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Apartment Living 101: 2-in-1 Gadgets

A little while ago, Ashley from CSNStores.com contacted me about reviewing one of their products for the blog.   CSN sells all sorts of furniture for the home and office and yard, as well as bedding lighting, luggage, and… kitchen appliances! Of course I jumped at the chance. I put on my thinking cap and thought long and hard about what we really needed. Of course I’d love a snazzy new bedspread or some sturdy cookware, but as you apartment dwellers know: there’s only so much space for more stuff. But then it hit me.
Hamilton Beach.JPG

Two things I don’t have? An electric mixer and an immersion blender. Yes, it’s true: my biceps have gotten pretty big each time I bake because we don’t have a hand mixer! I’ve also gotten used to pouring soup, in batches, into our blender so that I can purée it. Hamilton Beach makes a two-in-one immersion blender/mixer that conveniently breaks down and comes with a handy little case to carry it in! For $29.99, was it too good to be true?

Hand Blender and Whisk.JPG

First, my mom and I tested out the whisk. We twisted on the attachment…

Whisk.JPG

… picked our recipe (Bob’s Red Mill cornmeal muffins, subbing applesauce for oil)…

Cornbread Mix.JPG

… and threw the ingredients together.

Ingredients.JPG

One, two, three… whisk!

Mix.JPG

Ta da!

Corn Muffins.JPG

Pros

  • It’s easy to maneuver

  • “High” setting is very smooth and doesn’t splatter.

  • Mixed everything together uniformly

Cons

  • When making cookies, “Low” setting sprayed batter all over (I stopped and stirred it by hand)
  • It doesn’t balance on the side of the bowl; a groove or kickstand of some kind would be helpful

I was quite excited to try out the immersion blender, hoping it would save me a lot of time and clean-up in the future.

Immersion Blender.JPG

I decided to test the attachment out with Veganomicon’s Chickpea Romesco, which requires you blend together tomatoes, roasted peppers, and almond meal.

Blending.JPG

It puréed quite nicely! (The chickpeas were stirred into the mixture after blending.)

Chickpeas.JPG

Pros

  • Fun to use!
  • Blended easily
  • Didn’t make too much of a mess (I used it in a large pot so the food wouldn’t spray)

Cons

  • You have to make sure the extension is properly twisted on, or it falls off easily
  • Not dishwasher safe

Bottom line: Despite a few little glitches, you really can’t do any better than this for the price. The combination immersion blender/whisk is so handy, and I love that it packs neatly away into a case (slightly bigger than a standard sheet of 8-1/2 x 11 paper) and not take up too much space. I would certainly recommend this to anyone who lives in a small space and loves to cook but is watching their wallet.


Want to win a $40

CSN

gift card? Of course you do! Here are four ways to enter:

1.. Mandatory Entry: Visit the CSNStores website and tell me what you most want. It doesn’t have to be a kitchen gadget!

2. Second Entry: If you have a blog, link back to this contest. Leave a comment letting me know you did so.

3. Third Entry: Tweet the content and provide the URL. Leave a comment letting me know you did so.

4. Fourth FUN entry: Leave a comment telling me what kitchen gadget you can’t imagine living without. For me, it’s the Mr. Coffee!


I will randomly choose a winner on Tuesday, July 20, at 8 PM EST. Open to US residents only, please.

And the winner is:

Congratulations, Erin! Please get in touch with me at lilveggiepatch (at) gmail (dot) com and we’ll get you your gift card :-)

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July 16th, 2010 | Category: Uncategorized

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