Fact: Baked goods existed before the invention of the electric mixer.
For a few years in my twenties, this fact led me to believe that I could bake without one. My apologies, and thanks go out to the kind friends and family who shared baked goods with me without complaint. Some things did turn out fine. Cookies didn't seem to be affected much, but muffins were definitely hit or miss. I took one particularly bad batch of muffins to Thanksgiving with the family one year. After wondering why no one was eating them, I tried one and it was terribly dry and pasty. I even made Grandma's pumpkin cake roll several times, which requires beating eggs for five minutes. It always turned out great, if a little more moist than it should have been.
I brought up this subject for two reasons:
1. Those pre-electric mixer bakers must have had incredible arm strength and stamina that I do not possess.
2. Today I made a batch of cookies without the mixer. The cookies turned out delicious, but took about twice as long as they would have if I had just taken out the mixer. I didn't take it out because it seemed like too much trouble. This is how things go sometimes. Efforts to avoid extra work (washing the mixer) lead to much much more work.
Did meringue exist before the electric mixer? I can't imagine how a person could possibly make a meringue without one.
For a few years in my twenties, this fact led me to believe that I could bake without one. My apologies, and thanks go out to the kind friends and family who shared baked goods with me without complaint. Some things did turn out fine. Cookies didn't seem to be affected much, but muffins were definitely hit or miss. I took one particularly bad batch of muffins to Thanksgiving with the family one year. After wondering why no one was eating them, I tried one and it was terribly dry and pasty. I even made Grandma's pumpkin cake roll several times, which requires beating eggs for five minutes. It always turned out great, if a little more moist than it should have been.
I brought up this subject for two reasons:
1. Those pre-electric mixer bakers must have had incredible arm strength and stamina that I do not possess.
2. Today I made a batch of cookies without the mixer. The cookies turned out delicious, but took about twice as long as they would have if I had just taken out the mixer. I didn't take it out because it seemed like too much trouble. This is how things go sometimes. Efforts to avoid extra work (washing the mixer) lead to much much more work.
Did meringue exist before the electric mixer? I can't imagine how a person could possibly make a meringue without one.
Your grandma Elva always said some variation of "it takes longer to do it over than to do it right the first time". I still haven't learned it yet, though I always remember it being said. She also always laughed at my "to do lists", saying that it took longer to write it down than to do most of the things on the list. So now the wisdom has been passed to you, the next generation. :-) Auntie L.
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