This hand blender lets me do that and save me a lot of time.
It has a simple one-speed button along with a simple, yet sturdy two-piece design which releases by an additional button. Clean up is a breeze - just rinse it in warm water and dry. The motor is so powerful it suctions my shaker to it so I when I lift the blender while its blending, it lifts the shaker too! The power is unparalleled - I make a lot of shakes and throw a lot of solid food into it and in a about 1/2 a minute or less its ready to drink.

And the noise decibel is maybe half that of a normal blender which helps a lot, especially for people with sensitive hearing.
I think this is an amazing product, considering its price as compared to a KitchenAid one. I think it equals or beats it.
Being a health enthusiast and always on the go, I always look for a quicker way to prepare meals. I’ve had it for a little over a month now. I think you should definitely consider this one!
By John Yi

If you are like a lot of people, you may have a weakness for gadgets and countertop appliances for the kitchen. With the wide selection of kitchen cookware and kitchen equipment available today, it can be difficult to choose which to purchase.

Years ago people seemed to get by just fine with just basic kitchen equipment. Most people just had a stove, some pots and pans, hand-operated mixers and utensils. Today there are literally thousands of cooking appliances and equipment to choose from and there are special kitchen stores available in most every town and city.

We all need cooking equipment to be able to prepare food and having cooking appliances available to make the tasks easier is definitely a plus. Most people today cannot imagine life in the kitchen without some of the modern kitchen aids that are available today.

Picture: www.epicurious.com

One of the most popular kitchen appliances that nearly everyone has in the kitchen is the bread toaster. Toasters come in all shapes and sizes and in varying price ranges. A toaster is considered a standard kitchen gadget.

A coffee machine can be found in most kitchens also. Coffee machines come in an assortment of styles such as the percolator, the drip variety and those which are designed to be used on the stovetop. (more…)

Grated Potato Kugel - great recipe for Chanukah.

Kugel is a common way of adding specialness to a Shabbat or Yom Tov meal.

Ingredients:

• 6 medium potatoes
• 3 eggs
• 1 onion
• About 3/4 cup flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• Pinch of white pepper (optional)
• 4 tablespoons vegetable shortening

Preparation:

Grate raw pared potatoes.
Squeeze out excess liquid.
Grate onion into the pulp. Mix well.
Add eggs, salt. Mix well. Add as much flour as necessary to make a batter that would drop from a spoon. Again mix well.
Heat shortening in baking pan and fold into batter.
Turn batter into greased baking pan.
Bake 30 to 40 minutes at 375 degrees F, until the top turns nicely browned and crisp around the edges.

Serve 4 to 6.

Chilean sea bass is a white fish. It is rich with the omega-3 unsaturated oils. It has an unique large-flake texture and is mild in flavor. The oils make it a bit easier to cook, as it don’t toughen up if overcooked.

Ingredients:

• Four Chilean sea bass filets, around 6 ounces each
• Olive oil
• Salt and pepper
• Seasoning of your choice, for example Cajun or Creole

Preparation:

Heat up oven to 420°F/215°C.

Oil pan or baking pan with olive oil. Place sea bass filets in pan and patter with seasonings. Turn it and season the other side.
Bake at 420°F/215°C about 15 to 20 minutes, depends on thickness of the filets.
Serve as is or with your favorite sauce, like Artichoke Salsa, Sherry Cream Sauce or Corn Salsa.

Serves 4.

We all know there a lot of ham left after the fest dinners. There are several good recipes to use up the leftover ham.

Ham and Broccoli Ring
Ham and Bean Soup
Ham and Macaroni Bake
Cuban Cubano Sandwich

Ham and broccoli ring

Ingredients:

1 cup broccoli (chopped)
1 1/2 cups ham (diced)
3/4 cup chedder cheese (shredded)
2 pakages crossiant rolls

Preparation:

Lay the crossiant rolls on a sprayed cookie sheet in the shape of a circle. So the points are facing the edges of the cookie sheet. Make a sturdy base with the widest part of the dough, make sure there are no gaps.
Mix broccoli, ham and cheese in a medium bowl.
Spoon mixture on the crossiant about one inch across the dough ring and about one inch high, or until all the mix is used.
Fold the points of the dough over the mix and press into the inside of the ring. It is best if there are some openings on the top of the ring.
Bake according to the instructions on the crossiant tube.
Let cool about 10 minutes.
You can use spinach if you don’t want to use broccoli.
This is a good way to get kids who are picky eaters to eat veggies.

Ham and Bean soup

Ingredients:

leftover ham cut into small pieces
a large onion diced
5 or 6 pieces of celery diced
1 bag great northern beans
2 cans of tomato soup
a pinch of salt and pepper
1 ham bone
1 bag of carrots sliced in bite sized pieces

Preparation:

Fill a stockpot about half way with water. Add the onion, celery, carrots, beans and ham bone in.
Let cook on medium flame until beans are cooked well. then add the ham and cook an addition 30 minutes.
Add the tomato soup and cook about 30 more minutes.

Ham and Macaroni Bake

Ingredients:

1 (8 oz.) pkg. elbow macaroni
1 can cream of celery soup
1/4 c. milk
1 sm. onion, minced fine
1 c. diced cooked ham
1 c. (1/4 lb.) grated sharp Cheddar cheese

Preparation:

Stir macaroni into large amount boiling salted water and cook per package direction. Drain well and rinse in cold water.
Stir in soup, milk, onion, ham and half the cheese. Pour into buttered 6 cup baking dish. Top with remaining cheese and more ham cut into thin slices if desired.
Bake in moderate oven (375 degrees) for 30 minutes.

Cuban Cubano Sandwich

Ingredients:

1 Cuban bread bun or substitute French bread roll (not a baguette) or a Kaiser roll
1 pound roasted pork shredded - boneless center loin is suggested
1/2 pound baked ham - a mild and sweet flavored ham
1/4 pound Swiss cheese
12 dill pickle slices
3 tablespoons butter

Preparation:

Cut ham into thin slices. Cut a dill pickle into narrow slices, or use pre-cut slices Cut cheese into thin slices.
Slice bread bun in half lengthwise, or if using a French bread roll, cut lengthwise to make a 6 inch length.  Lightly butter inside of each bread slice. On buttered side, layer ingredients starting with the pickles, then the roast pork, ham (1 to 2 slices), and the cheese on top.
Pre-heat sandwich grill or a griddle pan large enough to hold 1 or 2 sandwiches. Spray cooking oil on grill or pan surfaces. Place sandwich(es) in grill or pan and flatten sandwich by either closing grill lid, or if using an open pan, place a meat press, such as a bacon press, over top of sandwich. A heavy object such as a brick wrapped in tin foil can be used to compress the bread, meat, and cheese.
Grill sandwiches 2 to 3 minutes per side, removing when cheese melts and outsides of bread are golden brown.
Slice sandwiches in half and serve.

Frozen Strawberry Lemonade

Ingredients:

1 cup of water
1 (6 ounce) can lemonade concentrate, frozen
2 cups ice cubes
5 fresh strawberries, hulled

Preparation:

Place the lemonade concentrate, water and ice cubes into the blender.
Process until ice is finely blended.
Add strawberries, puree until well blended.
Taste, adjust flavors if you like.
This recipe is very flexible, you can use virtually any fruits in it.

Frozen Lemonade With Blackberry Puree

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cups fresh lemon juice
1/3 cup fresh orange juice
3/4 cup simple syrup
1 pint fresh blackberries, juiced (about 1/3 cup)
plus some fresh blackberries to garnish
4 1/2 cups ice cubes
4 fresh mint sprigs

Preparation:

1. In a small bowl, stir together the 1 1/4 cups of lemon juice, the orange juice and the 3/4 cups of simple syrup. Set aside.
2. In another small bowl, stir together the blackberry juice, 1 teaspoon lemon juice and the 2 tablespoons simple syrup. Set aside.
3. Put the ice cubes in a blender, add the lemon juice mixture. Set up “the ice crush feature” of the blender or high speed, blend until smooth.
4. Put one tablespoon of the blackberry puree into each of 4 glasses. Pour in the frozen lemonade, dividing evenly. Garnish each one with a mint sprig and few blackberries. Serve immediately.

Ingredients:

1 (16 oz.) package salad green
1 1/2 cups mayonnaise
1 (12 oz.) bacon, cut into 1-inch pieces, cooked
1/2 cup chopped green pepper
1/4 cup sliced green onions
1 cup thin sliced celery
1 (10 oz.) package frozen green peas, thawed
3/4 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

Preparation:

1. Place greens in big glass bowl. Layer celery, green peppers, onion, bacon and peas over greens.
2. Spread mayonnaise evenly over peas, covering the top wholly and sealing off to edge of bowl. Patter with cheese.
3. Cover and refrigerate 2 to 12 hours to blend flavors. Toss prior to serving, if desired.

Ingredients:

2 c. overripe bananas, mashed
1/2 c. butter
1 1/2 c. unbleached flour
2 eggs, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 c. sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda

The darker your banana the better. Overripe bananas add more moisture to bakery.

Preparation:

Heat oven to 350°. Cream sugar and butter together with a wooden spoon. Add beaten eggs and blend them in.
Add mashed bananas, baking soda, vanilla, flour and salt. Mix everything well. There might be a few little banana chunks, so if you like a perfectly smooth batter you could use a mixer.
Pour mixture into a loaf pan and bake at 350° around 90 minutes or till a toothpick appears clean. Make sure to begin checking for doneness at about 60 minutes. Serve as you like.