A Kitchen Love Story (WFMW)

It’s a pretty well known fact that I’m not a big fan of kitchen gadgets.  You can keep your cupcake corers, onion choppers, and mini cupcake baking machines.

The thing is, much like Alton Brown (who is one of the few food celebrities that I really admire), I have no room in my kitchen for uni-taskers… Gadgets that take up space in my cabinets or on my counter tops and are only useful for one thing won’t survive very long. They get moved to the basement and usually end up on the yard sale pile within a few months.

So, it’s quite rare for me to fall in love with a kitchen gadget enough to keep it in my kitchen. And, for me to actually write about it? Well, you know it’s one I can’t get enough of. That’s exactly how I feel about my DeLonghi hand blender. But, I’m getting ahead of myself. Let’s start at the beginning, shall we?

A few years ago I bought a random stick blender with a gift card from Christmas. I liked it, and I used it quite a bit, and then it died. I liked it enough to replace it, and decided it was time to upgrade. After all, I didn’t want one that would just die again right away.

After much research and deliberating (I am horrible at making a decision when it comes to online shopping for my kitchen), I decided to try the DeLonghi hand blender. It came with attachments (whisk, mini food processor/chopper, and two sizes of immersion blenders), which I was convinced I would never use, but it also had some great reviews online. The price was reasonable, and I decided to go for it.

Once it arrived (don’t you just love when your online purchases arrive?), I immediately started playing around with it… Especially those attachments I said I’d never use. In the first 24 hours of having the new blender, I used the whisk attachment to whip egg whites and I used the chopper attachment to chop nuts and other fun stuff for homemade granola bars. I thought maybe it was just that I was enjoying playing with a new toy, but my love of the blender continued to burn strong. I almost never had a chance to put the mini chopper away because I was always using it for something. I think it spent more time on my drying rack than it did on the shelf.

Then, one sad evening, my hubby and I were relaxing and watching TV and I decided to make us some smoothies. I grabbed the blender and the mixing cup and prepared to make a smoothie. But, when I turned on the blender… NOTHING. I wanted to cry. I had fallen in love with my new blender only to have it die just a few weeks later.

I somehow managed to live without for a few months, and never made the time to figure out how to get it replaced.  Then, one afternoon my good buddy Amber was talking about this new hand blender she had. I started to feel the pangs of sadness as I remembered my own hand blender, and started telling her about it. As it turns out, we were talking about the very same blender, and she had a contact at DeLonghi. I sent a quick email asking for help regarding how to go about replacing my broken blender. They were kind enough to ship a new one to me, no questions asked.

A few days later, there was a shiny new blender sitting on my doorstep just ready to be put to work. My kitchen blender and I were reunited after months of separation. Don’t you just love a happy ending?

Works for Me…

So, why am I telling you this kitchen love story about my hand blender? I am telling you because it is something that has certainly worked for me in my kitchen, and I hope it will work for you too. I have been happily chopping, blending, and whisking with my hand blender since it arrived a over a month ago, and I really can’t get enough.

Here are just a few ways I love to use the blender (and a few recipe suggestions to get you started!)…

Immersion Blender Attachments

We’ll start off with the main event. If you buy a hand blender or an immersion blender, you probably intend to blend something with it. I love the fact that I can use the blender to blend soups and sauces in the pot on the stove. There is no need to try to transfer the soup (in batches… ugh!) to a blender and worry about spilling scalding hot liquid all over my kitchen. I also don’t have to wash a blender. The immersion blender attachments are very easy to wash.

Not into soup? You can also use the blender attachment to make smoothies. Though I was a bit afraid after breaking my first blender, I have since made countless smoothies with the new one. I think it was just a weird fluke that my last blender broke. It can certainly handle a smoothie, and the large mixing cup is far easier to clean (if you ask me) than a traditional blender.

Looking for ideas?

• Make a simple tomato sauce with fresh whole tomatoes. Instead of taking the time to peel and seed, simply give the sauce a good blend. It’s quick and easy and has extra fiber!
• Quickly puree peach butter or apple butter in the crock pot with no mess!
• Thicken your favorite soups by pureeing some of the veggies in the soup. You can puree until smooth or just enough to make your soup thick and hearty. Potato leek soup, black bean soup, and butternut squash soup are a few of my favorites!

Whisk Attachment

I have been known to beat egg whites by hand. Sure, I can do it. But, it takes me a while, and my arm often feels like it is going to fall off afterwards. So, the whisk attachment for my hand blender has become one of my new favorites, especially when I am working with a batch that is too small for my big stand mixer. The whisk is also great for whipping cream. No more whipped cream from a can in this household!

Here are a few of the recipes that usually inspire me to bring out the whisk attachment…

• Whenever I make ebelskivers, I like to beat the egg whites first.  The whisk attachment quickly whips up the whites so I can be on my way and have breakfast on the table fast. This time of year, I especially love apple filled ebelskivers and cranberry pomegranate ebelskivers!
• Lose the can and make your own whipped cream at home. Just whip some cold heavy whipping cream with a little bit of powdered sugar (about a tablespoon per each cup of cream).  Want to jazz it up? Add a dash (or more!) of your favorite liqueur. I am especially fond of whipped cream spiked with white chocolate liqueur.

Mini Chopper Attachment

Last, but certainly not least, is the mini chopper attachment. This is the one that I thought I didn’t need, and possibly the one I love the most. While I usually just chop things by hand with my kitchen knife, the chopper attachment is really helpful for things that tend to jump off of the cutting board – like cranberries and nuts. It’s also great for small batches of pesto and hummus, among other things. It’s a handy little tool to have around!

With the mini chopper, the possibilities are endless…

• I love to use the mini chopper for nuts, and I always pull it out when I’m making my maple cinnamon granola.
• It’s also great for quick streussel and crumb toppings (in small quantities). I just throw in some oats, butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon for a quick topping for apple crisp. And, I recently used it to make these lemon blueberry oat muffins.
• Of course, the chopper is also perfect for pesto. Just pick your favorite flavors and ingredients, throw them in, and blend away.
• I’ve also used the chopper to make dips like lemon herb hummus and guaca-mame (edamamae and avocado dip).

Please Note – This post is not sponsored by DeLonghi. While they were kind enough to replace my broken hand blender (that was under warranty), I originally purchased the product on my own. As always, all opinions expressed are my own. I write about the products I use and love.

The links to the DeLonghi hand blender in this post are Amazon affiliate links, and you can find the hand blender in my Amazon store.