Allison - you could definitely use what you call a blender - we call that a food processor. A hand blender (AKA immersion blender) is like an electric whisk, but instead of a whisk bit that spins around, it has a long shaft, at the bottom of which is a spinning metal blade. The blade has a cover over the top of it, and around the sides, but the bottom is open and the sides have holes to let the blended stuff out. You pop it into the pot, turn it on and then just move it about until everything's mush. Dead handy!

Bart.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immersion_blender