I find I use my little (approx. 2-cup capacity) Hamilton Beach Food Chopper more than my 7-cup Quisinart (2-person household). I usually use the small food chopper for grinding nuts into nut meal and finely minced onion. As well as other foods I only need a small amount chopped. I remember when my mother first got her food processor and she made potato pancakes (raw potatoes) the first time. A formerly tedious chore that included scraped knuckles on the grater. She was the happiest person in the world. I have a friend who lost her arm in a farm accident when she was a child and she uses her food processor for making bread dough and pastry (Martha Stewart's recipe). As with many such kitchen "toys", you just determine you are going to figure out as many ways as possible to use it. I have several cookbooks dedicated to the Food Processor. I agree with Annie when it comes to chopping cabbage for sauerkraut - a food processor is the BEST tool for the job. -Grainlady

It's a really useful gadget! Just this last week I made two batches of Date Nut Pinwheel Cookies, and used it for processing the dates into bits so it would cook down quickly. It was also used for pulverizing cookies into crumbs for truffles, and I made fresh bread crumbs, combined with cold butter which I put in the freezer to use at a later time. I'm making pizza later this week and always use it for my dough, along with the crust I use for pie or tarts. I also grate parmesan and other cheeses, make dressing and chop vegs like broccoli, where I don't really care what size it all turns out. It's wonderful for chopping nuts, although I usually also put those through a strainer to get rid of the nut dust. It's been used to turn sugar into fine granulated sugar, and I always grind oatmeal into coarse flour before adding it to cookies or pancakes. I think it's best for things you really want to shred, pulverize, emulsify or turn into dough. Now that I've had one, I'd never be without it and would replace it in a heartbeat.

"I do worry about the high calorie count of smoothies, though, which is part of why we only buy them infrequently." The major advantage to making your own is you control the ingredients. Start with a non fat greek yogurt, add half a frozen banana and frozen strawberries for a great, low fat, healthy smoothie. I regret I didn't have my blentec when my girls were eating purees, but now that they are older (school age), I find the smoothies even more important because it ensures they eat wholesome, healthy foods. If you look at the Sneaky Chef or Seinfeld cookbooks, you can get alot of ideas for adding purees to food. Your Au Gratin sounds divine. If it will peel the spuds, I will go buy the cuisinart food processor today. LOL!

Hi Mayflowers, I brought up the depth of the center post, so I suppose you are asking if I've ever used the medium size bowls? Nope. I wouldn't want a smaller size. I see no benefit. As I said above, I have the 12 cup bowl and a 4 cup bowl in the same appliance. If anything, I wouldn't mind having the 14 cup Cuisinart. Is there a 16 cup? Lol. Mine does an excellent job with medium and larger amounts. So, why have the smaller one? The 12 cup is quite flexible (I suppose the same for a larger size.) Besides, I rarely to NEVER cook for one meal. Whatever I make, I make enough to last a few days to a week. I cook for both my granddad and myself. Although, some of what I make in the food processor he won't eat. The center post on mine is longer than yours (2"). I've learned to fill with liquids just so far. Now though, I have a blender (which I didn't have for a long time,) so I don't have to put many liquids in the processor anymore. I do find the concept of the continuous flow that Practigal mentions very intriguing.