Out Damn Spot!

Today is a very special day. This morning I collected my new Magimix or 'Madge' as I am going to call her and brought her home. After assembling her many parts I was overwhelmed to see just how much you can actually do with her; chopping, slicing, blending, grinding, crushing, whisking, kneading, grating, juicing, you name it, you can do it!

Accompanying Madge is a book with all the instructions and a selection of recipes to try. I have decided in the spirit of 'Julia and Julia' to attempt every recipe in the book which should take me quite a while, but for my first recipe I wanted to find something a little bit special.

Enter Nigella ... or her Christmas cookbook at least. This book is the holy grail of Christmas and I defy anyone to look through it without salivating. There are so many gorgeous recipes in here that it was hard to choose but eventually I plumbed for 'Scarlet-Speckled Loaf Cake' involving among other things lots of cranberries and a beetroot!

After carefully constructing her and working out which one of the many accessories to use, in went the beetroot and her maiden voyage began! Within literally seconds the crimson vegetable was massacred and it was all over. As I stood there examining what remained with beetroot all over my hands I had a surreal Lady Macbeth moment although I don't think she was quite as excited as I was.