Years ago my ex mother-in-law had a cone shaped stainless steel one with a wood pestle and it did a wonderful job on making tomato juice. Recently, I got back into canning and was searching madly for one of these. I found the sieve in an antique shop but it did not have the wood pestle and I found one of these on ebay. All together, it cost me approximately $16.00 which is a bargain considering new they cost around $40.00. A used one can be found on ebay including the wood pestle for around $25.00. I highly recommend searching antique stores though as the cost will be lower. I personally would not want to do without one of these when making juice. :)

Grilled Tomato Sauce From Steven Raichlen Like soup, tomato sauce is one of the dishes you're least likely to think of grilling. But there is a powerful reason to try this sauce. Beyond the mere novelty factor, grilling imparts a gutsy smoke flavor to the sauce and heightens the natural sweetness of the vegetables. Don't take just my word for it. For thousands of years, Mexicans have grilled tomatoes, onions and peppers to make rich-tasting salsas. I have adapted the technique to make an exceptionally flavorful tomato sauce. Serve the sauce over grilled polenta, with any simple grilled fish, or with just about any cooked pasta. Makes about 3 1/2 cups. 5 lucious, ripe red tomatoes 2 - 2 1/4 pounds total, cut in half crosswise, and stem ends removed 1 medium size white onion, peeled and cut into quarters 1 rib celery 4 cloves garlic, peeled and skewered on a wooden toothpick or small bamboo skewer 3 Tbs. extra virgin olive oil 1 tsp. oregano 1/2 tsp. hot pepper flakes 1 bay leaf 6 fresh basil leaves coarse salt (Kosher or Sea salt) freshly ground black pepper 1/4 to 3/4 cup chicken stock, vegetable stock or water Cook the tomatoes, onions, celery and garlic in greased and preheated grill (George Foreman grill) until nicely browned. You may need to cook the vegetables in more than one batch. Transfer the grilled vegetables and let cool. Finely chop the onions, celery and garlic by hand or in a food processor. If using a food processor, run machine in spurts. Heat olive oil in large non-reactive sauce pan over medium heat. Add the chopped onion, celery and garlic, oregano, hot pepper flakes and bay leaf and cook until lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Coarsely puree tomatoes and juices with the basil in a food processor. Add the tomato mixture to the sauce pan, with the vegetables. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, then let sauce simmer gently until thick and richly flavored 8-10 minutes. Season with salt and black pepper to taste. The sauce should be thick but pourable. If it is too thick, add a little stock or water. Remove and discard the bay leaf. The sauce can be refrigerated, covered up to 4 days. Or frozen for up to 2 months. Let the sauce come to room temperature then reheat it in a non-reactive sauce pan over medium heat, stirring often.

Sorry to revive an old thread, I've not been around much, but wanted to comment. Lately, I've been counting calories (Livestrong.com has a very intuitive calorie counter/ food tracker) and juicing to reduce weight and increase nutrients. I make carrot, apple, and spinach juice daily. It looks awful, but it tastes great. Spinach and carrots are the only vegetables I juice, but they have a lot of nutrients. I juice a lot of fruit too, watermelon, grapes, pineapple, it's all great! I have a Juiceman Jr. centrifugal juicer and it is what is right for me... it's fast and pretty easy to clean and does a good job. I have a friend with a Vitamix, and he say that it has changed his life. I tried to juice in my Blender (I have the "under 200 dollar Breville" someone above mentioned, but I didn't like the pulp/fiber in the juice. I'll get my fiber elsewhere, I want the juice smooth. That Breville has been nothing short of amazing by the way for anyone considering it. Terrapots, did you make a decision yet? I'd recommend an entry level juicer first to see if it's something you're going to enjoy and stick with since you aren't ready to invest in a Vitamix. Blenders are so much easier to clean than juicers though, there just aren't as many parts!

Jillius, You mean there are people with a kitchen where they can leave the dishwasher open while they cook? …… omg!! In the 13 places I've lived, it has always closed off or blocked the entire kitchen. I think your layout is the winner. It hits every point. The downsides are so minor. (And there's a free wall for Maurice!) I don't mind that the sink isn't on a window. And I can learn to make fewer trips to the fridge while cooking, since right now I don't even have to take 1 step, I got lazy. I especially love that you give me room for a dinner party. And honestly that path to the garden is still smoother than we have now. (And saves me the cost of a slider.) As for the dishwasher, what you're saying about two people cooking/cleaning makes perfect sense, but! the worst case scenario is the cook moves his/her cutting board to the left of the stove! Where there is a ton of space. Currently we get into arguments over counter space. The pantry location is not a problem. I barely use any dry or canned goods. We do, however, have a hard time finding a spot to store a few outdoor items, so that's honestly perfect. Bonus: The fridge is close to the garden for when we grill and forget the ketchup… every single time. I really love it. You're brilliant! Do you do this for a living?