Anthropomorphizing my new Mixer: am I alone?
This talk topic absolutely falls under the category of silly, so haters are free to ignore me.
I just this morning got a Kitchen-Aid Accolade tilt head stand mixer at a ridiculously good price (I'm not schilling, maybe bragging, *cough*$380 CANADIAN dollars*cough*).
Price aside, he's tall and silver and strong, and extremely good looking. As I make excuses to wander into the kitchen and pet his tough tilting arm, I find myself searching for appropriate names. Clint? Rodney? Sven? I know he won't ever be just 'the mixer'.
Am I alone? Does anyone else get attached to their kitchen tools, assign them genders and personalities? Who works alongside you in your kitchen? My microplane zester has no name, but I KNOW she's one tough Mama.
Add a comment:
Previewing your comment:
HTML Hints
Some HTML is OK: <a href="URL">link</a>, <strong>strong</strong>, <em>em</em>
Comment Guidelines
Post whatever you want, just keep it seriously about eats, seriously. We reserve the right to delete off-topic or inflammatory comments. Learn more at our Comment Policy page.
If you see something not so nice, please, report an inappropriate comment.
Start Talking!
Need a question answered? Have advice to share? Start a Talk topic now!
Sign up to get your questions answered and share advice.
24 Comments:
On second glance, it's personification of my mixer that I'm guilty of. Anthropomorphizing is the attribution of human characteristics to an animal, not inanimate object.
BananaMonkey at 2:27PM on 09/12/09
Oh my gosh!!! I name almost everything !!!!!! I just got a new car. He is blue and his name is Topher. The vacuum is Herbert (he's a Hoover). Right on down to the potato peeler .. Spud.
goodcooker at 2:45PM on 09/12/09
I had a matte cutter in college that was called THE SACREAD ONE. We had to do a lot of color presentation boards, and could not live with out TSO. I call my viking stand mixer "BIG RED". How about Silver Fox?
DELICIOUS at 4:16PM on 09/12/09
My 6qt KA mixer (nickel color) is Ellie, which is short for Elephant.
Bumblebutton at 4:32PM on 09/12/09
I lecture my food while I'm cooking. There's a pan of tomatoes in my oven cooking away, now that I've told them to "stay in there and think about what they've done."
GirlFromJetCity at 4:46PM on 09/12/09
So far, the only bit of equipment I have named is my GPS: Garmina. (Yes, I know, not very imaginative but my default is to "Italianize" names.)
No names for either KA or either Cuisinart. I haven't named my 20 qt. Hobart either.
therealchiffonade at 6:59PM on 09/12/09
Haven't named my mixer but my car and cellphone are named after House (from the tv show)... Gregory and Dr. House respectively.
lexophile at 7:03PM on 09/12/09
I name my sourdough starters. Lucy's my favorite. But maybe that WOULD be a case of anthropomorphizing?? ;)
mollykate678 at 7:03PM on 09/12/09
I wonder what would happen if your equipment (or sourdough starter) didn't like the name you gave it.
tapioca at 7:14PM on 09/12/09
Good question, @tapioca. Although I imagine my other starters would feel more contempt at my admission of favoritism than at their monikers! ;)
mollykate678 at 7:19PM on 09/12/09
I like using a first and a last name. Like my car is Marjorie Houseman. She's very prim and ladylike and always polite in traffic.
What about Glibert Blythe? Strong, well-mannered (except the whole braid in the inkwell thing) and Canadian (and totally hot in the PBS version)
I like @delicious' suggestion for "Silver Fox" too.
yayfood at 11:18PM on 09/12/09
er - Gilbert Blythe...
yayfood at 11:26PM on 09/12/09
My mother's GPS is Samantha and mine is Valerie. We switched my sister's to the British male voice and his name is now Jeeves.
I've never had an appliance react badly to a name, but our parrot is Kerberos, after a computer security protocol. Unfortunately it's also the 3 headed dog that guards the entrance to the underworld, and she has TOTALLY taken that personality and run with it...
cowprintrabbit at 3:32AM on 09/13/09
@yayfood--at risk of losing my Canadian citizenship--I had to google Gilbert Blythe. I somehow missed Anne of Green Gables in my upbringing.
@mollykate and tapioca--I snerked my tea. I now fear the eventual world domination by angry sourdough starters. I for one, welcome our new yeast-y overlords.
@chiff--20 quart Hobart! Jealous! may I suggest General Steele?
BananaMonkey at 11:02AM on 09/13/09
My 6 qt Kitchenaid is a Williams Sonoma exclusive that they called "shell" and discontinued, so I got an insane deal on it. $230, normally $450! Anyway, the color is nowhere near what I would consider being named "shell". It's a metallic grayish lavender. Her name is Lila.
I bought my brother a black 5 qt for Christmas a few years back, and because he loves Alton Brown so much, I bought flame decals for it. His name is Sir Mix-A-Lot, which I find hysterical.
meem21 at 10:43AM on 09/14/09
@meem21--that's awesome.
I hope your brother finds some way to use Sir Mix-a-Lot to make Baby (got) Back Ribs. *groan* sorry...i couldn't help it.
BananaMonkey at 11:09AM on 09/14/09
My desktop is named Coaster, and my school laptop is named Crumpet. I get a few strange stares from my geek friends when we talk shop.
avaryne at 7:07AM on 09/15/09
I have a silver Artisan stand mixer...named Stella.
machellebelle at 8:24AM on 09/15/09
I got a Kitchen Aid mixer as a graduation present from my family. I've always loved it from a far and finally I got it. It sat, still boxed, in the living room for a good 3 weeks before I could bring myself to open it up. Somewhat gazing at it loving as I watched TV was enough. I even took a nap with it next to me. I don't have a specific name for it, it's just "My Baby". It's fire-engine red and some days it's "My red-head".
AnnieNT at 12:11PM on 09/15/09
Why are Canadians getting gouged on everything from beer to KitchenAid Stand mixers (and YES every household should have one)???
It might be time for our nice Canuck friends to rebel and demand fair treatment (wasn't that what Fair Trade was about?).
Call yer mixin' machine Pierre Trudeau or Lord Black!:)
Pointy at 7:33PM on 09/15/09
ahhh Pointy-Canadians will never ever complain about beer prices if the alternatives are American brews.
BananaMonkey at 3:51PM on 09/16/09
@avaryne: Nice to see someone else naming a computer after a foodstuff. My current laptop install/configuration is named Meatball. It replaces Slider—I changed its name after an HD failure/replacement and upgrade to Mac OSX 10.5. My iPhone is named Popcorn and has largely replaced my iPod Nano, which is named Beef Jerky.
Adam Kuban at 3:24PM on 09/18/09
My Viking mixer is "Vickie" and my laptop that is a 17" wonder is "Toshi" (Toshiba) since it is so big and heavy I personify a sumo wrestler when I gaze at his screen.
artoeat at 8:27PM on 09/19/09
@meem21-where did you get those flame decals?
dmcavanagh at 8:39PM on 09/19/09