Vita-LOVE

Love at First Blend

I never knew I could hold so much love and admiration towards a kitchen appliance. Oh, how I wanted this machine for a long time, and Wednesday the day finally came. You know you have hyped something up when the mailwoman casually walks up to the door, sets down the package,rings the door bell and busily turns and strolls back to her car only to be startled by the screaming coming from behind the door. “MOM!!!! IT’S THE VITAMIX!!!!

I ran down the stairs, lept over a couple very enthusiastic children, threw open the door, snatched up the box and immediately took it to the kitchen to unpack. As I am carefully unpacking the box, the girls are chanting “VitaMix, VitaMix” and dancing around the island. Maybe I played up the visions of homemade ice cream a bit too much… I quickly demoted my coffee maker from its choice position on the kitchen counter, and replaced it with the VitaMix. I must say, it is an imposing machine. I admired it a bit before responding to the girls’ cries to look through the recipe book. This machine is more than a mere blender. From smoothies to specialty drinks (mocha cappuccino, anyone?), soups to dips and salsas to bread batter, it can almost make anything!! And cleanup? Just fill it halfway full with water and a couple drops of dish soap, turn it on high for a few seconds, rinse and your done.

I must admit I was quiet intimidated by the thing. I’m a decent cook, but this has the potential to take me to another level. Perhaps afraid that the machine wouldn’t live up to its hype, I let my shiny new VitaMix sit there in its proud position for the night.

I was determined to this ride for a test drive today, so when lunch time rolled around, it was VitaMix time. I quickly threw some frozen blueberries, coconut milk and ice in the thing and within 30 seconds, I had slush. COOL! I gave the girls a bit and poured the rest into some popsicle forms for later. Now the real test: vegetables – and lots of them.

HOLY MOLY!!!

It’s a bit like throwing your veggies into a jet engine. This thing could liquefy a tire iron!!! I left it running for about 4 minutes and came back to piping hot soup. AMAZING!!! The machine was but not the soup. It was gross. Bad combo of flavors – bleck! But, the texture was divine. Ditching the nasty soup, I decided to just have a salad. I tossed some more veggies into the container and in 2 seconds – no lie, I had perfectly chopped veggies. Cleanup was 30 seconds. I am loving this!!

The girls are pumped for berry-picking season, as visions of strawberry and peach ice cream and blueberry sorbets dance in their little heads. With the awesome power of this machine, I will occasionally slip some greens into those glorious concoctions. I can hear it now. “Thanks, Mom, but why is my ice cream green???” Hee hee!

We love you, VitaMix!!!