ANOTHER ONE BITES THE DUST

As with all appliances after a length of time they need to be replaces. This is what happened to my Toastmaster hand mixer purchased over 15 years ago. It still worked all right but the beaters were hard to keep in place. I felt I needed a new hand mixer and went to my usual spot to check out the row of mixer available at Wal-Mart. All I needed was a lightweight model without too many bells and whistles and inexpensive. Since I paid only $10.99 for my Toastmaster and it lasted that long no need to pay more.

OFF TO SHOP
Wal-Mart always has a good display of their appliances and their hand mixer display showed about 10 different models. As I was checking out these models I saw a nice sleek looking model for only $9.99 called Easy Mix by PROCTOR-SILEX Model #62515. I picked up the model on display and found it lightweight and with 5 speeds, which had more than my old one, it had 3 speeds. It looked like a great buy to me so into my shopping basket it went. Of course the proof is always in the finished product of mixing up your ingredients for baking or whatever. My first attempt to use my new PROCTOR-SILEX was with my favorite Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe and I will include it at the end of this review.

DESCRIBING NEW MIXER
My new hand mixer by PROCTOR-SILEX has a white plastic housing with a handle that is molded into the body of the mixer. At the front of the handle area are the controls for speed of the mixer. These controls are easy to reach whenever you want to get more excessive speed to your beaters. There are two chrome beaters that snap into place in the front part of the bottom of the mixer body. Another feature of this hand mixer is the bowl rest, where you can rest your mixer on the edge of the bowl as you add more ingredients. I felt this sounded like a great idea until I tried it out.

BOWL REST
The bowl rest works only if you are using a large bowl that is heavy weight. It will not work on small size bowls say about a quart and a half or plastic mixing bowls. The instruction booklet suggests turning off the motor then resting the mixer on the edge of your bowl while adding ingredients. I was not that impressed with this feature as it rests on your bowl edge the beaters are still in the way when trying to scrape the sides of the bowl. I found the body of the mixer has a flat backside so this was just as easy to rest the mixer on the table while scraping the bowl. It worked OK for adding ingredients.

SPEED GUIDE
The instruction booklet shows the recommended functions to this 5-speed PROCTOR-SILEX hand mixer. The booklet suggests that the #1 speed is considered LOW for folding dry ingredients such as for muffins and quick breads. The number 2 speed is for creaming butter with sugar in most cookie recipes. The number 3 speed is MEDIUM used for most package cake mixes. The number 4 speed if for frostings and mashed potatoes. Number 5 speeds is HIGH for beating egg whites and whipping cream. I will say this hand mixer has lots of power it worked great on my cookie dough. It handled well when beating cake mixes for my usual 4-5 minutes without over taxing the motor.

MIXING TIPS
This instruction booklet gave tips on mixing such as for cookie dough. It recommended that when using butter or margarine, soften butter first and cut into smaller pieces then add your sugar a small amount at a time. The dry ingredients should be added to your cookie dough slowly and beating it thoroughly after each addition. It suggests keeping the mixture spread around in your bowl to make mixing ingredients easier. It also suggests that chocolate chips and nuts would best be stirred in by hand. Most of those instructions I have been following for years, but I suppose a new young cook may be wise to follow these instruction.

SAFEGUARDS AND CLEANING
It is always wise to check out these safeguards to ward against electrical shock and proper protection of its use. Keep cord, plug and mixer body out of water or other liquid. Watch children closely if they are using this hand mixer. Unplug from outlet when not in use. Before ejecting beaters the speed control should be in OFF position then press down on speed control to eject beaters. Wash beater in soapy water and wipe mixer body with a damp cloth. I always store my hand mixers in the box they came in, this way the electrical cord is coiled up with mixer body and beaters stored on top. They are always ready to use and never get tangled with other appliances or misplacing the beaters.

MY FAVORITE RECIPE
When it comes to Chocolate Chip Cookies this is one I use often. I love it because it is so easy and makes a large amount. This way I can store them in the freezer and have plenty ready when the grandchildren visit and there is always enough left for them to take home for more of Grandgram’s treats.

ONE BOWL CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES
1-cup butter or margarine (softened_
¾-cup sugar
¾-cup brown sugar
1-teaspoon vanilla
1-egg
2 ¼-cups flour
1-teaspoon soda
½-teaspoon salt
1-package 12 ounces Chocolate Chips
1-cup chopped pecans
Beat butter or margarine and sugars until well blended add egg and vanilla beat well. Sift flour, soda and salt and slowly add to butter/sugar mixture beating well until all flour has been added. Stir into dough chocolate chips and nuts.

I cover my cookie sheets with foil and lightly spray foil with oil spray. Drop cookie dough by teaspoon onto cookie sheets and bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes. I place first pan on bottom oven rack for 5-6 minutes then place on top rack to brown evenly. This way I can place second pan on bottom rack and continue in this way until all cookie dough is used. Cool cookies on rack then store in plastic bags in freezer. This will make about 8-dozen cookies. After you finish baking just toss foil liners used on cookie sheet and your pan is ready to store.

CONCLUSION
I found my PROCTOR-SILEX hand mixer just whizzed through this recipe, it had great power to work up the dough and it was ready to bake in no time. I am well satisfied with my purchase and found it handy for many mixing jobs. I you find you have any trouble with any PROCTOR-SILEX APPLIANCE call 1-800-851-8900 and check out their web sites www.hamiltonbeach.com or www.proctorsilex.com. I have found their appliances have been very satisfactory and inexpensive. YOU HAVE TO EXPERIMENT IF YOU WANT TO LEARN HOW TO DO ANYTHING WORTHWHILE!!