This article on the How About We blog cracked me up last night as I was taking a break from wrapping presents to procrastinate on the internet. (Sometimes I think I should actually try How About We‘s dating services since I dig their blog so much, but that’s a post for another blog that does not exist.)

Anyway, the author of this post makes the case that an immersion blender is basically the perfect gift for anyone on your holiday gift list. Here’s an excerpt:

You are giving the gift of blended cold drinks, soups, sauces, batters, and smoothies. And yes, you can absolutely blend all of those things with a normal, standing blender. But would you want to? An immersion blender lets you blend whatever you’re blending right in the container you made it in — bowl, pitcher, pot, whatever — which means you don’t have to pour anything, which means you don’t have to spill anything. Transferring soup from pot to blender back to pot makes soup essentially not worth making. But with an immersion blender, that isn’t necessary, because you do your blending right in the pot. Or the bowl. Or the pitcher. Whatever.

The point is, it’s easy, it’s basically instantaneous, and most importantly, it requires virtually no cleaning, unlike your standing glass monolith. With an immersion blender, you just pop the blending head off the base and rinse it. You’re not just giving an immersion blender, you’re giving the gift of time.

I actually received a stick blender as a gift after finishing my dietetic internship from my aunt and her husband. I think I need to use it soon to make some rosemary mashed potato soup—the secret-ingredient white beans add a nice dose of protein and fiber. I think even Nora Ephron would approve of this version of her favorite comfort food.

I also have to note that the title of this post makes me think of this Rolling Stones song—not Christmas-y at all, but if you can’t say it with a stick blender, you can always say it with dead flowers. It took  me a long time to be able to listen to this song because I used to sing it with an ex all the time (all kinds of weird, I know)—thank god I outgrew the cringe-phase.

Do you have an immersion blender? What do you like to use it for?