If there's one stand mixer you should have in your kitchen, make it the KitchenAid Artisan.

While it isn't meant to tackle the sorts of large mixing, whipping, and kneading jobs professional kitchens have to deal with on a daily basis, it's more than capable enough for a home kitchen's needs. With the Artisan you can produce awesome cake batters, cookies, frostings, egg whites, cream, and even bread or pizza dough from time to time.

Available in a wide variety of colors, the tilt-head Artisan mixer comes with a few attachments: A nylon-coated flat beater (which can be replaced with a metal one if you're concerned with the nylon flaking off), a nylon-coated dough hook, a wire whip, and a pouring shield which can be easily removed during operation.

The front-facing power hub at the top of the unit allows you to expand what the mixer can do with attachments like the pasta roller/cutter for spaghettic and fettuccine, or the meat grinder (which is also useful for grating cheese).

Get it for $263 on Amazon.