What's in non-diary creamer? I'm not sure its heart healthy. The website says their claim to fame is not using powdered choclate. So you could use one of the above recipe's and maybe use a little actual chocolate, whizzed in a food processer to make it a little more decadent. It would be more expensive but you could do this off food network - or maybe do 2/3 or 3/4 powder choclate and the rest in real choclate (you would have to add sugar to the mix I think if using powder) to pump it up from Swiss Mix Ingredients * 3 pounds bittersweet chocolate * 1 pound 2 ounces whole dry milk powder * Cayenne pepper * 1 large stick cinnamon Finely grate the bittersweet chocolate. Place the milk powder, grated chocolate, and cayenne pepper, to taste, in a large mixing bowl and combine thoroughly. Spoon the mixture into attractive tins or jars and tie the cinnamon stick to the jar. Label the jar with the following instructions: Use 1/2-cup of chocolate mixture with each cup of hot milk or water. When making the hot chocolate, be sure to boil the chocolate milk for at least 15 seconds. Use the cinnamon stick to stir. Serving with marshmallows is optional.

Thank you, mitchdesj for your reply. The sort of problem that I'm worried about is leachable metals, like lead, that are ingredients in glazes (and glassware). After doing a quick search on Google, I came up with these two articles: Some imported glassware hazardous FDA Consumer, March, 1990 Several patterns of imported glass tableware sold last spring at Macy's, Nordstrom's, and several other department stores in California, New York, and the Northeast may contain dangerously high levels of lead that can leach into food. The patterns are "Crackle Rim," "Murrina Clear," "Cracked Gold," and "Murrina Transparent Silver" collections of dinner plates, soup plates, bowls, stemware, vases, and ashtrays. Some of these patterns may also be sold as the "Orofolio" collection. Consumers who purchased any of this glassware should immediately stop using it and return it to the store where purchased. Eating off these products or even handling them could cause acute abdominal pain, vomiting, and diarrhea in adults and children, or central nervous system damage in fetuses and small children. Lead leached from samples reached levels higher than 16,000 parts per million (ppm). (Currently, safe levels for ceramic products range from 2.5 to 7 ppm. An FDA proposal now is calling for lowering the allowable limit to 0.1 ppm for some items.) FDA discovered the problem during a routine inspection of a shipment that arrived at the San Francisco port. Other shipments were sent to the New York port. The glassware was manufactured by SI-AN di Cioni & Busoni of Florence, Italy, and sold to various U.S. companies. R.H. Macy Company and other retailers have taken the glassware off their shelves and posted warnings of the danger to alert customers who had purchased the products. ....Here's another article: A rapid lead test: Public outreach and testing to detect leachable lead in ceramic ware Abstract A modification of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) lead screening test of ceramic ware was made to screen large numbers of samples in a short time frame. Ceramic ware in use by Davis and Sacramento, California residents was tested. Lead was leached from ceramic ware with citric acid and identified by rhodizonic acid in this quick, qualitative test. Of 92 individual pieces of pottery tested, approximately 6.6% were positive for leachable lead. Approximately 67% of the positive samples were handmade in Mexico. This rapid test is sensitive to two (2) parts per million (ppm, g/g) leachable lead. Ceramic ware with detectable leachable lead levels may present a health risk to individuals who habitually use such items for food storage and/or consumption. Because only 2030 minutes is needed to perform the test, immediate communication of results to the participant is possible. . . . . Both of these articles are at least 10 years old, so maybe the problem no longer exists. However, a good friend just bought a child's lunch box last week from LL Bean which was vinyl on the inside (and made in China). The enclosed directions said to throughly clean the vinyl interior to remove residues from manufacturing. China does not have the regulations in place that keep toxic dangerous compounds like lead out of the air, water, or soil. In fact, food grown in certain areas contains lead, so I try to avoid foods made in China (like honey). This is one of the reasons why stuff from China is cheap. I think you're right about clear glass (is glass naturally clear?). Also, given that I'll be storing stable ingredients like flour and sugar (rather than acidic foods), I think it should be safe. I don't subscribe to women's magazines or health magazines, the newspaper, or watch the news, so I wanted to check here to make certain that what I purchased was food-safe. I'll give them a good scrubbing with lots of hot water and call it a day. Oh, and I think that the lids are aluminum. Thanks again!

I love that hot chocolate. WS also sells the best Pecan Pumpkin Butter. They give you recipes to cook with it such as breads or pies. But i prefer to serve it on crackers with a dolop of fresh cream That is the way that they served(sample) it to me about 7 years ago. It is getting a bit pricey. Around $10 a jar.

I am so glad that you piped up about your Frigidaire issue, Practigal. Thank you. I don't think it was a coincidence that you were participating in this thread. So..is it crumbs of rust dropping down from the burner...or, is it rust coming up through the paint...or is it oxidation of the gas itself, that maybe it is burning "dirty"? Good ideas, Mrsnyefnyef. I have an update, but I'll share it at the end of my post. ; ) I agree, Eurekachef. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend the BS rangetop after test driving it (unless you don't like standing over a high heat cooker.) "my regrets comments was that I just didn't want you to finish your project and then turn back and say, well I should have..." Ah, I understood what you were getting at much better that time, Gooster. That makes a lot of sense. Here is the update: I found 2 incredibly good deals at Goedekers website this weekend for scratch and dent Miele's. The cooktop (yes, a cooktop, not a rangetop) is 42" wide and has 6 burners. They looked like they are configured *perfectly* for the way we cook. Originally I was looking for all the same BtU's on the burners, but these should work fine because of the configuration. Originally I was looking for sealed burners, which this has. The knobs are off to the side rather than on the front. I find this to be a nice feature since I tend to lean into whatever I'm cooking. This way I won't be lighting the stove with my belly! Also, little ones will have a harder time reaching the knobs. Finally, at about $1200 less than full price, it was too good a deal to pass up. They also had a set of 30" Miele Master Chef double ovens for almost half price (open box). I hemmed and hawed for a while on this one. It's definitely more high-tech than what I was originally looking for. In order to do the cooktop, we'd have to head into wall oven land. Wall oven land was full of techy gizmos. Given that, I might as well try one that is highly regarded by bakers and has the lowest repair rate in the industry (according to Yale Appliance's website, anyway.) Thank you all for helping me process this big decision! I really appreciate the input each of you gave me.