes quite a while to fully incorporate with butter, was a breeze. And the big bowl kept all of the flour and most of the powdered sugar IN the bowl, and off of the counter. It was a clear signal to me that this is what I needed for Christmas, my birthday, or just because.

Besidses playing with the mixer, my personal highlight of the evening came when the fancy-schmancy caterer from San Fran found me to say the carrot cake cupcakes were spot on and ther best ever! I may have swooned.

This week, Costco sent out its coupons and guess what is offered at $60 off! Costco's regular price is already a good deal on this mixer; with the coupon, it's about 1/2 of department store price. I mention it to the hubs, and am baking away Friday afternoon when he walks through the door with a giant KitchenAid box!

Christmas is still a little ways out, but I have baking to do now, so it's on the counter and already broken in. It's a dream, just like that man of mine.