An Unmarried Woman & Her KitchenAid

The start of a series on registries, plus compost bins and midweek reads

Since I was very young, I’ve loved baking. I spent hours making cookies, challah, pumpkin bread, and Hamantaschen. I love the look of counter dusted with flour and I love tasting the dough and licking the spoon. In my childhood home, a lot of that baking involved a white KitchenAid stand mixer, which my great grandmother gifted my parents for their wedding. It’s lasted several decades now and is going strong. As a kid, I knew I wanted to have one in my own kitchen. In the back of my mind, I assumed I would have to wait until marriage.

Having a blast with the KitchenAid

Of course, there is no part of the wedding ceremony that makes you qualified to own a fancy kitchen appliance, but in our society, wedding registries are a chance for couples to get many of the material trappings of adulthood, like matching sets of dishes, a fancy blender, multiple types of wineglasses, etc. I’m all for community support—we’re not meant to go through life alone and living is expensive these days. And I believe registries are a helpful tool, one that should be expanded beyond its traditional use.

I’m not married, but I do have a KitchenAid, a hand me down from a family friend in Queens. It’s white, like the one I grew up with, and I love it for baking projects. It’s very special to have one of my own and I love that the previous owner thought of me when it was time to pass it along.

Today is the start of a series on registries, which will include product recommendations, variations on the concept, and conversations with people who have experience in this area. I also want to offer my services if you’re putting together a registry and need some help narrowing down the options. I’m happy to offer personalized recommendations to make a registry for any occasion that feels like you! Reply to this email to discuss pricing and timing!

First, let’s go beyond tradition.