Carole

My breville died about a year after the warranty ended. Brought it back to BBB with the receipt (yay, I found it) and they just gave me a new one. Edit: yea, with the 20% coupon.

This is going to save me a ton of time. Especially at Thanksgiving!

Got it for Christmas. Finally had time to really use it. Best steak that I've ever made at home. No doubt. Love this!! Can't talk, too full!

I did try the OXO and it worked so poorly I returned it. Ended up getting a huge one from JB Prince. Expensive but it works like a charm. Don't get one too small.

exactly the same thing happened to me. Right after warranty expired it died. Luckily I had bought it at Bed Bath and Beyond. They replaced it for nothing.

I've had the Breville for around a year now and absolutely love it. I've done everything from baking a crisp to toasting my bagels. It remembers your last setting and that is helpful. I've toasted nuts in it at the high temperature and been very happy with it. I haven't checked the actual temperature with an oven thermometer so I can't comment on that. A quarter sheet pan fits just fine as well as a fairly large casserole. An it can do an entire 12" pizza. My "real" oven is a 36" Wolf so I really enjoy not having to fire it up, get it up to temp, just to cook one thing. And it comes in extremely handy at Thanksgiving when all potential oven space is needed. It was expensive but I use it every day for something.

The reservations are made! Now to figure out what wine (beer?) to bring. I've never been to the original location and don't have a clue. Help! Any suggestions?

xxchef, thanks for the info! I'm now curious to see if the flavor 'ages' and becomes more goaty as it gets older. I grew up in Minnesota and remember from my youth when the margarine came only in white. They weren't allowed to color it to look like butter. My folks only used butter but I remember seeing it at the neighbors and wondering why they'd eat Crisco on their toast. So that goat butter color reminded me of that - and that wasn't a good thing!

I've had the Simplehuman 35L slim for around 3 years or so and really like it. We just use Glad or Hefty bags in it. Even though the bags are 40L, they work well because there is a hole that you twist the excess width of the bag into. Keeps the bag out of sight and tight into the inner container of the trash can. Got it at Bed Bath and Beyond with a 20% coupon so it came in at around $80. I originally thought that was a crazy amount to spend on a trash can but it was worth it. I absolutely LOVE being able to have both hands carrying something to the trash can, put my foot on the level, and presto it opens with no hands needed. Not automated, just use your foot on the pedal and it immediately opens. I would definitely buy one again. Edit: Also, I have a SimpleHuman dish draining rack and a piece broke after I'd had it way past warranty and they sent me a new one for free. So from that one experience I'd say their customer service seemed pretty good.

I bought the goat butter from Whole Foods in Plymouth Meeting yesterday and had it on my toast this morning. The brand is Cabrima and is from Belgium. They had both unsalted and salted and I bought the salted. It was very lightly salted and didn't taste nearly as "goaty" as the Meyenberg that I had at Fish. It was very pale in color and the milk fat content is 85%. To me it is much too bland and I didn't like it nearly as much as the Meyenberg. To be honest it looked like lard – but at least it didn't taste like lard. Melted almost immediately on the warm toast. Don't think I'll buy that brand again .... Guess a trip to Wegmans is in order.

You're on the same search that I am since I tasted it at Fish! I've been checking around the Philadelphia area for about a month now with no luck. I've tried all places already mentioned (both my local TJ and WF said they don't carry it). I checked with some of the smaller markets and also no luck. I did call Wegman's in Collegeville and Whole Foods in Plymouth Meeting and they both carry other brands of goat butter. Haven't made it to either to try them.

One area I don't dabble much in is confections so the small ones are not so helpful to me. It is really interesting ... only took me 30 years to figure out what I needed. Oh, I also have a 1.5 quart saucepan that is basically only used by my husband to make his oatmeal in the morning. He says it's perfect!

I was a diehard All-Clad fan who has recently started picking up a few Sitram Profiserie pieces. And I really like them. I've had All-Clad for over 25 years and it does hold up. But one day when I was making soup, I got so annoyed by All-Clad's lack of a pouring lip on a saucepan that I ordered a Sitram one from JB Prince (where I've been finding the best prices). Love it! Pours great, heats quickly, plus the handle is more comfortable and I didn't even think I minded the handle. Anyway, regarding the sizes of the pieces in your set at Costco. I think the saucepans are pretty good, although the largest may be a little small for some things (like a big batch of pasta). And I don't think you'd need all four of those. Maybe just the 2.7 quart and another one around 7 quart (that would give you 6 quarts of boiling water for pasta). I think that the fry pan is too small and you'd do better with a 11" one. I have that 9.5" fry pan in All-Clad and it always seems a bit too small so I end using the 11" all the time. I do use a non-stick 9.5" for eggs. I also think you'd find a saute pan very handy. I second everyone else's advice to think about what you cook and just get the pieces you need. The pans I use all the time are: 11" fry pan 9.5" non-stick fry pan( just for eggs) 3 quart saute pan (one of my favorite pans it's 11" in diameter) 7 quart 1/2 stock pot 2.4 quart sauce pan 11" rondeau saute pan (it's taller than the other one and I use it to make chili, bolognese, curry, etc.) 2 very large stock pots (I make my own veal demi-glace)

Williams-Sonoma has some version of the Bamix on their website - they say it's exclusively theirs. http://www.williams-sonoma.com/products/bamix-immersion-blender/?pkey=cblenders-juicers%7Celtbjcble

I noticed the same problem when the flavor of my old reliable Maille dijon changed and I saw that while it is imported - it's now imported from Canada. It's just like when they started making the large aluminum can of Sapporo beer in Canada - it became a completely different beer. Anyway, near as I can tell, you just can't get the French made mustard in North America. Since then I've switched to a different mustard, made in France, that I can get at my local regular supermarket (a SuperFresh)! And I even like it better than the Maille. I buy both the regular and the old-fashioned (with seeds) versions. Apparently they have lately changed the label format but they say the mustard is the same. I haven't tried it yet in a bottle with the new label. I'm sure hoping that they didn't change anything else. Here it is: http://www.mustardmuseum.com/product/2640/french Edit: The old name was "Temeraire", in case you find that.