Another Gadget-Lover here. Unfortunately for my bankbook, I've spent all too much time at chefsresources. I like the silicone trivets on the page Nancy posted. I lucked out and got 4 black ones on closeout at Crate&Barrel for $2 apiece. They are great for cast iron because of the magnet. You can just set the pan on it and carry the whole thing to the table. Carol

I think Alywa summed up the differences b/w MW/Convection & Advantium--then there's a third option: Trivection (full size oven) This is what I came up w/in my research when I was looking into this question (along w/Trivection): Overview of cooking methods: Conventional (thermal) cooking surrounds food with static heat inside an oven Convection ovens move the heated air across and around the food for faster, more even cooking and baking Microwaves use radio waves to stir up the molecules inside the food, causing even heat throughout Advantium Cooks with: MW energy, Halogen lights, or both MW energy + Halogen lights 120 model also has convection Warming function Must switch b/w MW-safe & metal pans Automatically adjusts recipes Enter the recipe's standard cook time and temperature 240 cooks up to 8 times faster than conventional/thermal ovens 120 cooks up to 4 times faster than conventional/thermal ovens TrivectionTM Cooks with: Thermal heat (conventional), Convection, Thermal Heat + Convection + MW Note: Cannot be used as a MW only No need to switch pans (metal pans are fine w/MW as well as convection) Automatically delivers the ideal cooking mix to produce optimal texture, crispness, moisture and browning regardless of food type Choose a cooking method (for example, "baked goods") and the recipe's standard cook time and temperature (say, 350 degrees and 12 minutes for a sheet of cookies) TrivectionTM oven converts that information for you, sets up the best combination of the three available cooking methods, and tells you when your food will be ready Cooks up to 5 times faster than conventional/thermal ovens TrivectionTM Cooks: 22 lb turkey..........1/2 the time Fresh side dishes.....1/3 the time Frozen side dishes....1/3 the time Baked potatoes........1/5 the time Breads................1/3 the time Cookies...............1/2 the time MW/Convection: Cooks with: MW energy, Convection Convection + MW If it helps, I've linked the "Advantium Recipes Community" below. No, we decided against an Advantium, but I bookmarked this back when we were looking into it. Here is a link that might be useful: Advantium Recipes Community

Hm... If you specifically want cubes rather than dices, you might have to make your own. You could buy one of the cheap dicers that has a rectangular blade and disassemble it to press onto your batons for the perfect cubes. The way they do it in restaurants, however, is with a good sharp knife and a lot of practice. If you buy a bushel of carrots, and a bushel of celery, and make your batons, and practice making perfect cuts, fast, to get your cubes, by the time you're done, or at least after a few times, you'll be good enough not to need a gadget. Add some onions, which are great to practice chopping on, and you'll have plenty of mirepoix for soups and sauces.

Funky.....I didn't have time to do a lot of research on knives because I wanted to get the order in ASAP. We currently have a set of low end Henckels.....it was probably $100 or less with the block, 6 knives and 6 steak knives. It's got to be at least 10 years old. I use the steak knives for just about everything...I know.....so bad. As mentioned, I don't cook much and if I do it's super easy stuff. I ended up buying Victoronix....a chef's and paring knife. Figured anything would be an upgrade from what we have and they got good reviews. Didn't want to go top of the line yet with Wusthoff or better Henckels, etc. I'll see how he likes these and will maybe invest in better knives down the road a bit. Thanks again!