I'm stuck in an apartment with a Whirlpool electric coil stove. They put in the nicest appliance they could budget for when they built these: a Whirlpool 30" RF114PXSB. Yes, it's black. Here's a picture of the paperweight: http://www.basicappliance.com/product...

I loathe these things. Each of the 8 apartments I've ever lived in had electric coils. (Except the last one with a MASSIVE kitchen and glass-top stove and expansive granite countertops and in-door ice maker and.... It had everything. I wept upon moving out. But I digress.) They all have the same problem -- they slope in the middle, so all the burners are higher on the outside corner than on the inside. Pancakes are a joke — they're all teardrop shaped. There is no such thing as shallow frying; it's either seared or swimming based on placement in the pan.

Moving isn't an option, it can't be replaced, it doesn't need levelling of the feet, and I'm not buying slanted cookware, even if it did exist. What can I do? I'm open for reasonable suggestions that won't burn the place down.

Ditto on the "gotta be on the counter" to use it. If it's out of sight, I could forget I have it, or erroneously believe it's too much of a hassle.

My hubby just got me a 16-cup Cuisinart Elite food processor, but I haven't taken it out of the box yet. I can't figure out if I should swap it out for the 14 or 12-cup, or replace my 8-year old Anolon cookware instead. I know there's a lot I can do with it, but I just don't know if I'll use it more than once a month.

I have a Kitchen Aid pistachio stand mixer, and I use it for lots and lots of dough, batter, frostings, and whipping potatoes (tip: the KA-included whipper blade is trash. Get the scraper-edged BeaterBlade instead).

I've considered getting a pressure cooker -- I do many Indian dishes, and that's one indispensable tool in an Indian kitchen. I also don't plan meals before I get to the store or stove. I could switch from the 8-hour crockpot dal makhani to a 1 hour version. What do you make in yours?

You might want to look at the Kyocera ceramic santoku -- I got a pink one (it was the last in stock) at Williams Sonoma about 2 years ago and it's my everything knife. It's fantastic with any kind of vegetable (except tomatoes, where I use my 5-year-old cheapo-yet-flawless Chicago steak knives from Walmart), and it's easy with meats and even frozen chicken. It's surprisingly light and I've never had to sharpen it. If it does dull, save your box and send it to Kyocera for sharpening.

I just went to Cost Plus on Sunday -- they were 50% off again! I bought the fry pan and the crepe pan.

I couldn't wait to use it! Last night I seasoned the pan with potato peels & oil, and when I wiped out the oil, the paper towel was very black. I cooked onions & potatoes first, and tried to scrape out the burnt-on crust before I cooked salmon. I was sure to run hot water over the pan and scrape on it before I sat down to eat, but I guess I didn't let it dry enough... I have rust today.

My tea snob friends turned me on to Teavana in the Dallas Galleria (www.teavana.com). They have a plethora of wonderful teas that are very well organized by type, region and flavor. They can serve them there, as well, and they're always sampling something.

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Teavana
13350 Dallas Pkwy # 2615, Dallas, TX

OH!! You're also very close to one of my favorite sushi places of all time: Piranha. They're just a few miles down 157 (which becomes Collins in Arlington). They have a great bento box at lunch, and their specialty rolls are wonderful if you want to add a little extra. I do love their hawaiian white tuna. Neither their miso soup nor their salad are anything special, so don't be disappointed if you eat those first.

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Italianni's
1601 Precinct Line Rd, Hurst, TX

Piranha Killer Sushi
851 NE Green Oaks Blvd, Arlington, TX 76006

My husband works over there and he's always running out of options.

I must say, I love meeting him at Italianni's (www.italiannishurst.com), just north of 183 on Precinct Line. I crave the pan seared tilapia on a bed of giant couscous with fried spinach leaves. Lunch prices are reasonable, there's never much of a wait, and they have more than your typical pasta dishes.

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Italianni's
1601 Precinct Line Rd, Hurst, TX