OT - New Wireless Printer

Hi Guys,
So -- Santa got me a wireless printer for Christmas. I don't have a
printer up here so it is a great gift. Do you hear a "But"??? That
being where the *&^^ do I put the thing???
We were all sitting around at DD's a few days before Christmas and
Steven went to answer the doorbell to find that UPS or someone had
dropped off a HUGE box. Steven brought it into the house and told
Christen it was a printer and asked if she had ordered a new one. She
hadn't and none of us could figure out WHO would send the kids a
wireless printer!!! Never occured to any of us that GrandFather had
sent it! He had phoned DD the week before and told her that he was
having something sent to her house so she should be on the look out for
a delivery. He never bothered to tell her it was a printer so she had
no clue about it!!!
Aside from not even having the luggage unpacked from the trip to the
Valley for Christmas, I have to try and move things around so that I
have a big enough level surface to put the *&*&^%&^&%^& printer! I'm
not sure what size the printer is but the box is HUGE and HEAVY and I
had so much fun schlepping it from behind DD's Christmas Tree to my car.
It had to go in the back seat with the dog because the trunk was full
of the luggage, the dog kennel, the cat litter box, all the dog
supplies, all the cat supplies and various and assorted bag os "stuff".
Just imagine the fun I had unpacking all of this stuff and dragging
it into the cabin -- IN THE ICY SNOW.
So, it's my understanding that there will be a cd with the printer
that I load into the computer and it will walk me through the process to
get the printer "hooked" to the computer. Honestly, I was happy just
waiting until I got to DD's and then printing up stuff there. Mostly
it's so that I can print up flight & travel info. With the Garmin, I
don't even need to print up travel directions any longer!
Anyway, I have this new piece3 of **electronic** equipment that I
don't actually need and am not thrilled to have to hook up. This means
that if there are any problems when I try to get it hooked to the
cdompute3r, I will be here ranting and raving and generally being
obnoxious and letting off steam. Be forewarned that I am certainly
going to be a bit ****y if things don't go well :-))))). CiaoMeow ^;;^

Tia Mary /\____/\ ^.,.^
= 0.0 = ( )~~~~~
Angels can't show their wings on earth but nothing was ever said about
their WHISKERS!
NOTHING is complete without a few cat hairs -- they make the best
decorative fibers! Tia Mary's Webshots

On 1/8/2012 3:03 PM, Tia Mary wrote:
Hi Guys,
So -- Santa got me a wireless printer for Christmas. I don't have a
printer up here so it is a great gift. Do you hear a "But"??? That being
where the *&^^ do I put the thing???
We were all sitting around at DD's a few days before Christmas and
Steven went to answer the doorbell to find that UPS or someone had
dropped off a HUGE box. Steven brought it into the house and told
Christen it was a printer and asked if she had ordered a new one. She
hadn't and none of us could figure out WHO would send the kids a
wireless printer!!! Never occured to any of us that GrandFather had sent
it! He had phoned DD the week before and told her that he was having
something sent to her house so she should be on the look out for a
delivery. He never bothered to tell her it was a printer so she had no
clue about it!!!
Aside from not even having the luggage unpacked from the trip to the
Valley for Christmas, I have to try and move things around so that I
have a big enough level surface to put the *&*&^%&^&%^& printer! I'm not
sure what size the printer is but the box is HUGE and HEAVY and I had so
much fun schlepping it from behind DD's Christmas Tree to my car. It had
to go in the back seat with the dog because the trunk was full of the
luggage, the dog kennel, the cat litter box, all the dog supplies, all
the cat supplies and various and assorted bag os "stuff". Just imagine
the fun I had unpacking all of this stuff and dragging it into the cabin
-- IN THE ICY SNOW.
So, it's my understanding that there will be a cd with the printer that
I load into the computer and it will walk me through the process to get
the printer "hooked" to the computer. Honestly, I was happy just waiting
until I got to DD's and then printing up stuff there. Mostly it's so
that I can print up flight & travel info. With the Garmin, I don't even
need to print up travel directions any longer!
Anyway, I have this new piece3 of **electronic** equipment that I don't
actually need and am not thrilled to have to hook up. This means that if
there are any problems when I try to get it hooked to the cdompute3r, I
will be here ranting and raving and generally being obnoxious and
letting off steam. Be forewarned that I am certainly going to be a bit
****y if things don't go well :-))))). CiaoMeow ^;;^

Tia Mary /\____/\ ^.,.^
= 0.0 = ( )~~~~~
Angels can't show their wings on earth but nothing was ever said about
their WHISKERS!
NOTHING is complete without a few cat hairs -- they make the best
decorative fibers! Tia Mary's Webshots

My beloved proudly gave me an "As seen on TV " veggie slicer. You put
the damn thing together, then twiddle to get the size slice. (thin or
thinner).Then you feed the veggie into the tube gizmo. It is too small
for zucchini, and the wrong angle for the curvy yellow squash. One has
to move the slide back and forth for ONE slice.

I tried it, said "maybe" it would be good for cucumber salad, many
thanks for the kind thought...and it is now in the back of a closet.!

Men REALLY try hard........but somethings are just left to those of us
who use them. LOL

Gill

On 08/01/2012 20:03, Tia Mary wrote:
Hi Guys,
So -- Santa got me a wireless printer for Christmas. I don't have a
printer up here so it is a great gift. Do you hear a "But"??? That being
where the *&^^ do I put the thing???
We were all sitting around at DD's a few days before Christmas and
Steven went to answer the doorbell to find that UPS or someone had
dropped off a HUGE box. Steven brought it into the house and told
Christen it was a printer and asked if she had ordered a new one. She
hadn't and none of us could figure out WHO would send the kids a
wireless printer!!! Never occured to any of us that GrandFather had sent
it! He had phoned DD the week before and told her that he was having
something sent to her house so she should be on the look out for a
delivery. He never bothered to tell her it was a printer so she had no
clue about it!!!
Aside from not even having the luggage unpacked from the trip to the
Valley for Christmas, I have to try and move things around so that I
have a big enough level surface to put the *&*&^%&^&%^& printer! I'm not
sure what size the printer is but the box is HUGE and HEAVY and I had so
much fun schlepping it from behind DD's Christmas Tree to my car. It had
to go in the back seat with the dog because the trunk was full of the
luggage, the dog kennel, the cat litter box, all the dog supplies, all
the cat supplies and various and assorted bag os "stuff". Just imagine
the fun I had unpacking all of this stuff and dragging it into the cabin
-- IN THE ICY SNOW.
So, it's my understanding that there will be a cd with the printer that
I load into the computer and it will walk me through the process to get
the printer "hooked" to the computer. Honestly, I was happy just waiting
until I got to DD's and then printing up stuff there. Mostly it's so
that I can print up flight & travel info. With the Garmin, I don't even
need to print up travel directions any longer!
Anyway, I have this new piece3 of **electronic** equipment that I don't
actually need and am not thrilled to have to hook up. This means that if
there are any problems when I try to get it hooked to the cdompute3r, I
will be here ranting and raving and generally being obnoxious and
letting off steam. Be forewarned that I am certainly going to be a bit
****y if things don't go well :-))))). CiaoMeow ^;;^

I bought a new wireless printer in December. I found the best way to
install it was to ignore the reams of documentation and just plug it
into the mains and switch on; the display panel then showed you how to
set it up. Beware - you have to connect it to the computer via a USB
cable first in order to set up the wireless connection!
--
Bruce Fletcher
Stronsay, Orkney
(Remove dentures to reply)

My printer is wireless, and I really like it. I had to set it up with
the cord first, then unplugged and away we went.

On 1/8/12 9:22 PM, in article , "Gillian Murray"
wrote:

On 1/8/2012 3:03 PM, Tia Mary wrote:
Hi Guys,
So -- Santa got me a wireless printer for Christmas. I don't have a
printer up here so it is a great gift. Do you hear a "But"??? That being
where the *&^^ do I put the thing???
*snip*
So, it's my understanding that there will be a cd with the printer that
I load into the computer and it will walk me through the process to get
the printer "hooked" to the computer. Honestly, I was happy just waiting
until I got to DD's and then printing up stuff there. Mostly it's so
that I can print up flight & travel info. With the Garmin, I don't even
need to print up travel directions any longer!
Anyway, I have this new piece3 of **electronic** equipment that I don't
actually need and am not thrilled to have to hook up. This means that if
there are any problems when I try to get it hooked to the cdompute3r, I
will be here ranting and raving and generally being obnoxious and
letting off steam. Be forewarned that I am certainly going to be a bit
****y if things don't go well :-))))). CiaoMeow ^;;^

Tia Mary /\____/\ ^.,.^

Well, think that at least it won't add cables around. We have 2 wireless
printers - though I use them cables with the desktop, and wireless with
anything else - even the camera came with a WiFi. I'm sure you'll get this
set up no problem. Reallly. REALLY.

My beloved proudly gave me an "As seen on TV " veggie slicer. You put
the damn thing together, then twiddle to get the size slice. (thin or
thinner).Then you feed the veggie into the tube gizmo. It is too small
for zucchini, and the wrong angle for the curvy yellow squash. One has
to move the slide back and forth for ONE slice.

I tried it, said "maybe" it would be good for cucumber salad, many
thanks for the kind thought...and it is now in the back of a closet.

Honestly, if you want a slicer thing, I got the OXO Mandolin several years
ago, and love it. The handle that you use to hold the item being sliced
prevents the "oops, that was my fingertip" event. And it varies in
thickness, can do straight or wavy slices & waffle cuts. I actually use it
quite a lot - even just for the 2 of us if I'm doing something like cottage
fries. Or cooking for a crowd. Takes little space, cleans in the
dishwasher - I really recommend it. I did a bunch of research before buying
it, and most of the cheaper ceramic ones aren't so stable, some others not
so safe. I got it with the Bed Bath Beyond discount coupon. Just
saying...At first I didn't use it so much, but once realizing how easy to
use/clean & fast - it came into steady use. It lives in a double height
drawer, with the manual juice strainer & the stand mixer bowl, etc.

Men REALLY try hard........but somethings are just left to those of us
who use them. LOL

Gill
LOL - DSIL (the crazy, mean one as opposed to the just mean) once sent us:
A tuna fish can strainer (we used it in the sink when the disposal was
broken, while waiting to install replacement)
A rubber nozzle thing that fits on your sink faucet then you (it looks like
a rubber megaphone, about 1" diam at fat end) crack the end of a hard-boiled
egg and insert that into the nozzle thing and blast water thru it to remove
the shell. Uh huh- needless to say in the time of hooking up the egg is
peeld.
A carrot peeler that is supposed to do round & round -haven't figured it out
yet

The just plain mean one sent us a cordless scrubbing machine for cleaning
bathrooms...

Ellice

On 2012/01/12 07:15 PM, Ellice K. wrote:
On 1/8/12 9:22 PM, in article , "Gillian Murray"
wrote:

On 1/8/2012 3:03 PM, Tia Mary wrote:
Hi Guys,
So -- Santa got me a wireless printer for Christmas. I don't have a
printer up here so it is a great gift. Do you hear a "But"??? That being
where the *&^^ do I put the thing???
*snip*
So, it's my understanding that there will be a cd with the printer that
I load into the computer and it will walk me through the process to get
the printer "hooked" to the computer. Honestly, I was happy just waiting
until I got to DD's and then printing up stuff there. Mostly it's so
that I can print up flight& travel info. With the Garmin, I don't even
need to print up travel directions any longer!
Anyway, I have this new piece3 of **electronic** equipment that I don't
actually need and am not thrilled to have to hook up. This means that if
there are any problems when I try to get it hooked to the cdompute3r, I
will be here ranting and raving and generally being obnoxious and
letting off steam. Be forewarned that I am certainly going to be a bit
****y if things don't go well :-))))). CiaoMeow^;;^

Tia Mary /\____/\^.,.^

Well, think that at least it won't add cables around. We have 2 wireless
printers - though I use them cables with the desktop, and wireless with
anything else - even the camera came with a WiFi. I'm sure you'll get this
set up no problem. Reallly. REALLY.

My beloved proudly gave me an "As seen on TV " veggie slicer. You put
the damn thing together, then twiddle to get the size slice. (thin or
thinner).Then you feed the veggie into the tube gizmo. It is too small
for zucchini, and the wrong angle for the curvy yellow squash. One has
to move the slide back and forth for ONE slice.

I tried it, said "maybe" it would be good for cucumber salad, many
thanks for the kind thought...and it is now in the back of a closet.

Honestly, if you want a slicer thing, I got the OXO Mandolin several years
ago, and love it. The handle that you use to hold the item being sliced
prevents the "oops, that was my fingertip" event. And it varies in
thickness, can do straight or wavy slices& waffle cuts. I actually use it
quite a lot - even just for the 2 of us if I'm doing something like cottage
fries. Or cooking for a crowd. Takes little space, cleans in the
dishwasher - I really recommend it. I did a bunch of research before buying
it, and most of the cheaper ceramic ones aren't so stable, some others not
so safe. I got it with the Bed Bath Beyond discount coupon. Just
saying...At first I didn't use it so much, but once realizing how easy to
use/clean& fast - it came into steady use. It lives in a double height
drawer, with the manual juice strainer& the stand mixer bowl, etc.

Men REALLY try hard........but somethings are just left to those of us
who use them. LOL

Gill
LOL - DSIL (the crazy, mean one as opposed to the just mean) once sent us:
A tuna fish can strainer (we used it in the sink when the disposal was
broken, while waiting to install replacement)
A rubber nozzle thing that fits on your sink faucet then you (it looks like
a rubber megaphone, about 1" diam at fat end) crack the end of a hard-boiled
egg and insert that into the nozzle thing and blast water thru it to remove
the shell. Uh huh- needless to say in the time of hooking up the egg is
peeld.
A carrot peeler that is supposed to do round& round -haven't figured it out
yet

The just plain mean one sent us a cordless scrubbing machine for cleaning
bathrooms...

Ellice

A friend who knows I like gadgets has twice asked a sister to get
"something" for me from Verimark. The first one was a battery-driven
duster, and the second was a set of bowl covers which are supposed to
keep the contents vacuum-sealed! Even if they did, who wants a bowl
with the lid sticking out way beyond the dish itself? And a duster
which twirls while you're using it? Great fun - if I could be bothered!
I never just redistribute the dust, I prefer to remove it properly
once a week.

The friend didn't have access to the stores, so couldn't choose herself
- I'm sure she would have known better! Both items are destined for the
charity shop, now that I've moved.

I often look at the ads for these gadgets, and wonder if they're worth
buying - it always looks so easy on TV! Your slicer, Ellice - I've
never heard of Oxo other than the meaty cubes! i suppose that's
available only in USA?

Joyce in RSA.

On 1/13/12 12:35 AM, in article , "Joyce in RSA"
wrote:

On 2012/01/12 07:15 PM, Ellice K. wrote:
On 1/8/12 9:22 PM, in article , "Gillian Murray"
wrote:

*snip*

My beloved proudly gave me an "As seen on TV " veggie slicer. You put
the damn thing together, then twiddle to get the size slice. (thin or
thinner).Then you feed the veggie into the tube gizmo. It is too small
for zucchini, and the wrong angle for the curvy yellow squash. One has
to move the slide back and forth for ONE slice.

I tried it, said "maybe" it would be good for cucumber salad, many
thanks for the kind thought...and it is now in the back of a closet.

Honestly, if you want a slicer thing, I got the OXO Mandolin several years
ago, and love it. The handle that you use to hold the item being sliced
prevents the "oops, that was my fingertip" event. And it varies in
thickness, can do straight or wavy slices& waffle cuts. I actually use it
quite a lot - even just for the 2 of us if I'm doing something like cottage
fries. Or cooking for a crowd. Takes little space, cleans in the
dishwasher - I really recommend it. I did a bunch of research before buying
it, and most of the cheaper ceramic ones aren't so stable, some others not
so safe. I got it with the Bed Bath Beyond discount coupon. Just
saying...At first I didn't use it so much, but once realizing how easy to
use/clean& fast - it came into steady use. It lives in a double height
drawer, with the manual juice strainer& the stand mixer bowl, etc.

Men REALLY try hard........but somethings are just left to those of us
who use them. LOL

Gill
LOL - DSIL (the crazy, mean one as opposed to the just mean) once sent us:
A tuna fish can strainer (we used it in the sink when the disposal was
broken, while waiting to install replacement)
A rubber nozzle thing that fits on your sink faucet then you (it looks like
a rubber megaphone, about 1" diam at fat end) crack the end of a hard-boiled
egg and insert that into the nozzle thing and blast water thru it to remove
the shell. Uh huh- needless to say in the time of hooking up the egg is
peeld.
A carrot peeler that is supposed to do round& round -haven't figured it out
yet

The just plain mean one sent us a cordless scrubbing machine for cleaning
bathrooms...

Ellice

A friend who knows I like gadgets has twice asked a sister to get
"something" for me from Verimark. The first one was a battery-driven
duster, and the second was a set of bowl covers which are supposed to
keep the contents vacuum-sealed! Even if they did, who wants a bowl
with the lid sticking out way beyond the dish itself? And a duster
which twirls while you're using it? Great fun - if I could be bothered!
I never just redistribute the dust, I prefer to remove it properly
once a week.

That is hilarious. Should be paired with the doesn't really work too well
battery operated scrub brush.

The friend didn't have access to the stores, so couldn't choose herself
- I'm sure she would have known better! Both items are destined for the
charity shop, now that I've moved.

Totally understand the trip to the charity shop. Frequently my DH says we
should buy his sister one of those "head tingler" things that looks like an
upside down, open ended whisk - to put on your head & cure headaches. Of
course this is the one who has been known to call us and discuss her
conversations with the "E.T.s" - her friends from wherever.

Seriously - DH is always walking into the stupid "as seen on TV" shop or
aisle - to look for ridiculous things to send his sister. But, we can't
actually afford much wasting of $$ - as they could go to more valuable
stash. His sister actually is one of those people that thinks these odd
things are fabulous. The list of stories is endless - one year we sent her
2 boxes of Twinings Orange Pekoe tea - as she told us (after seeing it in
our stash at home) that "it's my favorite and I can't find it at home."
Seriously, the woman lives in suburban Chicago - a very large city, even if
in a suburb. She's just in another galaxy. Then there was the "where can I
get kosher hot dogs like you - I want them for Jasmine's (her Papillion dog)
birthday party." Again - same answer - the grocery store!

I often look at the ads for these gadgets, and wonder if they're worth
buying - it always looks so easy on TV! Your slicer, Ellice - I've
never heard of Oxo other than the meaty cubes! i suppose that's
available only in USA?

Joyce in RSA.

Ah, I don't know. But I'm putting link to them here. The slicer itself is
called a Mandoline, and until the past few years, really something only
serious cooks or chefs would have - as they're pretty dangerous tools. But,
the company OXO (not the ones who do the bouillion cubes) which has won a
lot of design awards, made what I think is the first relatively safe one.
Also known as OXO Good Grips. OXO specializes in kitchen/cooking accessories
that can be used by people with arthritis, have comfortable grips, etc. I
have several things from them - peelers, salad spinner, tongs. Anyhow -
here's the link to the OXO web site, & the mandoline. You can get a lot of
their stuff thru Amazon.
http://www.oxo.com/default.aspx
http://www.oxo.com/p-543-mandoline-slicer.aspx

Looks like on their website there is an international inquiry link ;^)

Ah, the things we find...

Ellice

On 1/13/12 9:36 AM, in article , "Karen C in
Calif" wrote:

Ellice K. wrote:
needless to say in the time of hooking up the egg is
peeld.


That was my argument for why we should not waste the money on a food
processor. Nonetheless, he bought one. I challenged him to a race: you
get the food processor out of the closet, set it up, wash/dry, put it
back in the closet ... and I get Grandma's paring knife out of the
drawer, wash/dry, put it back in the drawer. Ready, set, GO! OK, the
actual chopping time was less with the FP, but I won the race handily.

Cooking for two, a FP is a waste of time. And, in fact, in the last
apartment we lived in, he never even unpacked it between moves, having
realized that I was right.

While I believe you may have won the race in your situation at the time,
IMOSHO the FP is most definitely not a waste of time - even cooking for two.
Because I have the space to keep it easily accessible -that helps. But, it
truly depends on what kind of cooking you do. I've used it for bread
doughs, pastry dough, quickly whipping up things that don't puree so well in
the blender, or just want to be chopped to a certain consistency. Even for
just two of us. And especially when cooking for a larger party it's a huge
difference. Again - it's about what kind of cooking you do. Certainly I
slice & dice by hand most of the time for just a couple of onions, some
garlic, etc. But having the FP there makes some things just so much easier
& quicker - including recipes that I might not make as often if having to
chop by hand for 30 min instead of 5. I wash mine in the DW, certainly at
least the blade. Honestly - washing the bowl, lid & blade doesn't exactly
take much more time than washing a big knife & cutting board - compared to
the time savings. The thing that is useful if you're really only ever
cooking for 2, or 1, is the little mini-FP. Great for a quick puree or
sauce. But, I'm not buying one. For us, I also tend to cook enough for 2
meals with many of the things for which I use the FP. Then one container in
the freezer for some other meal. I'm definitely more likely to try some
thing I may see on TV (like Hubert Keller using the FP to do Thai Chicken
burgers) because I can get to the FP easily - than if I had to go unbury it.

I do use my immersion blender a lot - we refer to it as "the motorboat."
That's a pretty small appliance, and great if you do soups that you want to
puree, sauces, even whipped potatoes - as you just plunge it into the
cooking pot. Takes some getting used to - when it tries to vacuum seal
itself to the bottom of some soup pot - but works great. Easy clean as most
of them come apart and the blade portion can go in the DW, or wash by hand,
and the motor just gets put back in the drawer after wiping it off.

My mom did a lot of party cooking, so she did save time with hers. And
now her aging hands are finding it difficult to chop things, so hers
never gets back in the closet any more.

I honestly got my first one over doing a lot of Indian cooking, and for
groups, and totally understand the party cooking situation. My then DH had
fought it, but I finally insisted and got a refurbished Cuisinart at a local
kitchen specialty store, with full lifetime warranty. That thing was a
workhorse, and a bargain - though pricey for us at $99 in 1986. Cut my time
way down. Then we went to India - and he was still complaining that I only
cooked Indian food a few days a week. The deal then was I cooked Western
food 2-3 days a week, and Indian at least 2 times, then there would be the
weekly Chinese night & one whatever. Finally even his sister yelled at him
when he said "my mum cooks Indian all the time - what's the big deal?" Big
deal being that as we pointed out, I worked full time (his mum at that time
did a lot of charity work, having quit being a professor), and that she had
a boy who started doing the prep for dinner immediately after cleaning up
from lunch. So -yes - she didn't need a FP, as she had someone that
exclusively cut, chopped, diced, and even used the mortar & pestle. She
would then come in at the right time, throw in spices & supervise. All the
women in the household ganged up on him! But, doing Indian food from
scratch takes a lot of prep to slice, dice, make pastes/purees that get
cooked down as the seasoning, sauces. Which now of course you can buy in
jars of simmer sauce! FWIW, I still do a lot of Indian cooking - XDMIL was
a fabulous cook and taught me well, as did many other family members.

Anyhow, as I told Cheryl when she was shopping for her new stand mixer - to
me the usefulness of things like stand mixers & FPs is exponentially related
to how readily you can access them. If you can easily access the thing,
then you start using it, and will use it more and more, finding things that
you might not have done as often before, or not at all. If the only place
to keep it is awkward to access, then it's useless. At the least, they need
to be where you can get to them without straining your back.

Just sayin'

Ellice

On 13/01/2012 16:13, Ellice K. wrote:
Ah, I don't know. But I'm putting link to them here. The slicer itself is
called a Mandoline, and until the past few years, really something only
serious cooks or chefs would have - as they're pretty dangerous tools. But,
the company OXO (not the ones who do the bouillion cubes) which has won a
lot of design awards, made what I think is the first relatively safe one.
Also known as OXO Good Grips. OXO specializes in kitchen/cooking accessories
that can be used by people with arthritis, have comfortable grips, etc. I
have several things from them - peelers, salad spinner, tongs. Anyhow -
here's the link to the OXO web site, & the mandoline. You can get a lot of
their stuff thru Amazon.

In the UK we have a company called Lakeland which sells an "OXO mandolin"
http://www.lakeland.co.uk/search/mandolin/q01.r16.1
Mandolins range in price from 12.69 to 94.99 for the OXO.
--
Bruce Fletcher
Stronsay, Orkney
(Remove dentures to reply)

On 1/13/12 3:22 PM, in article ,
" wrote:

On Fri, 13 Jan 2012 11:39:12 -0500, "Ellice K."
wrote:

On 1/13/12 9:36 AM, in article , "Karen C in
Calif" wrote:

Ellice K. wrote:
needless to say in the time of hooking up the egg is
peeld.


That was my argument for why we should not waste the money on a food
processor. Nonetheless, he bought one. I challenged him to a race: you
get the food processor out of the closet, set it up, wash/dry, put it
back in the closet ... and I get Grandma's paring knife out of the
drawer, wash/dry, put it back in the drawer. Ready, set, GO! OK, the
actual chopping time was less with the FP, but I won the race handily.

Cooking for two, a FP is a waste of time. And, in fact, in the last
apartment we lived in, he never even unpacked it between moves, having
realized that I was right.

While I believe you may have won the race in your situation at the time,
IMOSHO the FP is most definitely not a waste of time - even cooking for two.
Because I have the space to keep it easily accessible -that helps. But, it
truly depends on what kind of cooking you do. I've used it for bread
doughs, pastry dough, quickly whipping up things that don't puree so well in
the blender, or just want to be chopped to a certain consistency. Even for
just two of us. And especially when cooking for a larger party it's a huge
difference. Again - it's about what kind of cooking you do. Certainly I
slice & dice by hand most of the time for just a couple of onions, some
garlic, etc. But having the FP there makes some things just so much easier
& quicker - including recipes that I might not make as often if having to
chop by hand for 30 min instead of 5. I wash mine in the DW, certainly at
least the blade. Honestly - washing the bowl, lid & blade doesn't exactly
take much more time than washing a big knife & cutting board - compared to
the time savings. The thing that is useful if you're really only ever
cooking for 2, or 1, is the little mini-FP. Great for a quick puree or
sauce. But, I'm not buying one. For us, I also tend to cook enough for 2
meals with many of the things for which I use the FP. Then one container in
the freezer for some other meal. I'm definitely more likely to try some
thing I may see on TV (like Hubert Keller using the FP to do Thai Chicken
burgers) because I can get to the FP easily - than if I had to go unbury it.

I do use my immersion blender a lot - we refer to it as "the motorboat."
That's a pretty small appliance, and great if you do soups that you want to
puree, sauces, even whipped potatoes - as you just plunge it into the
cooking pot. Takes some getting used to - when it tries to vacuum seal
itself to the bottom of some soup pot - but works great. Easy clean as most
of them come apart and the blade portion can go in the DW, or wash by hand,
and the motor just gets put back in the drawer after wiping it off.

My mom did a lot of party cooking, so she did save time with hers. And
now her aging hands are finding it difficult to chop things, so hers
never gets back in the closet any more.

I honestly got my first one over doing a lot of Indian cooking, and for
groups, and totally understand the party cooking situation. My then DH had
fought it, but I finally insisted and got a refurbished Cuisinart at a local
kitchen specialty store, with full lifetime warranty. That thing was a
workhorse, and a bargain - though pricey for us at $99 in 1986. Cut my time
way down. Then we went to India - and he was still complaining that I only
cooked Indian food a few days a week. The deal then was I cooked Western
food 2-3 days a week, and Indian at least 2 times, then there would be the
weekly Chinese night & one whatever. Finally even his sister yelled at him
when he said "my mum cooks Indian all the time - what's the big deal?" Big
deal being that as we pointed out, I worked full time (his mum at that time
did a lot of charity work, having quit being a professor), and that she had
a boy who started doing the prep for dinner immediately after cleaning up
from lunch. So -yes - she didn't need a FP, as she had someone that
exclusively cut, chopped, diced, and even used the mortar & pestle. She
would then come in at the right time, throw in spices & supervise. All the
women in the household ganged up on him! But, doing Indian food from
scratch takes a lot of prep to slice, dice, make pastes/purees that get
cooked down as the seasoning, sauces. Which now of course you can buy in
jars of simmer sauce! FWIW, I still do a lot of Indian cooking - XDMIL was
a fabulous cook and taught me well, as did many other family members.

Anyhow, as I told Cheryl when she was shopping for her new stand mixer - to
me the usefulness of things like stand mixers & FPs is exponentially related
to how readily you can access them. If you can easily access the thing,
then you start using it, and will use it more and more, finding things that
you might not have done as often before, or not at all. If the only place
to keep it is awkward to access, then it's useless. At the least, they need
to be where you can get to them without straining your back.

Just sayin'

Ellice

There's only one of me, but they will drag my Cuisinart from my cold,
dead hands !

LOL - I do so love it when we agree...

Ellice