Thanks for your contribution.
I can tell you why the pitcher on the Blendtec is not glass. The power and speed of the Blendtec or the Vitamix is so high that the glass would break so they must use plastic or metal. There are some steel Vita mix containers. So you can feel pleased when you see the plastic.

When you say the Blendtec is more versatile than a Nutrabullet, what is it that you do with it? Do you make nut butters or grind flour or is it something else? I am curious. At $400 and twice the power, of course it is a better machine.

And last, as far as I can tell the Nutrabullet is too large and heavy for travel.

No, I was hoping for discussion from people who'd used both. If this turns into a Vita-Mix circle jerk I've failed in stating the post.

I am content to not pay another $300 for a nutgrinder and flour-maker. (To be accurate, $320+tax=$345)

I was talking about smoothies.

Assumption for the post which is why this is not about juicers.

Smoothies are better than juicing because
- fiber trumps sugar re insulin regulation. AKA keep the pulp and it lowers the GI of your meal. AKA even natural sugar is bad when concentrated. fiber keeps you regular. And full.
- Juicers are difficult to load and clean. Especially to clean. Blenders are a dream in comparison.

My experiences-- Right now I am using the Nutribullet.
-- How did I get here?

This all started after I saw a greensmoothiegirl video on YouTube which opened my mind to mixing fruits and vegetables which I had previously never combined. (in a world in which tomato and zucchini are vegetables). So I tried it with my freecycle(.org) Osterizer blender and it worked fine.

I've used the Osterizer, which is the 10 speed with 3 pulse buttons, for smoothies and soups and for mayonaise. While it leaves some things a bit chewy -and there's a nice quality to that- I have been positive about the results. I can drink my vegetables. I saw why Robyn's children called it green ice cream. So I lowered the sweetness to my taste.

The only thing that gave me trouble using the blender werethe strings in long pieces of celery. I heard a sound of slowness and a smell which I luckily noticed and stopped the blender to minimize the damage. I opened it up and found a mass of strings twined around the blades. Luckily I had caught it in time.
Since similar sized and heavier pieces of carrot were no problem, my conclusion is, always cut celery into smaller (3cm) chunks.

I culled all the free recipes and techniques I could from the greensmoothiegirl (GSG) site, and recently attended a free class locally. There I got to taste a sample of her smoothie made by the $400 Blendtec and *wow* as expected it was certainly smoother.

-- I watched some infomercials and did some research on alternative up rates to my Osterizer. The blender commercial with Montel as 'talent' had a lot of negative reviews re power. And some said that after you call, they up-sell you from $150 to almost $400. (fail)

-- I saw the infomercial with results of the Nutribullet and the strainer test for large particles. So I began to shop for it. In the end, I bought it from BedBathandBeyond for $80 +tax. They send me a 20% off coupon regularly and they hqve a year return policy. $20 for a recipe book? I've been making these things for months. _I don't need no recipe book._

** Since then I've been happy. - This machine powders almonds. - It turns olive oil plus garlic into a unified liquid.
- My smoothies are much much smoother than before. - They can't spurt out because the container is closed.

CONS: - For $80 (before sales tax) it's not as smooth as the $400 Blendtec.
- It makes one serving at a time, OK maybe two. A single container will only make 1/4 of what a Blendtec can. (figuring 12 oz in the filled-to-max 16 oz Nutribullet vs. 48 oz in the 54 oz Blendtec)
- I can blend hot things in the Osterizer if I let the container preheat. This worked well for "bulletproof coffee" (which in the end had too much oil for my life). Works for soups too. The Nutribullet warns against heat and overfilling. I pay attention.
- It won't make almond butter which the $400+ blenders will.
- I need to make some shelf for all the 12 parts so I can find them easily. I also want a cap for it to keep the driver mechanism clean while it sits on the counter.
-- That's about it.

I'm hoping to learn from this discussion.

Upvote for soupkitten!

I think that a. someone else could have liked your post and it went on their FB page. I dont know how it got on yours.

BUT (to All) if you accept a FB app and read what you are agreeing to you will see that _It can post for you_. So I have no apps. What's this about some company posting as me???

Usually results in disaster because: your system is fried? (1 gets you 10 it's Windows.) You -or your person of tech support whom I shall in the future call "you"- doesn't know how to do it. You are out of RAM. Your HD is too full and there's no swap space? You install bacly cracked programs? You dont know what programs work on your computer,- wait, that's covered in #2 I think.

AdBlock is not actually a program it's an addon to a program and it's really really stable. It also means EVERYTHING LOADS FASTER AND ALL YOUR PAGES COME UP FASTER. It's a pleasure.

My suggestions. Don't use internet explorer especially the old versions and if you have Explorer 6 (because you cant use a newer one even) Never use it again. Go through the leaning curve if there is any. You will be so glad you did. What should you use then?

Use Chrome or use Firefox, even Opera, or Sea Monkey, Safari, Netscape Navigator, Maxthon ... OK I see how I gain from writing like this. I look and learn. I'm going to try Maxthon, and on my phone too.

Remember, you can set a recovery point and then go back to it. And you should be doing that every so often because, no matter how good and wonderful you are, eventually windows corrupts. (and absolute windows corrupts absolutely) Oh the devil made me say that!

All the best...

Yes! (meme of little kid with the fist pumped at his chest!)

.. context: I have adblock installed!

I'm on a page with a video..http://www.chow.com/videos/show/the-e... and I'm in the process of writing a comment --while not signed-in because Chow has an orderly method of prompting me to sian in after I finish my comment.-- and I decide that I want to include the name of the woman in the video so I press play to replay the video.

The URL remains the same but I get bounced into a new video and comment thread and my comment vanishes. Logically I press "back" and I get bounced AHEAD to a URL that goes with the NEW video that was playing and the same comment page. Further back I cannot go.

I HATE losing a comment after I have spent some time and thought in the writing and will seldom repeat it.

Grrrrr.
Thank you for listening. I hope that you can take it into account and make a more coherent experience for the viewer.

-----------------------
Now on a personal note: I'd like to know, technically, what was happening, and if and when you solve it, how you did. If you cannot, what gets in the way. Yes I would really really like to know these things. :D

edit: spelled Chow cow

I discovered a Persian market last week in LA. One of the other customers told me how much she loved sautéed celery. She said to saute it with mint leaves and Italian parsley. I used olive oil of course and za'atar which I had gotten there. That's what started off the conversation.

Turned out the za'atar was old with little taste so I added some thyme and sumac and roasted sesame seeds to the pan. I sauteed it and then aded a bit of water and a lid to cook it a bit more. Next time I'll hold back on the leaves until the celery is partly cooked. I used a sprinkle of sea salt too. I should mention I started with the za'atar in the oil before the vegetable.

I'll leave it to you to assemble that story into a recipe timeline. And because I'm me.. I added some toasted nori at the end, adding depth.

As an aside: Mint goes bad in the frig. The mint I kept in a waterglass (after stripping off the lower leaves) is perfect. After a week it's beginning to show roots. I'm going to grow my own ofter this.

Here's a cute (but sub-standard re affincianados) alternative you might like.

I can heat up milk on the stove and then use the whisk on it and I get some foam - sans machine! Makes it "special".

(I dont know how to edit my post so I'm replying) Now I see that I have a non-pressurized basket.

I have an Estro Vapore (looks the same as the Starbucks Barrista) and after sitting for 5 years it wouldnt steam. I decided that I needed to replace the gaskets and oops, I got so far and couldnt get the center-of-the-brewhead screw loose.

I'm in LA on the Westside, no car. I'd appreciate any help you could give, info or referral. My budget is low, $30-$50. And thanks!

I dont understand what you mean. I have an Estro Vapore (same as the barrista I believe).

I have a portafilter and a inner basket with little holes on the top. What's a pressurized basket? How can I tell what I have?
What's the standard basket? How is it different?

> You should try a saltine with cream cheese sometime,,,,mmmmm

and strawberry jam. Oh the salt and the sweet.

I wish I could upvote you! Yes yes, Betty Crocker Cookbooks. And the Alexander Pope cookbook. (I have her other cookbook, The Settlement Cookbook, out of Milwaukee Wisconsin.)

No arguments but you should know that ground celery seed works fine.

Mmm, note to self: buy tomato juice and Worchestershire.

from West Los Angeles to Downtown: where can I buy loose mate, look at a bombilla?
WOW what a little work will do: first the list of South American restaurants (Duh, I already knew some Brazilian ones.)
http://losangeles.menupages.com/restaurants/all-areas/all-neighborhoods/south-american/

And a bombilla for $10 inc shipping on Amazon which ships from Stanton in LA County.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-med...

If I can travel further, is there an area that would give me a better price? A website?

Thanks! SouthOCHound's great comments encourages me to try the different drug effect from the different "carriers of caffeine".

I can add to his evaluations that dark roast coffee, and preparation makes a difference, has a different effect than American-style coffee which makes me jittery. I hear it's less caffeine which would allow those other compounds in the mix of the elements of a coffee bean to show up stronger. Let it shine.

WHERE TO POST THIS?
As an extra, an aside, I have an espresso machine (Estro Vapore==Starbucks Barista) that needs to be taken apart and have the dried out gaskets replaced. I'm DIY and there's a screw I cant get loose. I would like to find some other espresso DIY'er and partner.

In 2009 the Whole Foods chain in LA carries the line of goudas that Rembrandt is part of.
My favorite is Vincent, yes.

ah yes, the [chkay]-sound. (that was ch-as-in-Bach). It's not so strong in the south of the Netherlans, where they also use the French "R".

Sometimes the g sounds like k, others like that ch I mentioned (definitely not ch-as-church).
Here's one to try 'van Gogh', say [fahn Hawk] then "ch" the H-sound. Yes, that's really it.

Another 'graag' (it means approximately "gladly", a way of accepting, or showing pleasure)
say [kraahk] but "ch" BOTH the "K's".

Enough fun for the back of your tongue.

LBR (love being right:) as I have learned it Chumus is [HUM-us] more correctly the H is ch as in Bach. FMPOV (from my point of view) [hoe-MOOSE] sounds silly.

And I speak Dutch (poorly: maar wil ik graag een gesprek hebben) and [HOW-duh} is how it is, again more correctly the H is ch as in Bach.

None of them bother me, the older I am the more amuseder I get.

How did I lose weight in Netherland, eating ruggesbrod, butter and cheese or salami for breakfast daily? Maybe it was the koffie.

Parking is an eternal problem. I have a hip, green and safe solution -- take the Bib Blue Bus. Several routes pass nearby, The Pico Bus, The Lincoln Bus, The Ocean Park Bus, The Santa Monica Bus and the along-the-ocean to Venice Bus. If you go Metro you an choose from the Venice, Santa Monica or Wilshire Buses.

(These are resp, respectively: BBB 7, 3, 8, 1, 2 and Metro 33/333, 4/704 and 720/(20 late-night] - for your convenience the Metro buses are all 24 hour.)

I lived in Holland and after dinner the buses were full of well-scrubbed dressed people out to party. I take the bus and have found it safe. Yes it takes longer. And you never get a ticket. It's a hoot. I always carry a camera with me. One more bonus, you get a "free" glass of wine! (compared to driving costs). The laughs that come with it are N/C.