Appliance Love

Once you get your minds out of the gutter, I'll be here, talking about my immersion blender.

It is not new. By any means. Pu-lease. As I like to say to those with whom I can be completely snobby: I have had a Zyliss cheese grater since circa 1989; I did not ooh and ah over one, and then pay more than I should have for it at a suburban housewives party in 1999. No offense. (I eschew house ware parties with the same conviction I do overpriced silver jewelry parties.) Any gadget that’s out there, I have. If I don’t it is probably because I don’t want it. I want, I buy, or I ask. I do not have an aversion to getting appliances for gifts, and have more than once put an appliance on a Christmas list. I suppose it’s a different ball game asking for a waffle maker from your mom or for an immersion blender from your sister for Christmas than getting a Crockpot from your husband for your birthday, or—worse—your anniversary, but now I’m two topics away from my Braun immersion blender.

For some time it has been packed up in a closet, in a Sterilite box. When I moved I didn't have quite enough cabinet space in my kitchen to keep everything handy, given my dish fetish and tendency to go a little crazy during canned goods sales. Furthermore, before I moved I found I hadn't been using my immersion blender often, afraid to scratch the inside surface of my favorite Calphalon chili pot, which is also my soup pot, pasta pot, and whatever else one might call a 5 quart pot. Hence, I relinquished it to my closet, where it has been out of sight, and also--as they say-- out of mind. When I make my squash and corn chowder I use my regular blender, which did get a kitchen space. As did my hand mixer and my food processor.

But when I made tortilla soup a couple of weeks ago I thought I wanted to give it a partial puree: to impart a creaminess to the clear broth and lighten the color, and to thicken it just enough without making it mush, leaving some chunks of tomato intact before adding some more black beans and corn. But it was my first time making this soup, so I wasn't quite sure. Taking out my regular blender would have meant making a commitment to pureeing. And since it wouldn't all have fit in the carafe, I would have needed to do it in batches, which meant taking out another pot or large bowl and WHOA. Stop. Way too much to do there, I thought. Which is when it occurred to me that it could not have been easier to take out my immersion blender and let it rip….

Well, as Erika might say, Hollah! The soup was delicious; the immersion blender worked well, did not scratch my pot in the process, and was beyond easy to clean.

I’m in love again.