Downsizing need not mean downgrading. Far from it; small is beautiful, less is more. This has never been as evident as in my kitchen of late.

Gadgets and shelves of fancy kit are not my thing. Electric jam-makers, bread makers, soup makers have never had much appeal to me, as I like to get my hands ‘dirty’, to feel the sloppy wet bread dough turn elastic as I knead it and drip the jam from a wooden spoon to see if it has reached setting point.

But then, I’m a cook; I would, wouldn’t I? For those who find cooking a chore rather than a pleasure, such equipment is a boon.

However, even I have some kit – a food processor, blender and juicer. Knife skills not being my strong point, the Magimix makes short work of thinly slicing half a dozen cucumbers, but also makes large batches of pesto, not to mention peanut butter.

My Kitchenaid blender with its steel jug is indispensable (and unbreakable) for creamy vegetable soups and smoothies. And without Le Duo I would not be able to make my favourite carrot and ginger juice.

But goodness, they take up space; space I would love to have just as space, to admire my uncluttered Mark Wilkinson worktops, still handsome after all these years, my worktops that is, I don’t know about Mark.

And then along came the latest series of Magimix food processors. Well, I scoffed. How can one machine possibly blend and process? A blender has a vortex action; a food processor has a centrifugal action.

But the new 200 series, 3200, 4200 and 5200 according to capacity, can indeed be transformed into an efficient blender by fitting an ingenious plastic girdle, which has three vertical arms that reach into the bowl.

This is what causes the motion to change direction and draw the ingredients towards the blade instead of pushing them away, thus making perfect smoothies and blended soups.

To make professional grade juice from vegetables and hard fruit, the juice extractor basket fits inside with its own lid and feed tube. Another clever attachment allows for soft fruit to be juiced.

I recently met Edouard de Jenlis, managing director of Magimix, when he was in London to offer a sneak preview of their newest baby, a handsome blender to be launched on the market in September.

He told me that the genius who invented the blender attachment is one Jean-Pierre Lazzer who has worked in their R and D department for years.

I hope they gave him a bonus. The company is, of course, the inventor of the Robot Coupe in 1960, beloved of chefs the world over, and from it developed the original Magimix in the early 70s.

I now have space; my three machines, still in full working order and ready for another 20 years of food preparation, I donated to the life-skills classroom of a local school.

I have one machine only, with which I can make smoothies, blended soups, vegetable juices, fresh orange juice as well as chopping, slicing and blitzing.

I cannot remember ever being so impressed by a piece of kitchen equipment, and regular readers will know how infrequently I wax lyrical about such things. Of course, it does not empty the dishwasher or polish the cutlery.

Perhaps someone could invent a piece of kit which does all the really tedious chores. Oh, yes, I forgot. It’s called a wife.