It's ALIVE!!!

A number of weeks ago, I accidentally overwhelmed my Kitchen Aid with some bread dough. It was my fault - I incorporated the ingredients in the wrong order. That "whoops" moment basically resulted in me stripping one of the gears in my machine. (Insert sounds of me sobbing here)

Eric decided there was a chance that he could repair the machine instead of us having to replace it. (Ironically, he and I both researched the prospect and wound up finding the same website with the how-to instructions). He ordered the parts and then I sat awaiting the arrival of the Kitchen Aid's renewed lease on life (aka gears and grease).

The big day arrived ... moreover, a little box of gears and another little box of grease arrived.

Eric laid newspaper on the kitchen table (such a good man!) and went to work on disassembling the mixer and swapping out the stripped gear.

First, he opened up the patient and got started on pulling out the gear... with tools that didn't quite fit the bill. (His tongue is sticking out because he's working hard ... I do that, too. If it is genetic, our kids are definitely going to be tongue stickers outers while concentrating, too!)

Eric trying to get the gear out with a screwdriver and pliers ... didn't work

Close up of it not working ;)

Come to find out, he didn't have the right tool to pull out the ring thingy that held the gear in place, so off I went to the closest hardware store. 20 minutes later, he was back to working on the mixer! He pulled out the stripped gear with relative ease once he had the tool for the job.

After pulling out the gear, Eric popped the new one in and mad sure everything aligned as it was supposed to, only stopping now and then to check a really helpful "how to put your Kitchen Aid mixer back together" video on YouTube.

 

Then, it was time for the grease.

Eric foolishly asked if I had any tongue depressor sticks. I think aliens sucked out his brain for a second and he forgot that he was married to the queen of craft supplies. Faster than you can spin around three times, I was holding a quart-size Ziploc bag full of tongue depressors. 

 He filled every nook and cranny with grease, and then added even more grease ... and then a bit more, just for good measure.

 

After applying the massive amounts of grease, Eric closed the patient, I gave it a loving pat for luck, and we flipped the switch. IT WORKED!!! (OK, it still caught a bit, but Eric gooped it up with more grease and took care of that without any difficulty.)

Of course, I had to put it to the test in a real-world situation, so I made cupcakes!