The Missing Piece

Don't you just hate it when your [insert critical mechanism] of your [insert favorite kitchen appliance] breaks?! I know I do.

It wasn't until recently that I needed to purchase 1.) a replacement lid for our Cuisinart SmartStick Blender (apparently you can't fit 2 cups of frozen fruit inside and hope the blade will turn), and 2.) a replacement cup for our KitchenAid Mini Pulse Grinder (too many batches of Oreo balls, I guess!). I moped around the house for a while, fondly remembering the good 'ole days and dreading the smoothie- and Oreo ball-less months that stretched out ahead. Blech.

But then I remembered the existence of a website called CulinaryParts.com! (This is probably the most important thing I learned while working at Williams-Sonoma.) They sell replacement parts for dozens of kitchen appliances - which meant that my dejected little appliances had a second chance!

The site is super-easy to navigate. Once you click on the "Parts & Accessories" link at the top of the page, you'll see a list of all the brands they carry - KitchenAid, Breville, Krups, and the like. You simply click on the manufacturer name, then by the type of appliance, and finally by the item number (most of the time this is written somewhere on the actual machine). A little less than a week later, my SmartStick Blender and Pulse Grinder are back in business!

With shipping and everything, it was about $30 for my two parts. My husband pointed out that I could have purchased an entire new Pulse Grinder for this price, and I won't disagree that it was a little more than I wanted to spend. I just feel wierd about throwing out an appliance that is 95% functional, especially when it can be fixed, okay? Besides, I think for more expensive appliances, like food processors or bread makers or espresso machines (none of which I own), the cost of a replacement part is probably justified.

Now if only they could create a website to buy replacements for those pesky missing puzzle pieces...