I love my Kenwood blender so much I bought another to make soup at my boyfriend's house.
It was bargain- £12 from Tesco usually £16.
Recipe:
I love making soup, my favourite is garden pea and mint, So simple, lovely onions, frozen petits pois, Marigold bouilllon, single cream and garden mint.
Most soups do need blending and even partial blending can lead to a thick soup with lovely texture where the veggies have been left somewhat in their chopped state.

Other blender types:
Before this I used an excellent old-fashioned Moulinex goblet blender, but it is a pain transferring and pouring to and from a goblet, this way you keep the soup in the pot.

WARNING From the Bunny
You MUST keep the blender down on the bottom of the saucepan because it will splash up otherwise and you could get burned. Do be sensible and make sure the lead is not trailing on the cooker.

How to use, what to make:
However, this is really idiot-proof and will soon reduce a lumpy suace to a smooth one, and can be used to chop and blend herbs. The two speeds allow a good range of control.
Basically you grasp the nice chunky handle and use the blender vertically,pressing on the soft touch buttons as required.You can also make mayonnaise and weirdly even whip cream if you haven't got a whisk!( my own idea). You can make super quick milk shakes with ice cream, or yoghurt and fresh fruits ( soft fruits)

Shopping around:
I had a look at the blenders in Robert Dyas, ut they had weird cranked handles and were very heavy- this Kenwood is really the Daddy.

It comes with a measuring and blending beaker which I have never used, but it is for shakes etc. I use it to put my washing up brush in! LOL
Washing up:
Be careful not to cut your fingers on the blades when cleaning. The had comes off so you can just soak it in hot water and shake it to dry and dry, otherwise you will chop your teatowels! So much easier to clean than the goblet type.
Specs:
Soft textured grip provides easy operation and user comfort * 0.5 Litre calibrated beaker * Durable stainless steel blades for smooth and thorough blending * Powerful 180 Watt motor * Hanging hook for wall or rail mounting * 1 year UK Warranty Included * Hand Blender * 0.5L calibrated beaker * Instruction manual * Registration card * 3 Pin UK plug Specifications * Voltage: 220-240V ~ 50/60Hz * Wattage: 300W * CE and RoHS £25 quid on Amazon( why was mine so cheap?)
Someone else reviewing here got extra bits like a whisk, but mine was as above apart from the price