I know I always talk about how wonderful my daughter, Robin, is, and how much I love her. She has just sent me the gift I wanted more than anything else in the whole world......... a VITAMIX blender ! ! I used to have one and had to sell it after I got married and Bobby and I moved out here from Idaho, and I have missed it ever since. I have been making green smoothies, and was grumbling about the blender not getting the greens and carrots blended , and having little chunks in the smoothies, and said how much I sure missed my old Vitamix. So, just now, the UPS guy stopped and brought us a huge box. I knew we hadn't ordered anything; and when we opened the box, there was the beautiful red Vitamix. I was bouncing up and down, I was so happy, and crying at the same time. Next I am going to read the manual before I even try making anything with it, since my old one was about 30 years ago, and this new one is much more sophisticated.
@Yvonne Smith My wife yearned for one many years ago, while we were holed-up in the woods, jobless, no income, no electric power or running water, so it remained a dream. Over the years, it never came up again, but we did acquire several blenders, which, as I see it, are little different from the Vitamix design. Clue me in if there really is some difference. Frank
Ooooh @Yvonne Smith , I remember you saying on here not so long ago about missing your old Vitamix and the circs in which you had to sell it. Wooohoooo for kind and thoughtful daughters...
It is of course true that all blenders look about the same; but to generalize that way is like saying all cars are the same because they have four tires and a steering wheel. It is all about the POWER, and what the machine can do, whether you end up with a smoothie that has chunks of carrot or grape skins in it, or you end up with one that it as smooth as fresh cream. If you don't mind chewing your smoothie, then I guess any machine would do, or if you are only blending things that don't have texture. If you only blend the occasional milkshake, or a protein drink with a banana or strawberry, then most any blender will do the trick; but when you are making a drink from vegetables and greens and fruit, and you want to make it every day, then having a machine with the stamina to "stay the course" and do the job properly, is the only way to go. While there are other expensive blenders that claim to be as good, Vitamix has been the standard by which blenders are judged for many years.
I've seen demos at Costco for them, they are a powerful little kitchen tool. Hope you are sending that daughter of yours a well deserved thank you card Yvonne. So nice when they are thoughtful enough to listen and know what you really want. Enjoy.
What a wonderful and thoughtful gift your daughter has sent you @Yvonne Smith. So glad you are enjoying your gift from Robin.
Its nice to hear that most of us on here have such thoughtful daughter's or children...we did something right. I know some don't but I'm just talking about the ones I know that do.
I certainly am thankful for my 3 loving and thoughtful daughters and for all those beautiful grandkids they gifted me with!
This is something that I have wished for , for many years, and knew that we would never be able to afford one, @Missy Lee . When @Ina I. Wonder said that she just gave her Vitamix away, I was shocked that anyone would do that; but sometimes that is how life goes. If you have no use for something, it is better to give it to someone who will use it every day and cherish it. The first thing i did was to set mine up in the kitchen and then take that picture that I posted, and sent it to Robin on Facebook along with profuse thanks to her for giving it to me. She knows that not only did she give me something I will treasure, but it will also be used to keep myself as healthy as possible; so she is happy about that part, too.
Out of curiosity, I looked at Vitamix blenders on Amazon.com, and they are crazy expensive. One of them was $400 for a refurbished blender. I didn't know they made blenders that expensive, probably because my experience has been $40 at K-Mart.
They ARE crazy expensive, and always have been. I bought my first one in about 1990, and it was over $350 back then. But they last forever, and used to have a lifetime warranty on a Vitamix. Now, there are quite a few blenders that are around that price, Blendtec, Healthmaster, and several other ones. Even the new Ninja is around $150, and it does a terrible job of blending, and that tall blade makes it hazardous to even try and put things down inside the blender jar to mix them. Little things will drop right down; but when i tried to put in greens, they kept sticking on the blades and I had to blend and then keep adding greens a little bit at the time until I had the right amount in there. Plus, even when I let it run for a couple of minutes, grape and apple peelings were still in chunks. My Kitchenaid was even worse ! I could put things in there just fine because the blades were all on the bottom, but it would have big chunks of carrot and even strawberries no matter how long I blended everything. In all fairness though, if you are just going to make a milkshake or an iced coffee now and again, the $40 one will do just fine for those kinds of things.