Christmas Favorites Giveaway + Enter to Win a KitchenAid Professional Mixer!

Christmas is right around the corner! Can you believe it?! We've decorated our house and already have a few presents under our tree. This Christmas is going to be extra special for us now that we have a little one to share it with! I seriously can't wait for all of the festivities to begin! Anyway, as some of you know I usually do a fall giveaway, but this year I'm doing a Christmas one instead. Below are seven of my favorite kitchen tools that I can't live without- and you shouldn't either! Enter to win below!

➊ Silpat® Baking Mat: Once you start baking with one of these silicone nonstick mats, you won't go back! They are designed to evenly transfer heat and prevent foods from sticking at temperatures anywhere from -40 to 500°F. I love using mine for cookies, but also for candies and pastries. Let me tell you, it certainly beats buying expensive rolls of parchment paper!

➋ Pure Madagascar Vanilla Bean Paste: The secret ingredient in all of my baked goods. I hardly use extract anymore! This paste is made from both the seeds and the vanilla pod. It's thick and syrupy and adds more of an intense flavor to recipes such as ice cream, frosting and pastry cream.

➌ Bench Scraper: These handy tools are not just for cleaning off your kitchen counters. Yes they are for scraping off dough, but I also use mine for moving vegetables off my cutting board and into the pan, chopping bars and fudge, and creating perfectly even cuts.

➍ Microplane® Zester/Grater: Creates perfect flakes of chocolate and zest. I also like to grate fresh cinnamon and nutmeg into desserts with this guy too!

➎ Le Creuset® Pastry Brush: An absolute must-have. Great for basting meats, pastries, pie dough, vegetables and so much more! I seriously use mine on a daily basis- I don't know what I'd do without it! It also makes a great little tool for using in hot sauce pans (especially when making caramel etc) because it's heat resistant to 482°F! It was my staff pick when I worked at Sur La Table ☺

➏ Le Creuset® Medium Spatula: A great size for a spatula! It makes scraping out bowls (especially KitchenAid ones) really easy! It's nice and sturdy for mixing thick or heavy doughs/batters and can be used in hot saucepans (like when tempering chocolate or making ice cream)! It's a kitchen staple!

➐ KitchenAid Best-Loved Recipes Cookbook: Because if you're lucky enough to win the Grand Prize, you're gonna want this book to go with your shiny new mixer!

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—Now on to the BIG giveaway—

I'm teaming up with a handful of awesome bloggers to give one of you lucky readers a KitchenAid Professional Mixer! If you don't own a stand mixer, consider this a Christmas gift to yourself! If you own an Artisan, consider this an upgrade! Or if you're in the spirit of gifting, consider this a fabulous Christmas present for someone who loves to bake! Enter to win below plus join us for a scavenger hunt to decode a secret holiday message. All you need to do is hop on over and visit these other fabulous blogs! My secret word is (IS)... record this word (IS) and head on over to The Partiologist find the next word!
http://www.thepartiologist.com/2013/12/my-cookie-favorites-giveaway.html. 
When you visit all 19 blogs, you'll have to put the words in order to decode the Secret Scavenger Hunt message and enter to WIN this KitchenAid Professional Mixer!

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