I have whisk elbow

whisk.jpg

This hasn't been a good couple of weeks for me health wise. First there was the 'acute tonsilitis' thing (that is much better, thanks for your nice notes!) Now I have a self-inflicted case of Whisk Elbow. That's where you 1) forget to charge your cordless electric whisk, 2) have an uncontrollable urge to make some little almond cakes which use the classic French method of whipping the eggs with sugar over a hot-water bath until they become a foamy, lemony-yellow mass of heaven, and 3) do it by hand with a wonky whisk. Now I have shooting pains from my elbow running down my forearm.

The moral of this story: When you have a cake urge, and your electric equipment is kaput, don't be a hero. Go to the store and buy one. Something to remember if you'll be doing a lot of holiday baking and your muscles are not trained up for heavy-duty whipping. (eh...)

(And by the way, no I do not own a KitchenAid. Whenever I look at one, I see the price - they cost more than 650CHF (about US $580) here - and think: For that I could go away for a nice weekend in, say, Aix-en-Provence, or Florence, or Strasbourg, or even Paris. I'd rather do that anytime! And so I do. Whenever I feel the urge for a quick getaway, I go look at a KitchenAid mixer, and make do with my cheap electric whisk.)

On a much happier note, there are already some great responses to the book giveaway mini-contest. Come and share your own food memories too, for a chance at a great book!

Submitted by maki on 2007-11-27 16:44.
Filed under:  offbeat

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Comments

Erica

28 November, 2007 - 05:32

Hey, a KitchenAid would be a great idea for a Christmas present for you. Although you might feel guilty about someone else spending that much money on you...

We don't own a KitchenAid brand standing mixer. We own a lesser brand that was less than $100 CAD (I think), but does just as good a job! For whipping eggs and cream we usually use the electric (plugs in) beaters tho, which I guess is what you mean by electric whisk?

Still, I'd love to have a fleet of KitchenAid appliances at my disposal.

That's too bad about your elbow! My mother has vacuum-cleaner elbow, which is basically the same thing. Elbows are much more fragile than I used to think. Of course, hers is chronic due to years of working as a housekeeper in a hotel. For a quick fix she uses some kind of smelly, asian-brand of patch, which works pretty well. If it persists, I recommend finding a good massage therapist, if it's within your budget.

Mo

28 November, 2007 - 17:42

Feel better! I don't know if you can get them over there, but my guy got me a refurbished Kitchenaid stateside for about half the cost of a new one. It's nothing fancy, but it does the job. Get some ice on that elbow and feel better! :)

anon.

29 November, 2007 - 21:30

Speaking of inexpensive KitchenAid mixers ... I got a "refurbished" one from their website (it had a haiiiirline scratch on the "head") for only $120 USD. It was even in one of the pretty designer colors (tangerine!) The bland ones were even cheaper.

:)

Dina

30 November, 2007 - 01:14

I've had a sore elbow lately too. Complete with the shooting pains going down my forearm. (Mine comes from too many video games + trying to do push ups like I used to when I was a seventeen-year-old athlete...) Heat pads + anti-inflammatory cream are godsends!

maki

30 November, 2007 - 09:38

I'm loving my stinky mystery heatpads now! It's annoying too since the whipping muscles seem to have something in common with knitting muscles...I knit for relaxation so guess who's wound up a lot! Argh! :)