The Blender Cookbook

When the weather gets hot my appetite tends to turn down and I crave lighter meals. I no longer want to devote myself for long periods at a time around a kitchen. Meals become less labour intensive. Baking is all but a minimum. Fast and fresh come to mind. Now at some point we have either received a blender as a gift or felt the impulse to buy one. Marvelling at this montrosity it always seems to get pushed to the back of the cupboards. Only to make it's appearance one summer day while you are hosting a barbeque dinner to make a round of margaritas. Or in my case hummus. I have a fond childhood memory of the blender... making milkshakes. That memory is bittersweet due to the fact that one time I forgot to put the lid back on the blender, pressed pulse and the milkshake came shooting out all over the place. To my dismay and embarrassment I frantically wiped up every ounce! After that I became very cautious around blenders. 

The Blender Cookbook by Anne Seranne and Eileen Gaden; Doubleday, first edition 1961; pp.[10] 288, has a wide range of recipes for you to grind, grate, crumb, pureé, and chop in no time. This cookbook has thirteen chapters. They are: 1) Dips, Sandwich Spreads, and Butter 2) Soups 3) Cheese and Egg Dishes 4) Hot Main Dishes 5) Main Dishes for Hot-Weather Menus, and moulded Salads 6) International Specialties 7) Vegetables 8) Savoury Sauces 9) Preserves 10) Hot Breads 11) Cakes, Cookies, Fillings, and Frostings 12) Deserts and Dessert Sauces and finally 13) Beverages. The book states there are more than five hundred recipes that cover all courses. Fourteen of them are "beat the heat" recipes. You can go from start to finish with the help from one of your most powerful and precise small appliances. There are step by step photos for the more intricate recipes. Unfortunately all photographs are in black and white and are rarely full pages. I always adore black and white photography however this is one of the few times I do not. Colour photography should always be used in cookbooks for the obvious reasons. 

This cookbook has made me look at the blender I have slightly more differently. I already use the blender to make smoothies, crêpes, hummus, sauces and bean dip. Perhaps I could extend the blender a little further in the kitchen especially when the weather gets warmer. -JW