Introducing the BEST gift . . .

I had the public seminar for my thesis on Friday - technically a requirement for our graduate program, but it's more of a fun day where a student's family comes to celebrate. After my talk, we all headed to a conference room for cake and champagne, and my wonderful and generous lab gave me a gift - A KITCHENAID MIXER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I was in shock! I guess I talk about wanting one more than I thought - haha. They know I love purple, so they got it in Boysenberry - seriously a beautiful color. I never thought I would be able to decide on what color mixer to get some day, so I'm thrilled that the decision has been made for me and that I LOVE IT! I also love that every time I look at it I will remember that they gave it to me. I have so many recipes that I can make with my new mixer, and so many things that will be so much easier! Of course I will have to pick something amazing to make for a future lab meeting :)

And because I feel strange posting without a recipe, here's something I made a while ago - Blueberry Pocket Pies. I used this filling and this crust recipe, and got the idea from Mini Baker to use cookie cutters to make them into fun shapes. The only problem with these was that there is a skewed ratio of crust to filling - I guess I prefer a little more filling, so next time I'll make them bigger. I also cooked the filling before putting it into the pies, and I think this was the wrong way to go, because the filling sort of evaporated once in the pies. I think keeping the berries raw and letting them cook for the first time in the pies will help maintain the moisture. I know it's no longer blueberry season, but if you're like me and have a freezer full of blueberries, this is a great way to use them up!

Out of curiosity, do most people out there have KitchenAid mixers? (It always seems that way to me!) What color is yours? :)