OPINIONS?: Food processors

It has come to my attention, mostly through the subtle but determined prodding from Kayte, that I need a food processor. Plus there are those messy memories of whizzing about ten cups of my Whisk Wednesdays Leek & Potato Soup in my tiny food chopper to kind of nudge me in the direction of the appliance aisle at Target.

With a food processor, I'll be able to make homemade salsa, which is something my family would like me to do, because we can never find one that is tomatoey or jalapeno peppery enough for us. I could also make a pie crust, which would allow me to bake a Summer Fruit Galette from the Dorie Greenspan book Kayte peer-pressured me into buying. If you want to see why I should bake a galette, check out the pics from these Tuesdays with Dorie bakers and Whisk Wednesdays buddies: Kayte's site is Grandma's Kitchen Table and Natashya's is called Living in the Kitchen with Puppies. Sara's blog is The Wine-Maker's Wife and then there's Shari, our fearless Whisk Wednesdays leader, over at Whisk: a food blog.

Their photos will make you drool, so please cover your keyboard before clicking over.

Now can you see why I need a food processor? Because I am not a foodie and I can't even make the meager claim that I play one on TV. I don't have the mad skills necessary to "cut in" a pie crust by hand, and truthfully, I'm not even completely sure what that means. I do have a curvy thing with a handle that my mother told me was a "pastry cutter," but she's been using a food processor to make her fabulous pie crusts since I was about ten, so it could be a really small, handle-less sidewalk edger, for all she and I may know.

So anyhoo, I'm looking for a food processor and I can spend less than $40 on it. Does anyone have any recommendations?

You can post your opinions in the comments section or email them to me InsomniMom @ hotmail.com