Ok so i have gotten all kinds of great info from this place and am sooo not afraid to ask questions... thanks to this board i know what a "ramekin" is!

What makes a blender suck? I mean what entails a sucky crockpot? I'm about to buy a blender,a food processor and a crockpot. I don't want to break the bank, but i'm willing to spend for quality. What makes a ______(insert aforementioned item here) BAD or GOOD?? and which ones do you reccomend??? LET ME KNOW

A blender blends. I like the heavy glass container. Any brand will do if budjet is a concern. Crock pots suck if the crock does not come out of it. You need to be able to take the crock out so you can wash it. I hate the crock pots with the crock that won't come out. Any brand will do.

With crock pots and food processors, I have found that if you just spend that little bit more, you're golden. The 20 buck FP you can get at Wal-Mart works ok. Go up to the 40-50 buck ones, and you're going to have more luck on a consistent basis with it. Personally, I have the Kitchenaid big food processor because we had it on our registry and now I probably could never go back, but that's really the most expensive way to go and is definitely a luxury, not a necessity. As for the crock pot, my biggest recommendation is to either find one that has a meat thermometer involved or one that has more than high and low.

I had a crock pot that didn't have high med and low, but 4 hrs, 6 hrs, 8 hrs, and 10 hrs -- STAY AWAY FROM THIS ONE! It runs so hot that it eventually melted the handle on the lid and I HAD to get a new one. Prior to that it overcooked everything I made. I cooked everything at 10 hours and it rarely took more than 4 to cook to completion.

I have a KitchenAid 7C food processor that I love.
A Magic Bullet for smoothies, and old old Vitamix for everything else
Crock pots I have 2 an oblong one and a smaller round one, both with the crock that is removable so it can be washed.
love gadgets which make my life easier.

I have a crockpot with a removable crock too. The crock on mine goes from crockpot to dutch oven, and can be used on the stove too. I like multi-purpose stuff since I have a small kitchen. The plug on mine is removable also, which helps for storage. I have a $20 blender I got for our wedding years ago, and have never had an issue with it. The food processor I use almost daily cost about $50, and as long as I don't overload it it works like a charm.

When I buy new appliances, I check out consumer reporting websites. They'll usually list the best bargain purchase, mid-range purchase, and splurge. They'll also list the pro's and con's of each, so you can see if there are any deal breakers for you.

I had a Black & Decker blender for years, glass carafe, ice crush feature, blended great. Disassembled for cleaning, which I thought was great too until I started using it for smoothies and realized it had to be taken apart and cleaned every time... Washing it from the inside didn't get the gunk that got around the gasket at the bottom of. Problem with disassembling it frequently was that it started to leak. For the first few years of ownership I used it very seldom, when I started using it almost daily it lasted about three months before it was almost impossible to put it back together without leaks. I have this Kitchenaid one now: Kitchenaid blender. It doesn't come apart to clean, but it very cleanable - can run in the dishwasher. I use a baby bottle washing sponge to wash mine daily. The bottom is flat and there are no grooves or indentations where gunk can build up. I have the polycarbonate carafe and have had no problem. We've had it for about six months now and it gets used sometimes three times per day as I always drink a smoothie for breakfast and often for snack & DH makes smoothies occasionally as well. Love it. I did get it cheaper than the price you see on Amazon, found it on sale. It comes in other colors too, and they are sometimes on better sales if you don't care about color.

I had a magic bullet for smoothies originally and burned it up after six weeks of daily use. Loved the functionality of it, though...

For blenders, Vitamix is a great brand. There are lots of the old stainless steel ones floating around on EBay. That's where I bought mine and I love it! New ones are pretty expensive and they don't have the stainless steel carafe anymore. In order to clean it, you just put in a bit of water and a tiny bit of soap and let it spin away. Lots of vendors sell replacement carafes, etc on EBay, too. Vitamixes will basically liquefy almost anything and if you let it go a bit longer, it will heat things up. For instance, you can put in some veggies and water and let it go until you have a soup. They are pretty noisy, though, and my family does not like when I use it.

Good luck!

I bought the Oster Beehive blender last year based on this page of reviews:
www.consumersearch.com/blenders
I have been quite happy with it. But read the directions about how to do hot liquids before you try it the first time. It was only a minor explosion, but it did scare us!

Never owned a crockpot.

I got a Cuisinart for my first wedding, about 20 years ago, and I'm still using it! There's a bit I have to finagle with to keep it running, but they don't make parts for it anymore, so I can't replace it. When the finagling quits working, I'll probably buy another Cuisinart. But let us know what you decide, maybe I'll go with whatever you get!

The last crock pot I bought has a removable pot and the fasten down lid, so if you need to take it somewhere the lid stays on tight and prevents spills. I love that.

I also have a small cp with removable crock. I love it too. Great for just 2 or 3 chic breasts or pork chops or what ever. Since our kids are gone and it's just DH and I, I'm going to get another small one, I like to bake my potatoes all day in them. One for meat, one for taters and veggies.

Another vote for Vitamix, it's the best! My mom has one from 30 years ago and it got a new life when she bought the plastic container for it. I have a newish one, noisy but fantastic.

Crock pots all seem to work equally well, I have 4 at work and have owned 3 myself. I like the one I have now, it sets for 4,6,8,12 hours and does it well.

I chop all my veggies by hand so have never had a food processor.

Good luck with the buying