Adventures in Juicing

Would you like to know the best part about getting married? I mean besides making a lifelong commitment to my best friend and sharing a wonderful, beautiful, spiritual, fun day with my closest family and friends? This. This was the best part:


This is my pride and joy, my KitchenAid stand mixer, in a luscious shade of Persimmon. It was the only material thing I really, really wanted and hoped I would get for a wedding present. Being of the male gender, Jason did not quite understand my lust. I have wanted a KitchenAid mixer for years. I coveted my sister's. I coveted my mom's. I was envious of any person on TV I saw using one. And as we planned our wedding, I saw my chance.

We debated registering for gifts. We were both torn on the subject. As a wedding guest, I often loved the simplicity of picking a gift off someone's registry, something I knew they would love and use. As a bride-to-be, it felt cheesey and somewhat tacky to request which gifts I would prefer to receive. I had also seen many people convinced to register for items they didn't really want or even like, because that's what one does.

Although the discourse was thoughtful, the decision to register was made once Jason discovered you could register at REI! Admittedly, I was happy too, because now I could register for my dream item. And so my dear brother Myke and his wife Anjanette bought it for me, months before the wedding. It was one of the very first gifts we received, and I opened it right away! When they were at our house a few days before the wedding, Myke saw the mixer on our counter and asked, "You opened it already?!?" Uh, yes! I knew there was only one thing that could be inside that giant Target box and there was no way I was letting it sit unopened for 6 months!

So far, I'm pretty sure I've only scratched the surface of what this bad boy can do. My current favorite activity? Juicing! Not wacky wheat-grass-carrot-beet juicing, mind you. Just straight up citrus juicing. With our CSA subscription, we get a lot of citrus in the winter; the oranges, grapefruits, and tangelos are always sweet and bursting with juice.However, coupled with our own orange tree, there are always more than Jason and I can eat in a week. So I did a bunch of research, read way too many reviews, and finally late one night hopped online and ordered this:
It was money well spent. Why buy a separate juicer when this takes about 20 seconds to attach and hardly any cupboard space? The attachment screws on the front of the KitchenAid, bringing all of the mixer's lovely power to juicing. And boy, does it juice! Look at these lovelies, picked straight off of our little tree (which you can see here):


Makes a bit of a mess, but nothing beyond my usual kitchen destruction.


For maybe 30 minutes worth of work, I got a big pitcher full of fresh squeezed citrus juice and 4 ice cube trays to freeze. Our little tree is almost bare and there will be no more citrus in our produce box, so I'm glad I got all this in the freezer. I love eating local, and now I've got a little stockpile! The cubes will be great for smoothies this summer, and I already have a recipe to try out that calls for fresh OJ. How yum does this look?!?

If you already have a KitchenAid, I highly recommend getting this attachment. Love it, love it, love it!! Nothing better than fresh juice. It totally Works for Me.

If you want to check out a whole PILE of tips and tricks from a bunch of smart bloggers, go over to We Are THAT Family and check out Works for Me Wednesday!


Please excuse me now, I need to make a trip to the compost pile....