I am having the same issue: I never use ice, and I hate the through-the-door ice and water dispensers because they negate the whole best thing about French door refrigerators, the fact that the storage most often used is at eye-level. Plus I find them ugly. Three strikes, you’re out! EXCEPT: thanks to the pandemic and the subsequent shortages and trucking delays, the only refrigerators available as French door models mostly have through-the-door options. I bought one, a Frigidaire Gallery, and I love the design, the lighting, and the fact that the freezer second inner drawer has it’s own metal drawer glides, and not sitting on top of the freezer door’s plastic sides. However, the left side of the fridge compartment has about 1/3 of the space wasted by the ice and water through-the-door unit. My previous Samsung at another house was great, and no through the door feature, just a small discreet interior water dispenser and ice maker in the freezer’s top drawer (with separate metal drawer glides), and I never hooked the water lines up. However, after 13 years it died, and the next Samsung I bought did NOT have the durable second drawer glides for the freezer interior drawer, and although I have not had too many issues with it, those inner drawers that sit on the bottom freezer’s plastic are famous for going off the tracks. So, because of this quality feature of separate drawer glides in the freezer, and the fact that it was on sale, I decided to get the through-the-door Frigidaire gallery fridge. I did not hook up the water line, and now, the fridge is going to be returned 29 days after it was purchased!!! (Lowes gives you 30 days to return from purchase date, NOT delivery date and it must be in their store by that 30 days, not just return requested!) Why am I returning it? Because every couple of hours the refrigerator makes an enormously loud buzzing noise that wakes me up at 4 am and jolts me several other times throughout the day… Why! Because the ice maker (that I don’t want) is calling for water! I don’t want to hook it up, but if it is going to make THAT much racket, I can’t keep it. I have no idea if the noise would stop if it was hooked up, or if this unit is defective, and I don’t know whether to replace it with the same refrigerator, now no longer on sale but I would be exchanging it, or get the Samsung without the nice freezer drawer hardware, or take a chance on the LG with the see-through right-hand door. There are ONLY three choices available in store now without a through-the-door feature, the last is a Hisense, which, although I LOVE the styling, has a reputation for uneven temperatures in the freezer… which is very unhealthy! So, Samsung with junky drawer, LG which costs $700 more and although it has that funky-cool glass door with the easy reach, I don’t know about their reliability, or replace the fridge with the last remaining same model available in the store right now. The Frigidaire does have beautiful lighting, but crap shelves, the LG shelves are okay, in the Samsung they really cheaped out on the interior shelves now, much less nice than even my replacement Samsung at my other house. Thoughts?

Finally got around to making this over the weekend using the Almond Dream recipe that Michael posted. It was perfect. The flavor was bright, clean and creamy with nothing cloying about it...just like I remember. I eliminated the egg yolk & just used extra cornstarch, I also froze the mix on a sheet pan, then broke it up & pulverized it in the food processor. This resulted in a crunchier texture and a SUPER COLD Italian ice. Not so good for 20 degree nights in NY but it will be perfect for the summer. Making it this way also resulted in an extremely low fat & not to sweet but amazingly satisfying dessert. Unfortunately after eating it my tongue was so numb I was speaking as if I had just had it pierced! It was a riot, none of us could speak properly. Now all I need to do is to figure out the "right" way to incorporate the almond slivers into it and I will have succesfully duplicated the elusive Lily with Almonds. This recipe is a must try if you like Italian ices. It couldn't be easier & you don't even need an ice cream maker (I just didn't feel like dragging it out). Even my 4 year old ate it and pronounced it "delicious". OK, he pronounced it more like "derocus" because his tongue was so numb but he still enjoyed it. I'll probably try my hand at making almond milk eventually but for now the ALmond Dream works perfectly. Thank you all so much! Nina

We normally drink a local brand, Peet's, selecting the Italian Roast (a lot stronger and more bitter than French Roast) and have it preground in a #2 grind, which is one small step above powder (Turkish). A standard drip grind is #6 and espresso is #4, for comparison. We do a Melitta drip with Melitta woven filters, which make a much better brew than standard paper filters. For iced coffee, we do a double-strength brew: make our usual coffee, then immediately use it to pour through a fresh batch of grounds. DH grew up in Hong Kong so he prefers the taste of sweetened condensed milk in iced tea and coffee drinks. If we make a large batch, we chill it in the frig for a few hours so that no ice cubes dilute it. But if we're desperate, a few ice cubes in a glass chill it quickly, and this brew is so strong, a 1/4 cup of water is barely noticeable in a tall glass. Chocolate syrup is a nice addition, except you have to add extra for it to make any impact on what is basically a triple-strength espresso drink. Unbelievably, my DH can drink this right before going to bed and drop off to sleep like a baby....yeah, I'm jealous of that!

Yes, that's what my "instant" recipe calls for, pumpkin pie spice, vanilla non-dairy creamer, nonfat dry milk, and instant iced tea (no lemon). You end up with a bit of a spice slurry in the bottom of your cup. I don't make the mix anymore because I have found acceptable versions of chai tea mixes, (I like Tzazo tea) and then I just add my own hot milk, vanilla creamer and sugar to taste. I also have to limit my consumption of rich beverages like this. But here's the recipe. You can adjust the quantities to suit your own taste. Instant Chai 1 3/4 instant tea powder (plain) 1 1/4 cup nonfat dry milk powder 3/4 cup powderd non-dairy creamer 1 cup French vanilla flavored non-dairy creamer 5 tsp. pumpkin pie spice 1 1/2 tsp ground cardamom 1/4 cup raw sugar (turbinado sugar or whatever it is called) 1 1/4 cup confectioners sugar 1 tsp. ground dried orange peel (optional) Mix this all together in the food processor. Now, if only I had written on here how much for a cup of tea! I think it's one or two heaping TBLSP. I have not tried this cold. I don't think this mix would work with cold water, the ingredients wouldn't dissolve. You'd have to make it hot and then cool it down in the fridge. Might as well make the real thing with real loose leaf tea and whole spices in that situation. But in the winter this is quick and delicious. If my memory serves me right, I seriously cut back on the non-dairy creamer and sugar in this recipe. Anyway, if you Google "instant chai recipes" you will find a gazillion similar recipes online. The basic principle ingredients are all there. I also think you could make a highly spiced simple syrup (concentrated sugar syrup) and keep it in the fridge and use that to sweeten iced tea with milk.