Made the Southern Living Bananas Foster Upside Down Cake and it was wonderful - and it looked just like the picture! I thought the bananas were a bit too soft; mine were just getting a few brown spots. I think it would work better if the bananas had just turned yellow. Bananas Foster Upside-Down Cake One quick flip and this cake tumbles from the skillet perfectly golden and party ready. Bananas Foster Upside-Down Cake Photo by: Photo: Jennifer Davick; Styling: Lydia Degaris Pursell YIELD: Makes 8 servings HANDS-ON:20 Minutes TOTAL:1 Hour, 18 Minutes COURSE: Desserts, Cakes/Frostings Ingredients 1/2 cup chopped pecans (We used walnuts) 1/2 cup butter, softened and divided 1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar 2 tablespoons rum 2 ripe bananas 3/4 cup granulated sugar 2 large eggs 3/4 cup milk 1/2 cup sour cream 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 2 cups all-purpose baking mix 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon Preparation 1. Preheat oven to 350�. Bake pecans in a single layer 8 to 10 minutes or until toasted and fragrant, stirring once. 2. Melt 1/4 cup butter in a lightly greased 10-inch cast-iron skillet or 9-inch round cake pan (with sides that are at least 2 inches high) over low heat. Remove from heat; stir in brown sugar and rum. 3. Cut bananas diagonally into 1/4-inch-thick slices; arrange in concentric circles over brown sugar mixture. Sprinkle pecans over bananas. 4. Beat granulated sugar and remaining 1/4 cup butter at medium speed with an electric mixer until blended. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating just until blended after each addition. Add milk and next 2 ingredients; beat just until blended. Beat in baking mix and cinnamon until blended. (Batter will be slightly lumpy.) Pour batter over mixture in skillet. Place skillet on a foil-lined jelly-roll pan. 5. Bake at 350� for 40 to 45 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in skillet on a wire rack 10 minutes. Run a knife around edge to loosen. Invert onto a serving plate, spooning any topping in skillet over cake. Southern Living NOVEMBER 2011

I can't speak to the dehydrating (I'm here for the learning), but I do know slicers! I have a very very expensive DeBuyer mandoline, with infinite settings, via crank, which was a present. Actually, it's a V-slicer, which helps prevent squishing. It has a huge pusher and a side handle, so if operated correctly there's no cutting of the fingers. The pusher has a stiff spring in it, so there's really very little that doesn't go through the blade. Probably a quarter inch on an apple with the skin on. It is fantastic for large scale processing. Better than FP, which is limited by the bowl size. Better than by hand, because of speed. If you're going to do a LOT of slicing, it's worth the investment. I haven't used the latest models of OXO. They make reasonably priced real mandolines and their design is usually good. I can't speak to the guard, however. I haven't used any Zyliss, but they look well designed and are moderately priced. It might be worth going somewhere like Bed, Bath & Beyond and giving them a good looking over. For smaller tasks, I use a Kyocera paddle mandoline. It has cutouts in the sides so that it can sit securely on a bowl, or you can just hold it over a cutting board or platter. It would be fine for slicing half a dozen apples, but could get tiresome for more. There is a size limit. The fruit has to fit between the side ridges. The pusher, however, is a flat, nylon thing, with nylon spikes. It doesn't attach to the fruit. You have to hold it with the pressure from your hand, but it works very well with no waste. I've never been cut, but, especially in a busy house where you can be startled, a cutproof glove would be a good idea. This one is inexpensive and very useful. And goes in the dishwasher, which is a boon (the OXO might as well--I don't remember). Regarding apple slicers, the corer/wedger that Grainlady just mentioned is an excellent tool. If your apple is a little wonky, you can kind of wiggle and adjust, and I find it works better than an old fashioned corer, especially on larger apples. It is possible to slice through the edge of the core, however, so until you learn how to feel if it's askew, and even after if there's a wide spot in the core, which you may want to clean up from the wedges with a paring knife. The quintessential apple corer, parer, slicer is a whizbang delight if you have an apple orchard and have to process bushel after bushel after bushel of apples. For the average homemaker, not so much. It takes an awful lot of flesh off with the peel (not such a big deal if you're making the apple jelly), and only works well on symmetrical apples. However, doesn't yours have an adjustment for the slicing knife? Maybe some don't. One of the advantages of these, with adjustable knife, is that it can slice really thin! Like an eighth of an inch. I hope the dehydrating goes well. Keep looking, and you'll find a mandoline that suits you.

My local Menard's has an apple peeler on sales thru October 24. On sale for $9.99 with a $5 rebate which brings the price down to $4.99 after rebate. I don't know if all Menard's stores have it but you might want to check it out. Menard's Apple Peeler/Corer/Slicer

The recipe called for room temperature butter. I should have questioned that. Now I have too many variables to do a single test. 1) Cold Butter 2) White sugar, but suggestions are that it doesn't make a difference. 3) No convection, my mother's stove did not have convection. Life is tough, how many Crisps do I have to make, and eat, in order to get it right? I will have to revise the recipe for two portions instead of eight. I remember, as a kid, that my mother purchased one of every chocolate cake box mix she could find and we certainly enjoyed the taste test.... I believe the winner was the Stop Rite store brand. As for location? I inherited the house and property on which I went through my childhood. My mother designed it, my father built it. How cool is that?