don't get cocky with your kitchenaid

i've spent just enough time with the industrial strength stand mixer at work that coming home to mine sometimes feels like i'm in Barbie's Dream House using miniature kitchen tools. having professional safety measures like the swinging gate over the bowl and the way the mixer automatically shuts off if you move ANYTHING... well, i've gotten a bit overconfident. i have to remember my mixer at home doesn't know i just moved the invisible safety gate out of the way to shove the spatula in to scrape down the sides of the bowl. it has not, in fact, shut itself off, and i better watch the hell out. have i forgotten the home mixer of old? my mother's stand mixer, with its beaters i loved to lick batter from, which showed no mercy to wooden spoons in their way? many a mangled spoon taught me this fine lesson and i have let their memory fade. maybe the fact that the modern kitchenaid paddle just isn't as perfect an object to lick batter of off has made me lax in my respect for the tool. what a fine tool it is! i made 14 dozen cupcakes yesterday without breaking a sweat. yes, on my day off. gosh i love my mixer. sometimes i want to dress it up and take it out for a nice steak dinner. just kidding. i don't eat steak. but my mixer should receive its own Christmas presents, just like a family dog does.