Having a stand mixer is pretty badass. When you've got one in your kitchen you know (or at least, you'd like to believe) that you belong to the upper echelon of home cooks. One who can whip out cupcakes like Martha Stewart. Or make French pastries that rival the best Parisian bakeries. But just having one isn't enough, now it's time to take it to the next level: pimping out your mixer. There's nothing like a little bling on your stand mixer to inspire you to bake some killer cookies. Or a four-layered cake. It could totally change your cooking game. From hot pink rhinestones to gold stars to custom artwork, check out how you can trick your mixer. Get top stories and blog posts emailed to me each day. Newsletters may offer personalized content or advertisements. 0 - 1 Mile Darke County Visitors Bureau (Destination) The Bistro Off Broadway (Destination) Darke Wildlife Area (Destination) Rolling 50's Classics Cruise-In (Event) First Friday: A Christmas Night (Event)

1 - 5 Miles Holiday Inn Express & Suites - Greenville, OH (Destination) Tour De Donut (Event) Harvest of Quilts (Event) Candlelight Open House at Bear's Mill (Event) 5 - 15 Miles Inn At Versailles (Destination) The Best Bite Grill (Destination) Downing Harvest Festival (Event) Winery at Versailles (Destination)Thanks to a combination of slick pricing, frequent couponing and confusing discounting, retailers routinely trick consumers into thinking they got a great deal on an item — when in fact they paid way more than they should have. Many of the stores that offer the most frequent coupons and discounts also tailor the asking prices of items so that even coupons and sales don’t mean real savings. For example, as of July 11, frequent discounter J.C. Penney advertises that the “original price” of its Ninja NJ600 Blender is $145.00 and that it’s now on sale for $99.00. , Bed Bath & Beyond , that blender is listed at and selling for $99.99 and at Amazon

it’s listed at $109.99 and selling for $96.35. “Original prices, as well as sale prices, are set individually by each retailer’s merchant team based on their customer base, sales events, promotional calendar, etc, therefore prices will vary retailer to retailer,” A J.C. Penney spokeswoman told MarketWatch. Amazon asks FAA for permission to fly drones(3:28) Amazon has formally requested permission from the Federal Aviation Administration to start testing drones as part of its proposed Prime Air service to deliver packages by air. , , does it slightly differently. They sell the KitchenAid Artisan Five-Quart Stand Mixer for $449.99, which is typically $100 or more higher than competitors. — sell it for $349.99. “Consumers would have to have a coupon of $100 off, or 22% off, at Kohl’s to even get the Stand Mixer for the same price as the base price at multiple other stores,” says Ong. “Even with a great coupon or deal from Kohl’s, the consumer still may not beat out what he or she could have gotten with a smaller value coupon at a different store.”

As of press time, Kohl’s had not yet responded to a request for comment. And it’s not just Kohl’s and J. C. Penney that are employing various tricky pricing tactics: MarketWatch found evidence of this at other major chain stores as well. So why are stores employing these tricky pricing tactics? These discounts and coupons drive store traffic, but the stores can’t afford to always sell their items at a true discount, explains Greg Smith, the chief creative officer at The VIA Agency, which counts a number of large consumer brands among its clients. Siamese Cats Sale MnSo instead, they sometimes manipulate the prices of the items so they can offer a “discount” but not lose too much money by doing so. Patio Furniture Ofallon Mo“The places that do this the most, coupon [and offer deals] the most,” says Smith. Teacup Miniature Schnauzer Puppies For Sale In Indiana

Of course, there are still deals to be had at these places: Plenty of times, the original price is legitimate or the coupon or promotion will actually offer a true discount. And sometimes convenience trumps all. When you’re already in a store and need an item immediately, it may be worth it to you to pay a little more. Furthermore, there are some indications that consumers like couponing and price changes: When former J.C. Penney CEO Ron Johnson decided to cut back on coupons and promotions, among other pricing moves, sales tanked . Still, this price manipulation means that consumers need to be savvy when they’re shopping, says Ong. He recommends that shoppers check the price of the item they want in multiple locations, including Amazon, a big-box store or two like Wal-Mart or Target and a couple of stores where they regularly shop. is good for that) and if you’re in the store, she says that price comparison apps like RedLaser or Snaptell are best. (Ong cautions, however, that you can’t just rely on one price comparison site, as they’re often not comprehensive.)

, both of which have apps) to find the truly lowest price. Be sure to clear your cookies when you’re price-searching as retailers sometimes lure new shoppers with low initial prices, but if you come back the price may have changed, she adds. If you don’t need the item right then and there, there are other ways to save. (if it’s available there). She also says you should know when to buy items: Summer clothing and accessories are often on sale now as retailers try to make room for fall items, for example. Finally, if you do realize that you’ve overpaid, all may not be lost. Some stores — like Banana Republic and Gap — will do a one-time price adjustment if you see the item you bought on sale within two weeks of purchase. More from MarketWatch: Here’s a thrill: Your roller coaster might not have been inspected What a murderer can teach you about picking stocks 6 affordable, educational apps for kids Kneading dough in stand mixer - first timer, please help! I am test driving a friend's Kitchenaid Artisan stand mixer to see if it's worth purchasing for bread-baking, and I ran across some problems with mixing and kneading bread dough.

I started with the White Mountain bread recipe (a sandwich type loaf bread) from The Bread Bible by Beth Hensperger, which I have made successfully by hand a few times. Using the stand mixer, and following the recipe's suggested guidelines, my dough ended up a mess - sticky, wet, would not hold together. I did not know what else to do but keep adding flour, hoping it would help the dough start to "pull away" from the bowl, but it would just quickly end up absorbed in the dough - I think I ended up putting in like 1 1/2 c more flour than the recipe called for! I ended up pulling it out and hand-kneading (adding even MORE flour - I know, disastrous!) and the bread turned out super chewy and not so great. I took a look at the Kitchenaid manual for help on this issue, and it states that for bread doughs you should never use the paddle attachment, only the dough hook, from the get-go (Hensperger's recipe said start with paddle, then switch to dough hook when dough comes together). OK, so I decided to try her pita recipe, this time using only the dough hook, but the same thing happened, in that I ended up adding an additional cup of flour beyond the recipe's amount, and got a really crusty and hard pita.