Mix and Stir Friday Five

Songbird over at RGBP writes:

In a minor domestic crisis, my food processor, or more precisely the part you use for almost everything for which I use a food processor, picked the eve of the festive season of the year to give up the ghost. A crack in the lid expanded such that a batch of squash soup had to be liberated via that column shaped thing that sticks up on top.

Can you tell this is not my area of strength?

Next week, I'm hosting Thanksgiving. I need your help. Please answer the following kitchen-related questions:

1) Do you have a food processor? Can you recommend it? Which is to say, do you actually use it?
Starman is the cook. We got a cuisinart as a wedding gift 19.5 years ago, and we like it. Every week, he uses it to make pizza dough (Thursday night is pizza night). Other than that, we use it rarely. It has a home in a cabinet under our buffet.

2) And if so, do you use the fancy things on it? (Mine came with a mini-blender (used a lot and long ago broken) and these scary disks you used to julienne things (used once).)
Nope, uh-uh. Too scary looking!

3) Do you use a standing mixer? Or one of the hand-held varieties?
I bought a Big Honkin' Mixer last year. I LOVE it. I really like to bake, especially cookies, but my arm and shoulder could no longer handle mixing stiff dough. Now I make cookies way TOO often! But it is so easy, and they come out great!

(And isn't that color delightfully retro?) Yes! I love it! Our kitchen in my growing up house was just that color, a la 1970s. Mine now is black, matches our appliances, but not quite as cute!

4) How about a blender? Do you have one? Use it much? Yes, also got a blender as a wedding gift in 1989. The color of the base has turned sickly yellow for some reason, but it still works. During the summer, the girls get "slushies" of juice and ice almost every morning.

5) Finally, what old-fashioned, non-electric kitchen tool do you enjoy using the most? Gee, all I can think of is that I MUST have a complete set of measuring spoons and cups on hand for my baking. And I recently lost my pastry blender, and have yet to find one that is up to the job. Good cookie sheets are also worth their weight in gold. Anything else, ask Starman!

Bonus: Is there a kitchen appliance or utensil you ONLY use at Thanksgiving or some other holiday? If so, what is it?
Probably the baster, and the potato masher.


Songbird, I would say go for the Big Honkin Mixer - it is way cool! Have a great Thanksgiving!