[Mike Nolan]

Commercial kitchens often have a foot-pedal control for water, but I don't think I've ever seen a home kitchen with one. I tend to prefer kitchen faucets where the faucet is a pull-out sprayer, I don't think they make a motion-sensing version of that.

[Mike Nolan]

After butter has been frozen, it doesn't seem like it sheets as well, which is important when making things like puff pastry and pie dough. Otherwise, I see no problems freezing it. I have some in the freezer as well, I just don't use it for pastry.

$2.99/pound for butter was the budget brands price here for a while, but it seems to be creeping up. I still see it below that as a sale item from time to time.

[Mike Nolan]

I've never heard of a health reason to avoid baking powder what's in it you have to avoid? Even the aluminum-free ones?

[Mike Nolan]

I made Vienna Bread on Monday.

[Mike Nolan]

Haven't tried it, but here's a recipe that got ported over from the KAF BC:

Sweet Potato Pie by granny

[Mike Nolan]

We seldom use the grill or griddle on our 48" dual fuel range, but I have never regretted for a moment buying the big range hood. If you fry, if you have things spill on the oven floor, if you reduce large pots of liquids (like stocks), a high powered vented fan will be very useful.

And, no, they're not cheap.

[Mike Nolan]

My instructor at pastry school said that she preferred the cultured/European butters at the table, but in the kitchen she tended to use ordinary sweet-cream butter, with one exception. She thought the cultured/European butter made better tasting croissants so she recommended using it in laminated doughs. She didn't think it made much difference in pie crusts, and having done some testing with both Pflugra and Kerrygold, I agree with her.

The percentage of fat is a function of how heavily the butter is pressed after it has been churned. Obviously, the more liquid (mostly water) they press out, the higher the butterfat. Of course, this reduces the yield somewhat, so it affects the price.

Another option is to make your own cultured butter, which has other advantages, as you also get creme fraiche and true buttermilk. (The challenge is coming up with a culture innoculant.)

[Mike Nolan]

I'm not fond of most black bean dishes, either. My wife likes black bean dishes, but only if they're made without garlic. I've made a garlic-free black bean soup for her a few times, but to me it still tastes like black beans.

I do like the black bean meatloaf recipe I developed a while back.

[Mike Nolan]

My photos of the progression of the eclipse came out pretty good, but not the shots at totality, I probably needed to change some camera settings after taking off the solar filter. I got one that appears to show some of the diamond ring. Oh well, it was still exciting to experience it, and unless I travel it's likely the only total solar eclipse I'll ever witness, certainly the only one that will pass directly over my house. And there are likely going to be millions of shots of the total eclipse posted on the Internet within the next few days.

• This reply was modified 7 years, 3 months ago by Mike Nolan.

[Mike Nolan]

Totality was pretty exciting, a little cloudy/hazy but we could see corona and the diamond ring, possibly even Bailey's Beads. Watching the darkened sky progress from west to east was fascinating.

[Mike Nolan]

The eclipse has started, I've got my first shot with just a small nibble out of the sun. It's still a bit hazy but it looks like it may actually clear up somewhat as the eclipse progresses.

My wife says the eclipse cookies are a big hit.

[Mike Nolan]

It's a little hazy here, the start of the eclipse is in about 8 minutes, not sure how much it will clear up by totality, which is at about 1:08 PM.

:fingers crossed:

[Mike Nolan]

Honey is a combination of several sugars, mostly fructose and glucose, but not in the same ratio as table sugar (sucrose.) The more glucose there is in honey, the more it is prone to crystallize.

Fructose has a sweetness index a bit higher than sucrose, glucose is a bit lower than sucrose, so most sources will say that pound for pound sugar and honey have the same amount of sweetness. A honey that is high in fructose will taste just a bit sweeter, though.

Honey is denser than sucrose, which is why it has slightly more calories by dry measure, 64 calories/tablespoon compared to 48 calories/tablespoon for sugar. But by weight, honey is not quite as caloric, 304 calories per 100 grams, as compared to 387 for sucrose. (However, some sources report the caloric numbers differently, and there's an inconsistency in them that I haven't reconciled, that's a project for another day and thread.)

Honey is also about 17% water, which may or may not impact a recipe.

For a small amount like a tablespoon of honey, I'd just take out a tablespoon of sugar, I don't know that I'd bother adjusting the amount of water.

[Mike Nolan]

Here are some pictures of the assembled cookies. I added a link to the sugar cookie recipe we used to the lead post in this thread.

[Mike Nolan]

My wife (a certified HS math teacher) completely agrees with her. She has a 'Math is Fun' T-shirt that she got at a regional math conference.

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