The moment I've been waiting for

Drum roll please....my new KitchenAid has arrived!!! I'm sooooooo super excited I can't even think straight. It's absolutely gorgeous and the photos don't do it justice at all. I know the lighting is really bad but I couldn't wait till daylight to unpack it.

As previously mentioned, I have been debating since last year whether I should purchase one of these babies or not. Well I finally did it. The comments from my previous post really helped and what finally tipped the scale for me was when I saw a good deal on the internet at the weekend. I do love a good bargain! I have been keeping an eye on the price since last year and it has remained fairly constant - if anything it has gone up slightly. There were not many special offers post Christmas until now.  Amazon seemed to have the best price but I found a few other websites offering competitive prices and free gifts!

Next step was deciding on the colour. After hours of deliberation, I shortlisted it down to candy apple red, boysenberry, pearl metallic grey and possibly majestic yellow. The cranberry looked pretty good as well. Anyway I decided on candy apple red in the end partly because this is a special edition 90th anniversary colour and I do love red.

For anyone who is considering getting a KitchenAid in UK, I would suggest taking a look at these sites. KitchenAid is currently doing a promotion where you get a free 6 piece utensil set valid until end May 2010 - this is available from all the websites I looked at (except Amazon) including high street stores - Debenhams, John Lewis.
(I have researched this extensively so if you need any help do get in touch)

1. housemakers.co.uk - http://www.housemakers.co.uk/epages/Housemakers.sf/en_GB/?ObjectPath=/Shops/Housemakers/Categories/By_Brand/Kitchenaid/Kitchenaid_Mixers&PageSize=1000
This is where I got mine from. I would highly recommend this website - there is availability of a wide range of colours and has extremely competitive prices. The customer service is excellent - thank you Gail! Delivery was super speedy and efficient.
The main reason I chose this website is because their 90th anniversary edition was the same price as all other units (£359.00) All other websites were selling it for upwards of £389.00.

2. wheesh.com - http://www.wheesh.com/product/product2.aspx?product=ksm150&lang=&dep=622&gclid=CKv2qo6jn6ECFQhBlAod3xL2vg

Same price as housemakers for most colours (£359.00) but £389.00 for candy apple red. They are also running a promotion at present with a few other free gifts

3. Harts of Stur - http://www.hartsofstur.com/acatalog/Kitchenaid_Artisan_Mixer.html

If you want the 2010 pepper yellow then this is the site for you as they are doing a special promotion where you get a free KitchenAid citrus juicer attachment worth £32.00 in addition to the following gifts

And now my new kitchen toy :)

To KitchenAid or not

Haven't had time to bake recently so I thought I'd share a few thoughts and maybe get some comments about whether I should invest in a KitchenAid (KA) mixer or not. I did mention this in my baked alaska post as I had a chance to use mum's stand mixer (kenwood) to make the meringue and sponge cake. I found it very clean and efficient and it got me thinking how much nicer it would be to bake with the help of a KA.

I have been dreaming of owning one of these beauties since I got serious with my baking. However, I already own a Magimix (which I saved and agonised over for months pre KA) and an electric hand mixer. I know I'm just being indulgent and it's more a case of want rather than need. There is also the issue of tabletop space of which I don't have much to spare but I'm sure I can make room! I do think that I will put it to good use and I see it as a long term investment as hopefully you only need to buy one in your lifetime.

I'd be really interested in your thoughts. If you have one - how often do you use it? Is it a worhtwhile investment? Does it make a difference to the final product?
If you don't have one - have you thought about it? Why have you not bought one? (assuming you want one)

Hope to be back to baking soon so do check back later :)