Alright folks. I need your help here. See, I live in an apartment with very little storage space in the kitchen.

Thanks to my parents and a timely trip to Ikea, a butcher’s block and a metal shelf have given us a little more room to stash our kitchen loot.

But as you can see, we’re not exactly swimming in space, especially when food prep is going on. (By the way, that’s One-Skillet Pasta Quattro Formaggi in the works, recipe forthcoming.)

My spice collection alone takes up the entire top section of the grid we built to serve as our ‘pantry.’

In fact, we had to move our microwave, mugs, tea supplies and coffee maker into the dining room because there’s simply no more room in the kitchen.

I’m a firm believer in non-gadgetry. Okay, maybe a semi-firm believer. But I really don’t want to clutter up my kitchen with appliances and kitchen fad gadgets I don’t use. That’s why the lazy Susan had to go. That’s why the George Foreman had to go. I simply didn’t use them.

However, I’ve been dreaming. And this dream includes a beautiful vision of a food processor (Cuisinart or KitchenAid). I’ve been going back and forth in my mind–will I use it enough to make it worth the space? Here are the things I would probably use it for: making Thai curry pastes; making Indian curry pastes; throwing together a pie crust with a few pulses; making wet rubs to slather on meat; making tapenades; making pesto.

Now I have done almost all these things either by hand or with a combination of knives, my mortar and pestle, and my blender. But see, this one machine would do it all! And–I think–save me time.

I really don’t know. I really just don’t know. I really, really, just don’t know (Monty Python, anyone?).

So I’m reaching out to you. I know I count many amazing (and some professional) cooks among my readers and friends, so please tell me: do you own a food processor? How often do you use it? Do I need one?

I really can’t make up my mind.

Love,

Helplessly Indecisive in the Kitchen (Chicago, IL)