Aww, poor hurty toe! I hope she's better soon.
Love that sink! When you said "purple," I was thinking dark purple, like the shirt I'm currently wearing. Nice lavendar!
A few weeks ago, I picked up a magazine filled with smoothie and blender recipes. It has the Good Housekeeping Institute recs for blenders in the front:
Master Mixer: The Oster Beehive ($73) provides just the right blend of performance, ease, and style. Simple settings and exceptional results (smooth drinks and finely ground coffee beans) help it whip the competition. The only thing missing--a way to store the cord in the base. In 5 colors.
Easy Server: Designed with drinkmaking in mind, the Hamilton Beach Wave Station Express ($25) creates smooth beverages and has a handy spigot for less messy dispensing. (This can, however, make cleanup more of a chore.) There's storage in the base for the cord, to keep things tidy when the blender's not in use. In 2 colors.
Multi-tasker: The Hamilton Beach BlenderChef ($50) offers more bang for your buck. It creates superior drinks and comes with a food-processing attachment for chopping. However, the controls are less intuitive to use than some, and it can be tricky to clean around all the buttons. There's cord storage in the base. In black only.
Choice Chopper: With sleek digital control pads, the KitchenAid 5-Speed ($130) is as easy to clean as it is to use. A pulse option on each of its 5 settings lets you fine-tune your results. It's also one of the few models tested that excel at chopping. The cords can be stored in the base. In 11 colors.
Stick blender:
Supersize: With its long shaft, the De'Longhi DHB723 ($100) allows you to puree quantities of soup up to 8 inches deep (most immersion blenders max out at 6.5 inches), and its oversize pan-blender attachment mixes gravy in a roasting pan very efficiently. Other handy accessories include a whisk, a food processor bowl, and a blending jar.
Real Steal: For blending on a budget, consider the Hamilton Beach 59780R ($28). it purees soup in under 90 seconds, and its whisk attachment whips cream to double the volume. Don't plan to use this blender for making tru smoothies or for chopping though--it can't handle frozen fruit or ice, and it lacks a chopper bowl accessory.
Soup and Smoothie King: The Cuisinart SmartStick CSB-77 ($50) perfectly purees a thick soup in under 90 seconds. The unit also smooths frozen fruit, but it can't pulverize ice. Its whisk whips cream to double its volume in just 50 seconds; the chopper minces onions evenly. Its bowl, though labeled dishwasher-safe, is best washed by hand.