I found the manual that came with my machine, which appears to be for a higher level model called "Magnum" that did have a removable bowl. There was a pivoting bowl release lever at the front bottom edge of the machine. Pull it forward to release the bowl. Unscrew the cap that holds the churning paddle to the shaft. Remove the paddle. Lift the bowl straight up and out. If you have such a lever, try that. Be gentle and note replacement paddles (blades) are still available. The other things mentioned in the manual, that I haven't already told you, is that the bowl should be dry when you are prechilling, and to store the machine upright. There are some recipes. That's about it.

Here's an interesting one that I haven't yet tried, but we almost finished up the chocolate sorbet tonight, so I think this one might be up very soon! I found the main ingredient up in the Sonoma area (wine country) in Northern CA. This brand has a sweet, lovely taste. If you can't find it in your town, they do ship! They're a small family company too. Verjus Mint Sorbet Verjus is the tart, unfermented juice of unripe wine grapes. Verjus (pronounced Vair-Zhoo) literally means "green juice." It is an elegant and delicate alternative to both vinegar and lemon juice in cook. Because this sorbet is made from verjus, it goes well with wine. Check out Ice Cream, Sorbet, Granita, & Gelato Recipes for more recipe ideas. ________________________________________ 1 cup sugar 2 cups water 1/4 cup fresh mint leaves 1 1/2 cups Verjus* 2 tablespoons vodka * Verjus is found in specialty or wine stores. To learn more about Verjus, check out my web page HERE. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine sugar, water, and mint leaves. Stir until mixture comes to a boil and sugar is dissolved; reduce heat to low and simmer 5 minutes. Remove from heat; place a fine strainer over a large bowl and pour syrup mixture through (straining out the mint leaves). Add verjus and vodka to the strained syrup mixture; stir until thoroughly blended. Let mixture cool to room temperature. NOTE: The vodka (or any other type of alcohol) is the secret to a soft sorbet. Alcohol itself does not freeze and adding a little bit keeps the sorbet from doing the same. Vodka is excellent to use because it doesn't affect the taste. Ice Cream Maker - Transfer mixture to ice cream maker, process according to manufacturer's instructions. Freezer Method - Pour into container, cover, and place mixture in the freezer. When it is semi-solid, mash it up with a fork and refreeze again. When frozen, place in a food processor or blender and process until smooth. Cover and refreeze until serving time. NOTE: Can be prepared 3 days in advance. Cover and keep frozen. Makes 8 to 10 servings. Here is a link that might be useful: My Verjus choice

Promised myself I'd leave it alone but just couldn't........ Have been freezing 3ppmTDS RO water in plastic ice-cube trays for several days. Room-temp water poured into plastic trays and placed in freezer at zeroF. Takes about 5 Hours for thorough, hard freeze. (But I peek a lot.) Good, sort-of-clear cubes. Nicely shaped but still with that "cloudy" micro-air-bubble center. Fine. Good ice. These cubes slightly larger than ref-made crescents and their more-cubicle shape doesn't suck up to the sides of circular glasses when drinking. Intended not going further than just this superior shape. Heck with it. Then...... Once ref's dispensing bucket was filled with my manually-made RO-water cubes, got a wild hair and thought I'd complete my "experiment" using non-RO water for a couple of trays so I could compare. I filled one tray with softened water (zero grains hard) and one tray with city water straight from household supply (about 8 grains hard)....both reading about 200ppmTDS. Wanted to observe the differences, if any, although wasn't expecting much...probably increased cloudiness. I already know both of these waters taste terrible, which is why I got the RO system in the first place -- won't be using these cubes for consumption. Some interesting differences...... Both of these waters freeze entirely differently from the RO water....water-tops in the cube-trays remain level and less disturbed throughout the freezing process. Both trays appeared "more relaxed" during freezing than with the RO water. For example, the RO trays always show a few cubes with frozen spikes popping out of a few cubes, sometimes up to 1.5 inches long....sort of a little frozen-in-air breakout attempt...little ice-needles sticking up from several of the individual cubes. Every tray always has at least a couple of these with some others showing "almost-but-not-quite" eruptions. The non-RO waters didn't do that. Not a single cube. All cube-tops level and smooth. As with the RO water, quite a number of them popped free of their molds spontaneously at the end of their complete freeze. And "complete freeze" is where the differences really show up. Having earlier and throughout appeared to be just as clear as the RO cubes, these hard-frozen cubes turned decidedly milky at the very end. Examination via 5x optivisor lenses shows different freezing pattern internally. The imprisoned air bubbles look much different and there appears to be some other opacity overall that I can't quite make out....assume mineral content, but don't really know. Placed examples of all three in clear glasses of RO water and allowed them to melt away for twenty minutes. The RO cubes were clear, smooth, and shiny except for the still-extant central opacity. The cubes from the other waters showed milkiness throughout in addition to the central opacity plus slightly "gritty" surfaces -- no observable minerals or anything, just an entirely different surface texture. Both of these bad-tasting waters made cubes that appeared and behaved exactly alike and they both made the RO water they thawed in taste bad. OK, done. Now if I can just get this 60's tune out of my head, I'll go to bed. : )

Jodi, your kitchen is absolutely beautiful - Great Job! It's so warm and inviting. Your slide show is fantastic and helpful. I'm on the East Coast so I have to find a supplier for the back splash somewhere around here. You say you added the umber glass, the reddish and clearer ones are already integrated in the back splash, correct? Also, where did you get that grass wallpaper and what color is it. My home is older and the walls are less desirable, so that might just be a good choice for me. Also, What are your color cabinets? Thanks for taking the time to do that slide show, it helped me "gel" all the thoughts in my mind. Have a great day, Maggie