Thanks everyone!  I will give them a try.

I think that 110 is used all over North America, including Mexico, right?  So any units sold in Canada or Mexico have 110 volts, so they work just fine i the US...mine works great sold from Canada! 

The metric thing could be confusing, if the recipes weren't done by weight and instead by measuring.  Recipes in the US are done my measurements, mostly, so cup, tablespoon, teaspoon, etc.  Using the Thermomix with Metric recipes is just as easy, if not easier, because of the integrated scale.  I don't see the problem with just using regular English measure recipes in the Thermomix, if you have no problem with measuring like you do normally.  Takes away one advantage of the machine, but still has all the other advantages.

Thanks, Judy, I'll look for those posts.  I think that Frozzie may be right, that I used the wrong potatoes and then did a number of things that gave me the gluey mess, possibly including overmixing at the end.  It was a number of mistakes, ending in wall paste 

Frozzie - Thank you for the suggestions!  I will look at those recipes and see what we can make this week.  I am looking forward to some of the dips and cooling recipes for the summer.  It's going to be hot this week so I might go for some of those to cool off! 

And yes, pregnant with a toddler at your feet while cooking on the stove is a challenging and dangerous pursuit.  I can't open my oven without hearing little feet behind me.  I've been worried about my daughter get burned or me tripping over her with something hot in my hands.  This is another reason I thought the Thermomix would be a good idea. 

Frozzie, I think you're right about the potatoes, thank you.  I think I may have used ones better for roasting than mashing, hence the glue.  I also don't think the fruit was ripe enough, so that makes a lot of sense.  These are good things to remember for next time.  

I guess scared is not the right word.  I am actually really good in the kitchen, using pots, pans and the oven.  But I have a 19 month old daughter and am 8 months pregnant now, and I don't have the time or energy to cook like I used to.  I really had a good time this weekend seeing what I could make with the Thermomix, but I don't want to go through blown batches of food (i.e. glue mashed potatoes).  

Are there some favorite recipes that you feel are easy but taste great?  I would like to get some experience using the cooking feature successfully and leave the real experimenting for next year when things slow down and I have to time to play a little.  I don't expect perfect results.  Thank you!  

Thank you everyone!!!  I have already made a few things, with varying success.  Pizza dough was beautiful, but when baked was a little tough.  I plan to work on that one, because we order pizza regularly and would love to make healthier versions.  I tried to make whipped potatoes from My Way of Cooking, but the butterfly kept getting knocked off.  So, I cut the pieces smaller and tried to make the rest of the recipe, but it turned into something more like glue than potatoes.  So need to work on that.  

Drinks have been more successful.  Made some smoothies and pina colada over the weekend, was good, and the consistency was perfect.  Made some very nice fresh tomato salsa, which when spooned onto grilled baguette, made the best bruschetta my husband said he'd ever had.  

Mango ice cream from MWOC was ok, but wasn't very flavorful.  But I can't wait to try chocolate and vanilla.  

So, the machine got a lot of use this weekend and I really like it.  I need to jump in and make some soup or some other stuff in the varoma, but I'm a bit scared to cook with it.