海角大神

I'm the kind of person who enjoys the challenge of making things聽from scratch, and one of my favorites聽is a simple rustic pizza. I make the pizza dough myself. The tomatoes I use for the base come from my neighbor's garden. The basil is grown on my porch during the summer. I'm planning to try making my own mozzarella soon. "Short of milling my own flour," I tell my friends, "I can make a pizza pretty much聽from scratch."

And then,聽while researching this article, I ran across the KitchenAid Grain Mill attachment. The trusty聽聽that I picked up a few years ago at the Kohl's Black Friday sale, with the right attachment,聽can mill flour.聽

The grain mill is pretty cool, but really, this entire list hits me right in the happy place.

Mix your聽meats

础迟迟补肠丑尘别苍迟:听聽(from $11.99 at聽)

One of my favorite winter recipes is聽, a tasty meatball soup from a 1973 McCalls recipe card that my mom has made pretty much all of my life. It includes directions聽for making meatballs from scratch, but after making my own exactly once and聽getting fed up with the mess that hand-mixing the meat created, I vowed that future iterations would simply include frozen pre-packaged meatballs instead.

It never occurred to me before that I could mix the meatballs up with the flat beater that came with my聽stand mixer. Form聽the meatballs with a聽, and you'll never have to slime your hands up聽again. Amazing, right?

But don't stop at meatballs. Use it to mix up a聽meatloaf. Add chopped chiles and cheese to your pub burgers. The applications聽here are endless.

Mash your fruits and veggies

础迟迟补肠丑尘别苍迟:听聽(from $11.99 at聽)

In the past, I've used a聽聽(one of my most-used kitchen tools, also known as a dough blender) and a bit of elbow grease to mix and mash potatoes, guacamole, sweet potatoes, and roasted pumpkin. But the聽standard-issue flat beater makes quick work of them聽while you clean up.

I haven't tried it for a chunky homemade apple sauce, but it should work there, too! If you've done that before, or have any more mashing tips, chime in on Facebook or in the comments below.

Slice and shred聽all the things

础迟迟补肠丑尘别苍迟:听聽($37.99 at聽)

Need deli-thin tomato and onion slices for your sandwiches? Done. Whip up a cheese and fruit tray for a party? No problem.聽How about some freshly shaved聽pecorino for the聽from-scratch pasta you just made? Now we're talking.

Shred some聽meat

础迟迟补肠丑尘别苍迟:听聽(from $11.99 at聽)

There wasn't a stand mixer in our house when I was growing up, just an electric hand mixer, so the sheer power of a stand mixer is not something I fully grasped聽聽in just a few seconds without straining even a little. It was like the world had opened up before me with dream-like visions of my mom's Italian beef, the glories of pulled pork barbecue, hot聽posole on a cold winter day, and a shredded version of my favorite聽.聽I use dried cranberries instead of celery.

Homemade marshmallows

础迟迟补肠丑尘别苍迟:听聽(from $19.99 at聽)

Did you know that you can make your own marshmallows? It's one of those things that I've always taken for granted as a grocery store staple. Now that I know it can be done, and using nothing more than the wire whisk that comes standard with the mixer,聽it's a must-do.

I'm liking聽, which doesn't require corn syrup. Experiment with different flavors by聽replacing the vanilla with almond, orange, or peppermint extract. Drop one into a cup of hot chocolate. Make the best s'mores of your life.

Whip up the fluffiest聽meringue and whipped cream

础迟迟补肠丑尘别苍迟:听聽(from $19.99 at聽)

What to make: meringue for pies, meringue cookies, marshmallows

Key lime pies were a staple dessert in my home growing up. We just used the recipe on the Nellie & Joe's bottle, but the key to making a truly great pie was baking it with a meringue. And it was a pain to do, even with a hand mixer. It just took forever, holding the hand mixer in the bowl, switching arms, handing it off to your sister for awhile... this is why so many home bakers avoid meringues.

If you have a stand mixer, on the other hand, you need only drop the ingredients into the bowl, set it up with the wire whisk, and walk away from it for awhile. It's ridiculously easy. Once you've had a good toasted meringue, you'll never go back to聽Reddi-wip.

But don't stop with pies. You can also make聽, those kiss-like drops that melt in your mouth with every bite. Level them up by using the聽聽to聽chop聽up some chocolate chips and聽fold them into the meringue.

Graduate to homemade pasta

础迟迟补肠丑尘别苍迟:听聽($199.99 at聽) and/or聽聽($179.99 at聽)

Skip the boxed聽stuff and make your own pasta from scratch. Linguine, mac and cheese, lasagna, pasta salad, ramen聽noodles, Japanese soba 鈥� the possibilities are endless!

My favorite聽fast from-scratch pasta dish聽is a burst cherry tomato sauce that's basically聽cherry or grape tomatoes cooked in olive oil until they burst. It's so fast and works so well with my kitchen staples that I make it at least once a week.

Cover the bottom of a small sauce pan with grape tomatoes, then add enough oil to cover the bottom of the pan (roughly 1/4 inch, you don't want to cover the tomatoes).聽Throw in some chopped garlic, kosher salt, a pinch of sugar, and however much crushed red pepper you like, pop a lid on the pot, and cook until the tomatoes pop, releasing their juices to mingle with the oil. The result is聽a fresh,聽fast pasta topper that looks and tastes a whole lot fancier than it is. Finish with chopped fresh basil (a dusting of the dried stuff is fine too) and聽some shredded parmesan.

Let it knead the dough for you

础迟迟补肠丑尘别苍迟:听聽(from $14.99 at聽)

What to make:聽bread, pizza dough, buttermilk biscuits,聽spring roll wrappers, phyllo for baklava, yeast rolls

Although I聽make dough for bread, pizza, and tortillas pretty much constantly, it was two years before I bothered to give the dough hook attachment a try. I popped the dough into the bowl and let it run while I cleaned up and prepped the bread pan. Guess what? I'm kicking myself for not trying it sooner.

Mill your own聽flour

础迟迟补肠丑尘别苍迟:听聽($94.86 at聽)

I'll be honest, this is the attachment I covet more than any other. Remember that pizza story at the beginning?聽Milling my own flour to make the pizza dough (which I would knead with the dough hook!) sounds ridiculous and awesome all at once.

So if you really want to go all in on the culinary DIY, you can聽mill the flour,聽use it to make pasta dough with the dough hook, then聽run it through the pasta extruder for the freshest truly-from-scratch linguine you'll ever have in your life. But don't you dare top this masterpiece with sauce from a jar. That's a crime against food.

Is it cost effective? Oh heck no, not when a bag of flour聽costs so little at the grocery store. And where does one find wheat to grind anyway?聽But that's not really the point, of course. The point is to have the rustic yet decadent experience of聽preparing a meal with the flour that you聽milled yourself, something that 99.9% of Americans have never done.

Churn your own super-fresh butter

础迟迟补肠丑尘别苍迟:听聽(from $19.99 at聽)

Yes, your KitchenAid stand mixer can double as a butter churn! It doesn't require any special extra attachments, either. Guess what聽I just put on my to-do list?聽聽from TheKitchn looks pretty solid, and there are聽several YouTube videos that walk through the process as well.

Then take it a step further and mix in some honey, maple syrup, or cinnamon and sugar to make something special to spread on some fresh rolls. Or make a聽spreadable margarine alternative by聽.

Make some ice cream

础迟迟补肠丑尘别苍迟:听聽(from $51.99 at聽)

The recipe book that comes with the ice cream maker attachment聽has a basic french vanilla聽that has great reviews, but聽why not rock it out聽with some truly gourmet聽treats of the sort that normally run聽$10/pint? Jeni's Splendid is the current gold standard for luxury ice creams, and lo,聽. Goat cheese and roasted cherries? Sweet potato with torched marshmallow? Coriander with raspberry sauce? YES PLEASE.

Homemade sausage

础迟迟补肠丑尘别苍迟:听聽($53.99 at聽) +聽聽($7 as add-on item at聽)

Hook the sausage stuffer up to the food grinder attachment, and you can grind your meat together with all of the fresh herbs, garlic, cheese, apple bits, and whatever fresh ingredients strike your artisan kitchen fancy. Sure beats hot dogs, right?

Fresh-squeezed orange juice

础迟迟补肠丑尘别苍迟:听聽($19.99 at聽)

One of my jobs as a dutiful daughter is to haul fresh squeezed orange juice from my fancified big city grocery store home when I visit聽my parents, who live in a fairly rural town. Of course, with the citrus juicer attachment, they could make their own pretty easily 鈥� between visits of course, because honestly, having it already prepped and ready in the produce section is pretty convenient.

But there is a good case to be made for finding a rare bunch聽of blood oranges, or you聽want to try mixing clementines with grapefruit, or just have a hankering for a pitcher of聽homemade limeade. You could also buy a bag or two of teensy key limes and squeeze fresh juice for pie.

Make your own all-natural laundry聽detergent

础迟迟补肠丑尘别苍迟:听聽($53.99 at聽)

One of my cousins聽uses the grinder attachment to grind up bars of soap into the flakes she needs to make her own laundry soap. At a cost of roughly a penny per load, it's a frugal way to keep her young family聽in clean clothes. 聽聽from Wellness Mama explains the process in considerable detail.

Perfect聽strained fruits and vegetables

础迟迟补肠丑尘别苍迟:听聽($99.99 at聽)

Whenever my grocery store has fresh red currants, I buy the entire lot and make red currant jam. I puree my my quick version with an immersion blender before storing it, seeds and all, in whatever empty jar I have on hand (it never lasts long enough to worry about canning it). The only thing that would make it better is if I could strain the seeds out! Pairing the vegetable strainer with the food grinder attachment does the work of pureeing and straining out the seeds and pulp all in a single step.聽It's聽also a great聽option for parents who prefer to make their own baby food, or even for聽more grown-up purees like butternut squash soup.

This story originally appeared in .