[Mike Nolan]

One item that I would not be without in a kitchen these days is an instant hot water tap. It's great for making tea or any dish or task that calls for boiling water, the water that comes out of the tap is at 185 degrees. (The only downside is that they wear out, we've replaced the one in the kitchen 3-4 times in 20 years, hard water might make that worse.)

We put a whole house filter in our house, a 5 micron particulate filter and an activated charcoal one, but we're on city water. Every time the plumbing folks asked us about a water softener, I told them: I don't add chemicals to water, I take them out!

There are whole house filters specifically designed for high iron (well) water.

We found out the hard way a couple of years ago that your water heater has to have an anode element designed for the chemistry of your water. The city changed its water chemistry a bit, and the hot water heater needed a different anode. We wound up replacing the basement dishwasher and then the input valve on the replacement unit several times before we figured that out, because there was this sludge that was collecting in the valve. It also caused at least one water heater replacement. Between appliance replacements and plumbing bills (plus $100 to have the state lab test our water, which was when we figured out the real problem), we probably spent more than $2000.

[Mike Nolan]

We have two sinks in our kitchen, one on the north wall and one on the center island. The original plan was to put in a standalone commercial pot sink (really deep, for washing things like stock pots), but that ran into aesthetic issues. But we did find an especially large/deep sink at a homebuilder show, made in Canada by Kindred. That was 20 years ago, since then US manufacturers are making bigger/deeper stainless steel sinks.

I recently read an article about a chef who designed the kitchen in his new restaurant around the 'pit' (the place where dirty dishes are taken and washed.)

[Mike Nolan]

Sounds like you may need to avoid the double-acting baking powders, because it appears those all use phosphorus, but a mixture of sodium bicarbonate and cream of tartar might be OK on your diet. Let us know if you find anything out.

[Mike Nolan]

We have a Moen and a Price-Pfister pull-out style faucet in our two kitchen sinks. Of the two, I think the cheaper Price-Pfister might actually work better.

Both are replacements for the original Kohler faucets we put in, both of which had separate hose sprayers that just didn't work well for us.

I've not spent a lot of time working in commercial kitchens, mostly when taking classes, but I kind of like the spring-loaded sprayers I've used there. They're not very pretty, though.

[Mike Nolan]

It strikes me as sort of a cross between a pie crust and a blitz puff pastry.

Kenji Lopez-Alt more or less disproved the idea that you can't get a flaky piecrust if you work the butter into small pieces, but his method requires some discipline. (Most good ideas do.)

The real key with piecrust is not to overwork it once the water has been added, that'll lead to a tough and definitely NOT flaky piecrust.

Whole wheat pastry flour is the only pastry flour I can find locally.

[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, 10 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.

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