Herring, how is the Breville? Any other Breville owners? I would prefer not to have the VM counter space concern. Breville with a 20% BBB coupon seems to be a possible solution. Are there things the VM or BT can do that the Breville cannot. Such as make soup? Do I need a blender that can make soup? Thoughts? Loved reading through this thread. My trusty Oster of 10 plus buttons and 10 + years did not make it through the second can of garbanzo beans for hummus the other night and gave up in a blaze of glory (or at least a spark!) It worked so well and I keep wondering if I had just let it rest a little...My children keep telling me I should not blame myself but honestly who else? It feels like the end of an era but I amazed it has made it this far given what I put it through, weekly sometimes daily smoothies with any and every vegetable I could find. I tried a juicer but I the juice without the fiber made me too hungry. I still have the juicer which my kids actually like using for apple juice when they are in season. Supposedly I can make nut butters with it but I have never tried. So now I seek an Oster replacement. When I first started emulsifying fruits and vegetables (I make a beet shake that I swear by during cold season) in summer 2011, I went to a Blendtec demo at a Costco an hour away. I really thought I would buy it. I went just for the demo. However, the one issue I had with the Oster was raspberry seeds. I was surprised that in theBlendtec sample they made, you could still feel the seeds. They lost me after that, plus I did not want the expense or counter space clutter. Especially when my $25 Oster seemed to do the job. My smoothies until two nights ago, were smooth!I have been expecting the Oster to give up eventually and I am surprised it took this long. If I had not done the garbanzos I think it would have been fine. I originally thought of just getting a new Oster but I thought why not get something more. However, I am still not entirely sure what more I am getting. I mostly blend whole frozen fruit like mango, leafy vegetables (yes the ubiquitous kale), and garbanzo beans for hummus. I was also blending sweet potato type soups however I will no longer need that I hope. To tide me over I have already bought a Breville immersion wand and chopper bowl (one limitation is it only has one blade so seems to chop everything one way!) Which I used to puree soup and make a smoothie yesterday. So far ok although the smoothie took longer than I would like. One thing I am curious about since I have been making a lot of mung and azuki bean soups lately (feel free to put this in the kale category, I had never heard of either before a year ago!) I did try the Blendtec 3 ingredient soup at the demo. For those who own either machine, how often do you use it to make the type of soup they hype at the demos? Not to blend ingredients before or after but to actually cook the soup in a short amount of time?I would not imagine the Breville can do that or can it? Do I even need that feature? Thank you for any thoughts and opinions

Tricia I hope you enjoy your new tool and hope it helps with your ability to enjoy food. I usually hang out in kitchens and appliances. I love my Vitamix and use it to make smoothies, soups, pasta sauce, hummus and more. I do recommend ear plugs. My husband bought me shooting plugs that are connected with a solid band. They really help. My smoothies are a lot of fun(but not as crazy as my friend who makes and drinks his 21 ingredient 64 oz smoothie everyday) Mine vary but I start out with 8-12 oz water Squirt of cherry juice concentrate. Add a squirt of lemon or lime juice. 1/2 apple Carrot, celery, parsley, and a quarter of a beet(improves color) Then I add some greens - spinach, lettuce, kale or chard - I freeze leftover greens, tomatoes etc and either use fresh or frozen) A few tomatoes (grape size), cuke or summer squash. Now for some sweet I froze lots of fruits and just open the freezer and add a variety. Blueberries are great for color - so almost always add them 2 strawberries, chunk of pineapple, grapes, peach, cranberries raspberries or whatever you want Scoop of protein powder. I run it on smoothie and check the consistency. I add ice if needed and run it again. This lasts a couple days unless DH joins me. Soups are one of my favorites. I use the Vitamix recipes for several of them. Have fun!

Oh dear - let's see what I did :-) Basically, I started with the Gazpacho recipe in WS but wanted it chunkier and easier. Chopped 1 red onion in Vitamix - saved 1/4 cup for another recipe. Put 3/4 to 1 cup in a bowl for later. Add 1 chopped seedless (skinned or not) cucumber, 1.5-2 cups chopped heirloom tomatoes(or whatever you want - I used a mixture of Amish paste, heirloom, and regular tomatoes), 1 TB lemon juice, 2 tsp fresh chopped parsley, 1 TBS oil to this bowl and refrigerate Start a second bowl and put the rest of the onions in it. Core(if you want) another 2 lbs of tomatoes and quarter - put 1/2 in the bowl and the rest in another bowl.(or just combine them all - it works a well as you are going to liquify everything in the end). 1 large or 2 small garlic cloves Salt and pepper to taste (I keep things low sodium but added a bit for our guests) 2 TBS lemon 1/2 tsp fresh thyme 2 TBS Sherry vinegar (I didn't have any - so used 1 TBS Apple cider vinegar and 1 TBS port wine - LOL) Blend 1/2 of the tomatoes going from 1 to max until completely smooth. Then turn to level 1 to "burp" it. Pour into a dish Add rest of the tomatoes and another cuke and repeat. Just before serving, add the fresh veggies to the soup or ladle soup and have guests add the veggies. Now, the WS calls to use 2 cups of cubed french bread and blend that into the first batch of tomatoes(in the vitamin) but I didn't do that step - I didn't have any french bread and wasn't sure about how it would do. Serve with either plain yogurt or sour cream. Hope I didn't miss anything.

Thanks A2. She really likes her new job too. Now one off the payroll, two more to go (they will be college sophomores next year). Just finished the last of the party food. I am completely unable to cook an appropriate amount of food. We are always eating it for days! I made egg salad in the VM today. It was too smooth. I think it would have been fine with a smaller amount. Do you think I can grind coffee in the VM?