Christmas gift

(I know that this post would have been better last week, but life was really hectic with all the travel. And it is still Christmastide according to the church calendar.)

Little known secret: Calvin makes sourdough bread about once a week. To do this, he has been using this mixer from his grandmother. (He also makes kolach/kalac and nut roll. Yes, he is Hungarian.)

The ubiquitous Kitchenaid artisan mixer can be found here.

The thing is, both of us grew up with families that cooked and baked a ton. Both of our mothers have burned out multiple mixers. (For my mom, it was typically during Christmas cookie baking; my family's sugar cookie dough is tough on mixers.)

Sure enough, over the holidays, I made those sugar cookies, and the gears started grinding. (It wasn't even a double batch! No way would this mixer last through kids. No way.) It hasn't seized yet, but it sounds like weekly sourdough bread and holiday cookies have begun to wear it out. So we decided to go industrial strength (like our moms) and put this on our registry.

The big Kitchenaid mixer.

Calvin's mom a long time ago said that she would be getting us the mixer for the wedding. But she didn't wait until the wedding; waiting for us under the Christmas tree this past holiday was a giant box.

It was the mixer.

Both of us were so excited about getting this piece of kitchen equipment. I don't think that we jumped up and down when we got it, but that's what it felt like.

I know we can't be the only people who wanted to skip around after getting a mixer. What wedding gift have you received that made you jump for joy?