> If you can install 240v for your dryer or wall oven why not for your car? You can, of course, if you own a detached house or townhouse. But this question unintentially illustrates the point I was trying to make - even though it's possible to install a 240V outlet, convincing people to do so has proven difficult even when the speed advantage is obvious. The GE Advantium 120 ovens far outsell the 240v versions, even though the latter make better tasting, better textured food (because they don't rely as heavily on microwaves), and also are twice as fast. But many homeowners put up with the limitations of 120V/15A because they don't want to pay an electrician to install a 240V/30A line. Same with 240V washing machines - they can be fed cold water and still are faster than 120V machines that have internal water heaters, and can heat to higher temperatures. The best way to wash clothes is often to soak it in cool water first (so certain types of stains won't set), then heat the water as it washes to a high temperature that blasts out dirt. This takes a long time with a 120V washer. Combination washer/dryers that both wash and dry the clothes in one shot are popular in Europe, but here most manufacturers don't even offer them, and those that do, like LG, try to make them run on 120V/15A to be palatable to Americans. So not only does it take a long time to wash clothes, but an even longer time to dry them. Only Fagor-Brandt sells a 240V combo washer/dryer in the US, and it's hard to find except online. Nobody even sells a 240V dishwasher in the US, and noboby's brave enough to try, despite frequent complaints about how long new dishwashers take to complete a cycle. Maybe Americans value fast electric car recharging more than they do fast cooking or fast laundry. We'll see.

ROTFL!!! Donka, all I can say is "Giddayup". I need to clean out the fridge, so I'm going to make soup base for the freezer with the turkey carcass, leeks, rutabega and carrots. I got some lasagna noodles, so I'm going to slice up some yellow squash that needs using, and the fennel bulbs I just got, and whatever peppers I have, and oven roast them, to layer with the ricotta. I have a little tzimmis left which I think I'll puree into the ricotta. I got some shallots, too. And I got some lamb shanks to braise with baby carrots and pearl onions and leftover sweetish red wine. And a chicken. It's a really big chicken. They tried to tell me it was a fryer, but it's 4.5 lbs.!! I think I'll roast it with the heels of my multigrain bread if it's not gone moldy, and an orange. I can try out the probe because I have no idea (other than the butcher's recommendation) how long to cook this big a not turkey. JRueter, I'm in Gelsonsland, so it has to be an amazing farmer's market to be really tempting. And yes, some of them are more about the social thing than cooking! The worst is being at a dinner party where the hosts are name dropping the truck farmers like they're best friends rather than customers. Needs, keep us posted!!! I'm keeping a good thought for Thursday!

OK Celine, after the whole foods parking lot video, I just will never think of quinoa the same way. Though I'll know how to pronounce it: rhymes with "bra". As it turns out, we crawled into the chocolate chip and pancakes camp. I've yet to make the granola. But dd1 insisted on making spice bars for a school potluck (to which I'm not invited? wha?) and dd2 needed to make choc chip cookies (though this hardly needed baking as all she wanted was the raw dough in truth) and there were some rotting bananas that I had to make into banana bread. Then it was father's day so verbotten meat (lamb) got roasted and eggs had to be scrambled because life without scrambled eggs is pretty close to a life not worth living....Last night, like mnerg, we actually had pancakes (p. 357, Diet 4 Sm Planet) for dinner; that's how syrup-starved we all were. We've been busy here today! And the other night we did the obligatory paper-on-the-cc-burner to great acclaim. The young, strapping hungry hombres just-back from the field had to settle on outdoor-grilled food because I couldn't quite tackle the new indoor beast at the time, but we all enjoyed the simmer-road-show. But truthfully, the very first thing that got made? It was boiled water for pasta. Isn't that pathetic? The second was to stew up some inedibly sour fruit. Funny how plebeian cooking turns out to be. Recipe for green chile stew? Here's for spice bars: boil 1 cp water and 1 cp raisins, remove from heat, stir in 1/2 cp apple sauce (or oil) and let cool; add 1/2 c sugar before all the way cool. Stir in 1 egg when cool. Sift tog dry ingred and add to wet above: 1.75 cp ww pastry flour, 3/4 t salt, 1/2 t cloves, 1 t soda, 1 t cinnamon, 1 t nutmeg (opt: chopped walnuts, 1 t allspice(ick)). Bake 20 min in 13x7x2 pan @ 375. When cool frost w/butter-cream: 2 cp confect sugar, 1/4 cp butter, 1 T milk, 1 t vanilla.

A few years ago, my answer would be grilling hands down, since we live where it's possible year round. However, since I got my Bluestar with griddle, I'd say griddling (is that's a word?) has taken over as first place. Pretty much anything that can be grilled, can be griddled, often with better results. Also, much of what can be fried, can also be cooked on the griddle. It is just so versatile I love it, and use it daily often several times. My griddle is followed closely by cast iron skillet and dutch oven cooking, not limited to frying only, often stovetop to oven roasting, and of course searing. Next would be simmering sauces, soups etc. I also stir fry maybe once a week or so. Boiling for me would be pasta and rice often, and poaching chicken now and then for shredded recipes, boiling potatoes for mashed, and hard boiled eggs. I steam veggies now and then, but also roast, grill, and cook them on the griddle:) I saute a fair amount, but usually it's ingredients not meals. I don't think I've ever braised that I know of. In the oven, it's home made pizza once a month or so, and a prime rib and Yorkshire pudding two or three times a year :) I do bake cookies, pies, biscuits and cakes but not regularly. I never cook in the microwave, very rarely even warm up in it other than coffee, and manage to live easily without one at our vacation place. Edit: LOL, I had to look up braising to realize I do it quite often! I just called it stove top to oven roasting ;)