The charming little piece of masking tape is there to keep the speed control low. The head vibrates and that causes the speed control to slowly work its way from Speed 1 (Adding Ingredients, Stirring, Folding) up to Speed 10 (Juicing, Power Drive Attachements) and it sounds like it's about ready to lift off. The beaters are still useable but maybe it's time I bought myself a new mixer.
So now the cookie dough is ready to go through the cookie press. I pull out my Vintage Miro Alumilite Cookie Press, which has a Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval dated from 1926. I don't know if this one is quite that old, I sort of doubt it, but maybe it's from the 40's or 50's - it belonged to my Mother. It cost $2.50 new. Two fifty in 1940 dollars is $31.80 today; $2.50 in 1950 dollars is $17.76 today. Scary.
There is also a little recipe booklet of fancy cookies along with the instructions on how to use this thing. Believe me, it takes alot more than that delicate little twisting motion to push the cookie dough out.
So my grandchildren will be eating cookies made by their grandmother using their great-grandmother's cookie press and their great-great-grandmother's mixer. However, the ingredients were fresh...
And just to keep some fiber stuff in here, here's a picture of what I'm working on. I put aside the previous piece; I tried some changes and nothing pleased me, so that one is still fermenting. This new one (of which this is only a detail) is smaller, about 18 x 24, and this size is working better for me. Once you start heavily stitching, you are more or less committed to doing that throughout, otherwise you end up with flat spots surrounded by mountains. This has alot of stitching and I like the effect, so far.
