Karen, have you tried it with 1/2 water, 1/2 milk, no parmesan and just a dob of butter at the end?  Tastes just like 'ordinary' mash then.

Hi and welcome Luisa.  You have the added bonus of having relatives who already own one so, apart from this forum, you can get advice from them as well.  You will not just let it sit on your bench gathering dust because, apart from the fact that you will use it, you had to work very hard on your DH to get the machine in the first place and you will be determined to prove to him it was worth the money.  Men seem to be interested in it as well so perhaps you can do some recipes together and with a bit of luck, he may take over the task of cooking meals for you It takes a while to build up confidence but believe me, once you have that confidence (with a few disasters thrown in) you will wonder why you ever doubted buying it.  Good luck and be sure to keep us informed of how you are going and what you are cooking. Read as much as you can from this forum and you will begin to get excited I am sure.

Hope other half survived

Good point Amanda, there isn't the same amount of fat under the rind nowadays when I think about it so that has to be the problem.

I printed some bread recipes from the English TMX site last night - thought I'd give them a go, particularly the bread rolls which I would love to be able to do for when we have visitors.  We eat more rolls than actual bread in this house, DH doesn't like sandwiches for lunch or toast for breakfast, strange fellow. I probably toast more bread than eating it fresh (the bought variety) so I usually pick up day-old bread from Foodland (best brands) for $1.50 a loaf.  Don't believe in buying fresh bread just for making toast. I have had success with the buttermilk bread from the everyday cook book but it doesn't stay fresh for long and I end up freezing it for toast anyway. Still will try those fancy little things Bron makes one day too.

Well, it would work Bron but you would be kept busy unless you taught the girls to make it themselves.  Do they speak English, surely they learn it in school over there.

Mi dispiace JD, ci no parlo italiano bene e non scrivo ingelese bene anche. 

Sorry JD, don't speak Italian well here and don't write English well also.   

I was having more luck with your French than with your Italian - learnt it at high school and loved it.  My Dad was so proud of me at the time but it is useful for picking up the odd word here and there and guess it wouldn't take long to re-learn if an effort was made.  Have no plans for an overseas trip though so don't really need it.