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? 🙂

Mary Ann says
How sweet and what a great surprise! I love the color that you picked. These mini pies are super cute. My 2 year old is sitting on my lap and she wants me to make them!
Melissa says
That is awesome! I've had my mixer for seven years-can't imagine my kitchen w/o it!
BrittWilk says
mine is white - boring! i'm totally coveting your purple! it's adorable! i love it! what a great gift.
Sherri Murphy says
Great gift and your cookies look great too!
Leslie says
WOW..that is some gift! I didnt know they had purple!! Mine is just silly old black
Bob says
You're wicked lucky! Great cookies too. 🙂
Kerstin says
Congrats Dr. Meghan!!! Yay for finally officially being done!! 🙂
What a gorgeous KitchenAid! That was so sweet of your labmates! My KitchenAid is cobalt blue and I inherited it from my Great Grandma. It's too powerful though and flour always gets all over the place lol.
CaSaundraLeigh says
Your going to do some serious mixing damage with that!!--I absolutely loove mine! My grandparents got me the Pearl colored one for Christmas two years ago!!! Every cook needs one 🙂
Unknown says
My Kitchen Aid mixer has just celebrated it's 25th birthday. It's still going strong and I hope it will for a long time to come. It's not as pretty as yours (what generous gift!) mine is gun metal gray and it has seen countless loaves of bread, cakes, cookies. And way too much more to mention...
Good baking and eating to you!
Reeni says
Sweeeet!! I love the color! I'm so happy for you. I don't have one but my Mom does - it's old and gold colored. I love these little hand pies - all the different shapes are cute. Can't wait to see what you bake up. Enjoy it!
Unknown says
That is an amazing gift! I've never seen that color before, but I LOVE it! Mine is just a silver-gray color. Love my KitchenAid. You'll use it for everything!
Maria says
HOW NICE! You will love it! Looks like you are already having fun:)
Kathleen Olsen says
Wow, Meghan, that is the most beautiful mixer ever! LOVE the color! Congrats on finishing the thesis...hopefully you'll have more time now to put that mixer to use! Can't wait to see all you make with it!
Ciao Chow Linda says
Congratulations on the thesis and the gift. You're going to have that for decades. My husband gifted me one more than 20 years ago and it's been chugging along beautifully since - churning out cakes, pastries, sausages and lots of other things.
Sharon says
Ooh I love the color! Congrats! I'm in love with mine as well.
Anonymous says
I have a beautiful red one, and I love it!!