I’d like to take my hat off and give a bow to Cuisinart for their life-enhancing, 14-Cup food processor. I admit I was intrigued but scared by this beast when I first set eyes on it. How could it possibly slice fruits and vegetables perfectly? I thought that result must rely on me assembling the machine in a masterful way. With all the different choices for blades, I thought I’d have to sit down with the instruction booklet for days, like it would be one step short of building an airplane.

But, to my surprise (or, for me, in typical fashion) I didn’t have to look at the manual once - shoo! I just minded the arrows on the blades and pieced it together like a children’s play set. There’s only two buttons on the apparatus and if it doesn’t turn on, you didn’t do it right. But when you do get it, the results are amazing. It takes seconds to chop or grate vegetables, and a minute to perfectly whip cream. And even clean up is less daunting than you think it will be.

So if you’re in the market, I’d highly recommend this make and model. It truly has made cooking for me a better, more fun experience.