Cuisinart does have a couple of stand mixers for which you can buy attachments that run from its power-take-off port. Cooks Illustrated thinks highly of the stand mixers. (Equal to or slightly better than the longstanding Kitchenaid champs, according to Cooks.) The smaller one (5 quart bowl, I think) starts at around $350. I do not remember what the larger one (7 quart bowl) goes for. The attachments, which have to be purchased or ordered separately, into a power take off at the top rear of the machine. If I recall, the blender attachment has something like 40 oz. capacity, so it sits pretty tall. I saw it once and it seemed to blend soup reasonably well. Do not know about its performance with other functions. The food processor attachment I saw was small, maybe 3 cups capacity. More of a chopper. There might be other attachments. A lot of on-line and brick-n-mortar retailers carry these so you should be able to find prices and reviews on-line. You also might have been thinking of the Ninja blenders which can be had as part of a "kitchen system" which is supposed to combine several devices using the same power base. There are several versions of this, I recall that Consumer Reports thought highly of one version and not so highly of the others. Ninja used to ba QVC/Shopping Channel item but it has made the leap into brick-and-mortar stores. I saw one on offer at Costco a couple of weeks ago. Not sure which version it was but Colstco was charging either $100 (coupon) or $120. I also recall some detailed discussions of Ninjas in eGullet and Chowhound threads that also discussed VitaMix and Blendtec. Try searching there. (Just tried a search on "ninja" here at THS and turned up nothing, which seems odd.) The only Ninja I've ever used myself was as a blender at a friend's house. It seemed to be an excellent blender and ice crusher. Do a search for reviews. If you are not budgeting hundreds of dollars, Vitamix and Blendtec are probably out of the question because the least expensive models start at $400. To be sure, both are splendid blenders, absolute workhorses and durable enough for commercial use. By all accounts, they do an excellent job of making hummus. Don't recall seeing anything about pimento cheese, so don't throw away that old food processor. Vitamix offers several types and sizes of blender jars. When the largest one (64 oz. capacity) is on the base, the unit is 20 inches tall. From that comes comments about measuring cabinet heights. My recollection of the Cusinart mixer's blender attachment was that it sat even higher when assembled. If counter-to-cabinet workspace is limited, the Cuisinart blender attachment is not going to fit, either.

Here is the recipe I used. It is from a book called "Bread" by Eric Treuille and Ursula Ferrigno. My changes are in italics. Naan 2 tsp dried yeast 1 c milk 4 c AP flour 1-1/2 tsp salt 1 tsp sugar 3 T plain yogurt 2T ghee or unsalted butter -- I used butter Sprinkle the yeast into 1/2 c of the milk in a bowl. Let stand for 5 minutes: stir to dissolve. Mix the flour and salt in a large bowl, make a well in the center and add the dissolved yeast, sugar, yogurt and butter. Mix, stirring in the remaining milk as needed to form a soft, sticky dough. -- as written my dough was quite stiff, I added about 1/4 c more milk than called for Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead until smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes. Put the dough in a clean bowl and cover with a clean dish towel. Let rise until double in size, 3-4 hours. Punch down and let rest 10 minutes. -- I oiled the bowl and turned the dough to coat. Highly recommend doing so Divide the dough into four equal pieces. On a lightly floured surface, roll out each piece to form a round 6 inches across and 1/4 inch thick. Pull one side to form a tear shape, stretch the dough until it is about 10 inches in length. Preheat the broiler on it's highest setting. Preheat a baking sheet under the broiler for about 2 minutes. Place two pieces of the dough on the hot baking sheet. Broil for about 2-3 minutes per side, until puffy and golden. --watch carefully, once it starts browning it goes very fast! Repeat with the remaining two pieces of dough. Linda

Me too. For reference, I'm the one who very quickly received a replacement a couple of weeks after registering in December. They just sent the wrong blade. There was a flurry of correspondence in the first week of January with a written promise to send the correct blade when it became available. Today, (six months later) I was e-mailed the following update: "Valued Customer, "Thank you for your inquiry. According to our records, your blade won'"t [SIC] ship out until after June sometime. Now this is just an estimate and you could be receiving it a lot sooner than that. If you have any further questions please reply, with all previous correspondences attached, to this email. We invite you to call our Customer Service Department at 1-800-726-0190. Please keep in mind the Customer Service Agent will not have access to your e-mail information. The hours of operation are 7 AM -11 PM EST Monday through Friday and 9 AM - 5:30 PM on Saturdays and Sundays, excluding major holidays." FWIW, my original blade is still fine apart from seeming to be starting to dull a bit after 15 years use. Otherwise, I might be more annoyed about the length of time it is taking to get the replacement.

LindaC, that's exactly how I usually make hummus, and it's fine, although I like just a little lemon juice and if Mother is here I leave it out because she's allergic to lemon. This was different, though, and didn't have any oil in it, except the stuff that was drizzled over top. The texture was so much better, it was like something else entirely. Lars, I also dislike cumin with hummus, but Elery likes it a lot. Mine was without. I also use cumin in "Mexican" dishes, although I know the stuff I make isn't any where near authentic. I'll have to use the hummus for a sandwich, that might be really good, even better if I had some sliced tomatoes from the garden. I wish I had somewhere close that I could buy good bread like pita or lavash, but that would be about 50 miles away, so I have to make do with what I bake myself. Heck, the local Meijer has gotten so bad that I couldn't even find the spot remover stuff for my dishwasher that I like. I keep saying that I just need to go to Grand Rapids once a month and shop, then I could hit the Mediterranean place, the Asian grocery, Trader Joe's, Fresh Thyme and one of the big stores that actually have a selection that didn't just include items targeted at college students. Annie