MSRadell

The way Bio-Fuels are being approached in the United States is plain stupid! We're using corn kernels to make ethanol to fuel our cars, the kernels are only about 5% of the total plant. Using sugarcane like Brazil does makes much more sense since the entire plant is used. Brazil itself used very little sugarcane domestically so utilizing it to make fuel helped prices their domestic economy and raised export prices. Both of these were good for their economy. The United States uses much of its corn for animal feed or other products that are utilized domestically thus diverting corn for another use only hurts prices for their consumers. Soybeans use for Bio-Diesel is much the same especially in regards to only using a small portion of the plant. The fuels being approached like they are being in the United States only hurts our overall economy. Granted it's a benefit to a few small sectors but it's detrimental to the economy as a whole. We need to pursue other sources of energy that we have a large quantities (Coal and potentially Nuclear) as well as other renewable sources such as Solar, Hydro, Wind and Geothermal in order to ensure our economy remains strong.

The stuff actually tastes pretty good. After reading the original post I ordered a a 3 pack to try. I've tried it on baked potatoes and green beans and it tasted very good on both. There isn't a whole lot of difference between the three flavors IMHO except for the slight taste of pepper. It doesn't have an artificial flavor or smell like Bacos do which is a surprise considering they are kosher! While not good for everything I can see some dishes that I'll be using it for.

I actually meant PepperGun, I just misquoted myself since I've recently ordered the PepperStick. You are correct, the "Gun" is the only one handed grinder they make and it works great!

There is one good one handed grinder that I found, it's the Unicorn PepperStick. It's made by the same company that makes the Magnum which is one of the top rated pepper mills mentioned in another thread. I find it quite easy to use one handed and the grind is adjustable. Here's a link to the web site: Unicorn Webpage

I definitely agree with using lemon juice (or a white wine) to deglaze the pan and also use a non-teflon pan. Another idea to give a little more depth of flavor would be to use a variety of wild mushrooms instead of the button mushrooms or to just use Portobello mushrooms. Any of these would certainly provide a little more flavor. Your dish looks like a good start but needs some refinement.

Your choice depends partly on how often you plan to use it and how carefully you are while maintaining it. Cast iron is the obvious choice if you plan on using it a lot, if it's seasoned and cleaned correctly it will be almost nonstick and you won't have to worry about chipping the nonstick surface. The cast iron also disperses and holds heat better. On the other hand a nonstick surface may be easier for infrequent use and will be easy to clean by everyone while requiring less care. I don't know how much trouble your burner arrangement will be but good sized electric griddles can be purchased for a reasonable price and may be a better option for you. I have a cast iron griddle that I've had for a long time, I use it weekly and it still looks new and performs better than new.

We actually just completed changing out our kitchen sink. When we remodeled a few years ago we too thought that a large single sink would be good so that's what we installed. We found over time that many times we wanted a second sink to run water into, drain something into, etc. This was despite the fact that we had a small prep sink elsewhere in the kitchen. We ended up replacing the sink with a double sink that has one large and one small bowl. We also ended up putting a garbage disposal on each side. That way we have a disposal available for items that come out of large pots and pans while we clean them and also have one available for small items in the other sink. We haven't been using this setup very long yet but so far we love it! Be sure to weigh all your options and make the correct decision upfront. We found that changing it is quite a project due to having to modify the countertop, plumbing and electrical connections!