What is an immersion blender & why would you want one?  An immersion blender is a kitchen tool that makes quick work of blending soups, sauces & other liquids in the container in which they are being prepared.  Instead of dragging out your blender  to puree a hot soup, using an immersion blender allows you to puree your soup right in the pot.  That means less clean up, because you generally can’t puree the whole pot of soup in the blender, so you have to do it in batches, which means. . .more dirty dishes.

Your immersion blender may be cute & colorful, but it is not a toy.  Use it carefully, so you stay out of the emergency room.

A side effect of immersion blending can be spattering-be prepared.  A handy trick to reduce spattering is to tip the pan, so that the soup collects on one side of the pot, then blend.