Kaput

 I have been on a baking tear for over a month.

Cookie baking that is.

I have been going through flour and butter like nobody's business.  

Chewy Almond Sugar Cookies, Classic Chocolate Chip (with walnuts in half the batch for SM), Oatmeal Craisins, Apricot and Cream Cheese Kolache's, Classic Snowballs and Pumpkin Bread.  

I've been freezing half of the batches.  It's weird I know but I enjoy eating a frozen cookie while binge watching Downton Abbey.  

My little handy dandy Sunbeam Hand Mixer (that I got at my bridal shower 34+years ago) has been humming along happily until the other day.

"Whaaa whaa waaaa...Kaput." 

I turned it over and looking at the beaters and I could see where the gears inside it were trembling with fatigue.  It's once formerly glossy white exterior had yellowed with age.  Dried up, crusty specks of food had embedded in some of its deeper recesses whispering stories of recipes long forgotten.

"Well crap..."

Luckily, I had already creamed the butter and sugar together so finishing up this batch of Chocolate Chips was one and done easily enough.

I went out later and endangered life and limb to go to the Big Walmart in search of a replacement. Yes, we have Big and Little Walmarts.  The littles are mostly for food, drug and TP.  If you need motor oil, big screen TV's and hand mixers you must go to the Biggie.

Anyhow, I'm masked up, barely breathing as I'm zipping up, down and around the kitchen appliances.  Where's the mixers? 

I finally spot one. One. The lone ranger sitting on the shelf.  A stainless steel Hamilton Beach for $26.  

Clearly everybody's mixers are crapping out in this pandemic.

I lap the row one more time in case I'm mistaken and figured beggars can't be choosers and grabbed it.

Once I got home I unpacked it and plugged it all in to make sure it worked.  Yep.  Good to go.

But why are the beaters so skinny?  My 35 year old beaters were nice and thick, almost clunky.

And what-up with the flimsy whisk attachment?  Sorry, I still scramble my eggs with a fork.

And it came with a bread hooks?  Wow.  I need to get with the program.

And so my Bridal Shower Hand Mixer went into the trash but it got me thinking...What else do I still use from my bridal shower?

I have two stoneware dinner plates left.  The rest of the plates and bowls broke over time.

My silverware is still good although half of it's missing and has been supplemented with another set.  I seriously only have 4 teaspoons left total.  Where do they all go?

I still have my set of 4 Pyrex Bowls.  You can't kill those.  They'll probably outlast me!

Oh...and I do still have my Revere Ware pots.  But I gave up keeping those copper bottoms clean decades ago.

So what are some of the oldest appliances or kitchen gadgets that you still use?