The Big Splurge or: I Blame Katie

Hi from sunny Warsaw, where I am on a business trip this week I thought it was about time to show you my recent sale and non sale purchases. Let's start with non-sale. Oh yes, definitely NON. It's a blender. Not just any blender, but the holy grail kitchen appliance of all vegans and health-conscious foodies out there. I am neither a vegan, nor a health-food fanatic, but decided that I needed a Vitamix in my life when I started reading Katie's wonderful food blog. Every other recipe of hers is prepared with a Vitamix and she also gives instructions for other, lesser, blenders along the lines of "well, you can attempt this with other mixers as well, but it will probably take 5 times as long if the blender doesn't go up in flames". This intrigued me and when my old blender sighed and grunted as I was preparing the frozen dessert for the last book club meeting, I decided the time had come to bite the bullet and invest in this gem. Trust me, it is an investment as this baby costs the equivalent of a return flight VIE-JFK.  Yep. However, it is unbelievable how quickly it blends hard and even frozen things and I keep joking that this would be the ultimate device to get rid of your unwanted spouse. Or boss. Or colleague. You get my drift. I ordered it (from Amazon.de) in a sexy red:

Less than half a minute after I poured in carrots, raspberries, red currants a stick of celery, orange juice and frozen banana slices, my smoothie was ready: 

Here's another picture of a slightly thicker carrot and tomato smoothie:

I have so many ideas for delicious (green) smoothies and of course need to try Katie's ice-creams and cakes. If you are a kitchen gadget nerd (or just in awe of powerful machinery in general), have some disposable pocket money or an occasion coming up: GO FOR IT!

In my humble opinion, this was a much worthier investment than my Kitchen Aid, pretty as it may be.