One of the most used tools in our kitchen...

... is the hand-blender. It has been a life-saver especially when it comes to preparing baby food! When Junior J was a baby, we bought all sorts of weaning tools to prepare his food, only to abandon them for a hand-blender. After all, it didn't make sense to spend lots of time and elbow grease mashing food to a pulp when it could be easily done with the press of a button. And since an immersion hand-blender could be placed directly into the pot/bowl containing the food, it minimized washing up, which was another plus point. I would steam things up using those stainless steel cups, and then pop the hand-blender in to have baby J's meal ready in minutes.

However, there was one aspect I didn't quite like about our hand-blender, which was that the section that was immersed in food (except for the blade of course) was made of plastic. I wasn't too comfortable with the thought of placing plastic parts into piping hot food. Which was why I was delighted when I was given the chance to try out Philip's new Jamie Oliver hand blender, since it featured a metal bar and a titanium-coated blade.

I put the blender to the test for something I usually struggle with: mashing potatoes. Up to now, I've yet to find a good potato masher, and it always takes quite a bit of time for me to get the potatoes to the nice smooth creamy consistency that you get at restaurants. However, with the blender, which boasts a powerful 650W motor, my potatoes went from this...

... to this in less than a minute (after adding butter and cream of course).

And the verdict from our little foodie (who coincidentally shares the same name as the great cook behind the blender)? He approved, and proceeded to eat and make a huge mess as usual!

Another plus point for this hand-blender are the accessories that come with it. The chopper (see below) is useful for preparing pestos and mincing garlic and onions (I'm thinking about making chilli sauce with this!), while the whisk would probably come in handy for batters and whipped cream. A handy one litre beaker is also provided, perfect for storing batter or smoothies in the fridge until they are needed. Finally, I must admit the blender does look good. How often do you get an appliance that has a pretty cornflower blue (which is supposed to be Jamie Oliver's favourite colour) power cable and plug?

I've not been able to do much cooking this month, since we've been staying with either my parents or my in-laws... but I'm looking forward to our new kitchen and trying out new recipes with this blender! This recipe for creamy broccoli cheddar soup is probably one of the first things I will try when we move back.

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Keep life simple with the PHILIPS | Jamie Oliver range which includes a food processor (S$268), blender (S$128) and hand-blender (S$108). Available at leading electronics and departmental stores.

Disclaimer: The Jamie Oliver hand-blender was sponsored by Philips. No monetary compensation was received, and all opinions are my own.