(Thermo)mixing things up.

Spring has shown itself! Today the temperature stretched above 70, and not a raindrop in sight. Grocery stores are starting to flaunt their farm stand/local produce (early Vidalia onions, brave lettuce, tender asparagus, even tiny sweet strawberries).

I love the start of every new season for its delicious hallmarks: new life peeking in the spring; patio grilling and warm, sun-ripened fruit all summer; apples and squash-filled fall recipes; and slow, comforting braises and hearty soups all winter. I actually find soups appropriate for all seasons, depending on how you prepare them and what ingredients you're showcasing. Thanks to the recent acquisition of a step-up converter, we have been bridging the gap between seasons by finally experimenting with one of our wedding gifts: a Thermomix (step-up converter to the right).

Imagine a tool which can replace your food processor, stove, blender and steamer (for those of you lucky enough to have space for one), among other appliances...enter Thermomix: you control the time, temperature and speed of a chopping/stirring mechanism (and it makes a pleasant chiming sound when the time is up!):

Why the step-up converter? Because, according to our family friend who gifted it to us, the European version is superior. (The converter is, by the way, smaller than a bread box and weighs 3-5x that of the Thermomix itself...my electrical engineer husband says, "That's how you know it'll work.") The upside: it's awesome...a truly remarkable machine which I am excited to experiment with. The downside: the recipe book is entirely in Spanish (beginning Spanish taught me "What time does the train arrive," but not the names of most ingredients and technical cooking terms).

We've been experimenting with pureed vegetable soups (the blender element makes it ideal for this purpose):

A smoky, creamy adobo butternut squash soup with just a touch of heat:

A not-so-successful asparagus soup (lack of success mostly due to my clumsy recipe conversion):

And perhaps my favorite, a spring pea and mint soup: (post to follow -- this one was exceptional).

The Thermomix makes quick work of chopping: (this was a two halves of an onion 10 seconds ago...no tears!)...

...and can turn chunks of raw butternut squash...

 ...into frothy, velvety goodness in under twenty minutes (no cream required):

Just beware the steam (it's hot!):

It can even multi-task (steaming asparagus in the basket above the main bowl):

The Thermomix online community is robust too...there are recipes for everything from cake to Hollandaise sauce. Looking forward to lots of experimentation! (We're enjoying early tests so far.)