We bought our first home in 1976 and our second home in 1979. I know I had the Cuisinart at the first house so it's gotta' be something like 32 or 33 YO. Mine is the CFP-5A--'off & on' is controlled by the lid assembly. Still ticking along but I did pick up another vintage Cuisinart at an estate sale a year or so ago as back-up insurance. One of the disks started to break--the plastic stem part--so I JB Welded it back together--probably 10-15 years ago! The fix isn't pretty but...

Someone posted a tip about putting plastic wrap between the bowl and the top of the processor so that the top doesn't get dirty. This works for most of my applications (at least for when I just purée, and I'm very grateful for it. I have neither Cuisinart nor Kitchenaid because when I bought mine I was on a very strict budget. I'd like to replace the cheaper one I bought, but I don't use it enough to justify it, especially since I now have less time for cooking anyway. I've gone back to using a mandolin for a lot of things I might use a food processor for, and my FP works fine for puréeing. I use my KA mixer for doughs. Lars

san, as you know, Elery bought me a big Kitchen Aid food processor for my birthday a couple of months ago. Have I been convinced that it's worth the counter space? Not entirely. I did use it to chop the onions and peppers for those 36 pints of salsa I canned, but no matter how I try, they are still a little too fine or a bit too big, it just doesn't do it the way I want them. It's passable, acceptable, but not exactly how I want it and so I'll go back to chopping it all by hand. I don't use it for bread because I have a bread machine that I love and use several times a week. Studies have been done showing that neither stand mixers nor food processors knead bread as well as the bread machines which were designed to do just that. Of course, you and I both know that you aren't baking a bunch of bread, LOL. I made pie crust but it got too hot and I had to put it in the freezer to chill before I could use it. Not much time savings there, although I suppose with a LOT more practice I might make it passable. So, bread making, pastry and vegetable chopping? Not ideal for any of those, at least not for me. What does it do? It makes spectacular and short work of a batch of hummus, which I love. It's better for Jessica's lime chipotle marinade/glaze, the cilantro tends to gum up the stick blender and the regular blender doesn't make enough. It made short work of the dough for the Cheddar Thumbprints with Habanero Jelly, because that dough needs to be frozen anyway, no matter how it's blended. Finally, I've used it to shred cabbage for slaw and it works great, much faster than a hand grater. It makes a smooth liver pate. Oh, and I ground up a bunch of dried hot chili peppers into bits, small enough to put into a shaker. It was so easy with the food processor. So, bottom line, I think you need to decide what you really use it for and whether another appliance would do the same job. Then decide. I like mine and I appreciate the fact that Elery thought enough to get me one but I still wouldn't buy one myself if it broke. Annie

I also think you should do your research before you purchase a kitchen item that may or may not do what you want it to. We'll be happy to help you, we LOVE to spend other people's money. (grin) As sleevendog mentioned, though, not everyone has a bunch of expendable cash for new and expensive kitchen equipment and gadgets. If you don't like to cook the best tools in the world aren't going to make you love it, I don't think, but if you might kind of like it, good tools will make a difference. I keep telling my son in law that a kitchen is like a garage, there's a big difference between a Dollar Store wrench and Snap On. Now understand, I didn't always have fancy appliances, when I started posting here more than a decade ago my most used kitchen device was a wooden spoon, Larry Englehardt (who used to post here) told me he was amazed at what I could accomplish with a wooden spoon, LOL. I didn't have even a mixer and I was chopping onions with an old hunting/skinning knife of Dad's. It can be done but it's a lot harder. I don't have a mini-processor, so I can't remark on that. I do have a big one but I don't think chopping things is a big plus with it. Everything I chop is either uneven sizes or turns to puree or something. Many things I prefer to chop by hand. Thankfully now I have some good knives. If you might like to cook and just want to try different things, we'd love to help, really we would. Just give us a chance. Between everyone here you can probably even find a lot of easier ways to accomplish things, I know I've learned a LOT. Happy Cooking (I hope). Annie