http://www.viewpoints.com/aboutme/EcoMargaret Tue, 04 Dec 2007 20:36:28 GMT Reviews by EcoMargaret http://www.viewpoints.com/Euro-Pro-TO284-1200-Watts-Toaster-Oven-without-Convection-review-44551 This toaster oven can toast, bake, broil, and keep food warm. Since I have a small family, it is great to have an appliance that can substitute for so many oven functions for small batches. It also functions reliably, reducing the likelihood of burnt or underdone toast.  It is larger than our previous toaster oven, so it doesn't fit on the kitchen counter in the space available. Its outer dimensions are 18" x 10" by 9". On the other hand, it has 2 racks, so I can cook twice as much food as I could in the old one. In addition to the racks, it also comes with a baking tray that can slide into one of the slots for the upper or lower tray. The toaster oven has a built in timer, so you can set the timer when you're baking or broiling, and it turns itself off at the end of the cooking time. Toasting is also controlled by the timer, with a dark toast icon around 10 minutes and a light toast icon around 2 minutes. I've found that we need to turn the timer past the dark toast icon and... Tue, 04 Dec 2007 20:36:28 GMT http://www.viewpoints.com/Euro-Pro-TO284-1200-Watts-Toaster-Oven-without-Convection-review-44551 EcoMargaret 5 http://www.viewpoints.com/S-M-NuTec-Pill-Pockets-review-f99d4 Our 12 year old cat was diagnosed with hyperthyroidism, which means daily pills for the rest of his life, may it be many years. I hate having to force any of our cats to take medicine, but he needs it. After trying a variety of strategies, I tried the chicken flavored Pill Pockets, since he's not supposed to have fish and the other "cat" flavor is salmon. The pocket is a cylindrical capsule that can be squished around the pill. Very easy, very neat. Instead of a sugar coating, a chicken coating. For a couple months, it was great. The cat would beg for his evening "treat". Then he started chewing on the treat and discovered the bitter tasting pill in th middle. Now he won't touch them, even if I show him the treat is empty.  But I still highly recommend Pill Pockets, especially if your pet (they also come in a wider variety of flavors and a larger size for dogs) is likely to just gulp the treat. I also heard the recommendation to give the empty Pill Pockets to kittens, to... Tue, 20 Nov 2007 16:56:18 GMT http://www.viewpoints.com/S-M-NuTec-Pill-Pockets-review-f99d4 EcoMargaret 5 http://www.viewpoints.com/DirectBuy-com-Discount-Home-Products-review-5344 My spouse and I are planning to renovate our kitchen, so I've been doing a great deal of information gathering online. I was very excited when I looked at the website for DirectBuy.com. But you have to go to an open house in one of their showrooms, in order to find out full details about the service It is easy to request and to receive a printed invitation to an open house, but they also restrict attendance only to the invited person and their spouse, and you both have to come together. No uninvited friends, relations, or children. They say it is because they don't want to work with dealers or middlemen, in order to keep their prices low and as part of their arrangement with their suppliers. So I requested an invitation, scheduled an appointment, and read through their brochure. Being unclear about some of the details, I called to get more information. When asking for more details about the stores, I was told that everything would be explained at the open house. I also asked if we... Tue, 20 Nov 2007 16:26:17 GMT http://www.viewpoints.com/DirectBuy-com-Discount-Home-Products-review-5344 EcoMargaret 2