My Kitchenaid Mixer, or A tribute to Mo...

In the scheme of things, it's rather plain and unassuming.

It's minimalist white, not fruity "mango" or "tangerine" or trendy chrome or copper.

It doesn't have all of the bells and whistles that come standard with its artisan and professional cousins -- just a flat beater, a wire whip, and the dough hook.

Its four-quart bowl is sometimes overwhelmed by double recipes of cookie dough.

But it's an icon from my childhood and will have a home in my kitchen as long as it's trusty motor runs.

It's my contribution to Favourite Kitchen Gadgets -- the Kitchenaid Classic Stand Mixer I inherited from my father's kitchen...

This mixer is a workhorse -- it's seen a lot of activity in Mo's kitchen and mine. After school cookies, Christmas cookies, birthday cakes, fruit-based fall cakes, no-reason-except-we-feel-like-baking cakes. Pasta dough (later rolled by hand, no pasta attachment for Mo or for me). Pastry dough. Artisan bread dough. And the recipe I found in the binder and intend to share today: my grandmother's Parker House Rolls -- a staple at the dinner table in the fall and winter.

Kate's Parker House Rolls

6 cups flour
3 tablespoons shortening
1/3 cup sugar
2 teaspoons salt
1/4 cup water to dissolve 1 cake yeast
2 cups lukewarm water
2 eggs, beaten
melted butter

Cream shortening, sugar and salt together. Add water and dissolved yeast. Mix in flour, two cups at a time. Mix in the beaten egg last. Cover dough and let rise to top of bowl. Shape rolls in floured hands or cut out with floured cutter or knife. Cover with a towel and let rise again. Drizzle melted butter over tops of rolls and bake 10 minutes in a 400 degree oven.

Not particularly healthy, but damn they are good.

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