A couple of week ago I got a Bella Cucina Rocket Blender at Macy's. It was on sale for $20 and they had a $10 rebate - so, if when I get the rebate check, I'd only have paid $12 - I bought it at the store so there were no shipping charges. I've only used it a few times, so I'm not going to review it yet. It's working fine, but I've read that it doesn't have much on the way of longevity - at least for regular smoothie makers, which I'm not.

Anyway, now that I have the little thing I'm motivated to make smoothies - at least once in a while. The first few recipes I tried underwhelmed me, but this recipe from allrecipes.com was great. I did increase the amount of strawberries it called for, but I think how many you use will be very dependent on the size of your strawberries. Similarly, how much sugar you use will depend on the sweetness of your strawberries. The ones I used were medium to small (and super sweet). Here's my adapted recipe:

• 6 ice cubes
• 8-12 strawberries, hulled
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 cup vanilla yogurt
• 2-3 Tbsp. sugar

Crush the ice. Add the rest of the ingredients and blend until it's all combined.

Note: If you are using a smoothie maker like mine, all the ingredients will fill the large mixing glass to the top. I still was able to get them blended, but if you are concerned, you can mix it in two batches (just divide the recipe above by 2).