A hand blender that chops and whips too - my first Morphy Richards Innovator review

So, you may or may not know that I was chosen earlier in the year to be a Morphy Richards Innovator. This means I get to try out Morphy Richards appliances and share my thoughts on them with you lucky people.

The first thing I've been sent to try is their Accents Hand Blender set in red. Here's the official Morphy Richards video showing you just what it can do.



I love hand blenders as they make soup making so much easier because you don't have to decant everything from pan to jug and back again. I used to have one long ago that did other things so I was intrigued to try this. It has a balloon whisk attachment to whip cream and a little chopping bowl that you can use like a little food processor. And the blending leg is heat resistant so you don't even have to wait for the soup to cool before blending it.

All the attachments detach easily and go in the dishwasher which is fantastic. Not that anything is too fiddly to clean. My one comment is I don't understand why they put small ridges on the inside of the chopping bowl because it makes it harder to scrape completely clean. Everything feels solid and well-made, so I have no concerns that it won't stand the test of time.

Making pesto was a breeze

The chopping bowl itself requires a bit of a knack to learn how to do the twist and lock mechanism to put it together as it feels counter-intuitive. However, once you get it, it's fine. The chopper itself is brilliant - I made pesto in it over the weekend and the little chopping blade is amazingly efficient. You have to make sure that you screw the motor bit in properly or it just makes a horrible noise but it's easily fixed. I love it because it is so much easier than getting out my food processor for doing smaller amounts. It would be great for anything like making breadcrumbs when you only want to do one or two slices, chopping a bag of nuts or making a curry paste.

Whipped cream in two minutes flat!

The whisk attachment is a bit different. I used it to try and beat some eggs but I made the mistake of trying to do it in a mixing bowl rather than the beaker provided. It took forever, but that's because there is only one beater, not two. In the interests of research, I bought some cream to try whipping it using the beaker. It did the job in less than 2 minutes, but I did have to hold onto the beaker tight to stop it moving around. I think adding a small  non-slip base to the bottom of the beaker (similar to the base on the chopping bowl) would make a big difference, as I wanted to adjust the speed without turning it off. Still, it was fast and effective.

The instructions state that the chopping bowl should be used at full speed and the whisk at low speeds. It's a shame they're not marked on the dial as it's easy to lose instructions and forget. It's obvious that you need to keep the whisk at low speed or you'll get spattered, but it's not really obvious that you can only chop at high speed.

On the whole, I love this little set. If you can't afford - or don't have space for - a food processor and a hand mixer, it's a great choice as you'll get 3 gadgets for the price of one. It may not do everything that a food processor does but it's very versatile. I think it could be improved by having a non-slip base for the beaker and making the inside of the chopping bowl smooth, but these are minor quibbles. For the price, which is around £50, I think it's great value for money.

By the way, if you  fancy buying anything, you can get 25% off if you enter the code FP1002 at www.morphyrichards.co.uk

(I was sent the hand blender set to try for the purposes of a review. All opinions are my own.)

I'm a gadgetaholic

Hello, my name is Kate and I'm a gadgetaholic. Kitchen gadgets, that is. There are plenty in my kitchen, all jostling for position and . Some have been successful, others not so much. Some gather dust because I don't use them often, others are in daily use and are, frankly, lifesavers.

My lovely pink food processor

If you're going to invent a new kitchen gadget, I have three criteria on which I base my judgement on what makes a kitchen gadget useful, effective and therefore, value for money.

First, it needs to solve a problem or fill a need. If I have something I want to defrost quickly, my microwave is hot stuff. When grating lots of cheese or making breadcrumbs without taking off the tips of my fingers, my food processor saves my skin, quite literally. The fact it's pink is a bonus!

Next, it needs to save me time or money, as I don't have bags of either and both are precious. I love my stick blender for this - soups are whizzed to perfection in a couple of minutes in the pan, saving me time and washing up, especially as that rinses clean too. My slow cooker, although basic, saves electricity and cooking time. I also love my breadmaker - although it takes a few hours to make bread, a few minutes' effort produces freshly made bread - and the smell is amazing!

My new love

Finally, it's got to be easy to use and clean. I don't mind if I have to learn the knack, so long as it is fairly easy to master.  Our most recently acquired gadget - a bean to cup espresso machine has filled a void that many coffee makers have tried and failed to fill. Constant washing up meant that freshly ground coffee was a rare treat because, well, we just couldn't be bothered. Then we went to Germany and discovered the joys of a bean to cup machine. You pour beans in the top, add water, press a button and it does the rest. All I have to do is empty the grounds (pressed neatly into little discs) about once a week and top the water up occasionally. I've also sussed how to make cappuccino with it easily. It was expensive, but so worth it. We use it daily, thus reducing our need to frequent expensive coffee shops.

You get all these three things right and I'm sold. I'll develop an unhealthy attachment to it and will enter a period of mourning when it finally packs up its bags and moves to gadget heaven. But then, it's an excuse to go out and buy a new one. Oh yes, I'm a gadgetaholic and I need my regular fix!

I've written this post in my bid to be a Foodies 100 Morphy Richards Innovator.

Review: Fun & Games for the 21st Century Family

I was so intrigued by the title and the concept of this book that I couldn't really turn down the opportunity to review a copy. What the authors Steve and Simon have done is give some traditional games a modern twist with the help of the gadgets that we often now take for granted. I will be honest and say that we don't have all the gadgets that are mentioned in the book but that doesn't matter. There are over 200 games or activities so there should be something for everyone except the most dyed-in-the-wool Luddite to enjoy.

I liked the layout of the pages for each game. The left hand column has a key listing what age it's suitable from, the number of players and the type of activity. The set up time and expected play time is also listed for each game, along with what you need to get going, all of which are very handy so you don't discover halfway through you need something you haven't got or that it's going to take longer to set up than your children's attention span. Activities are rated for level of difficulty and how long it will take to complete for the same reason.

The book also includes a 6 step film course, and an appendix "Techno" section with lots of short "How to" articles to do various whizzy things on your PC or Mac that will help the games along. Simon and Steve have also set up a website here with lots of resources to help you play the games - like grids, bingo cards etc. There is also a discussion forum where you can share variations on the game with other readers and the book includes a notes section to write these down if you can't get online straight away. I think that's great as the games they have created or collated will change as families adapt them to suit their needs and it widens the appeal of the book even further. And to top it all, the new games are interspersed with short sections of games from the archives - more traditional games with enduring appeal.

The index makes it easy to find the games as they are all listed by type. I'm particularly pleased that there are lots of car games, as we are driving to Devon and back at the end of the week so no doubt we will be road-testing them then, having never driven that far with the children in the back.

As Monkey and Missy Woo are only 5 and 4, some of the games are still a bit old for them, but that means the book can be used in years to come as they get older and are more suited to the games for older children. I really want to have a go at Hairdryer ping pong (page 36) the next time we have a rainy day so it's perfect for the big kid in all of us.

I think this is a great book, which will be useful to us as a family for years. Monkey and Missy Woo are already adept at using technology in their lives - they had me looking up pictures of cliffs for them only this evening - and the book really shows you how to make the harness the technology around you for the sole purpose of having fun. It might also give you a solution the next time your child says "Muuuuuum, I'm bored" on a rainy day.

Fun and Games for the 21st Century Family is out now and costs £9.99


(I was provided with the book to review and have received no other compensation. The opinions stated here are my own, and have not been influenced by the aforementioned compensation.)