Sean

speechless.

It looks like you're having an epic trip. When I was in Barcelona 3 years ago I was in really bad shape and I was hopped up on so many pain meds that I didn't do anything but sleep and work. These pictures make me so sad thinking of what could have been. Steven, you deserve it. I am moving my offices this week end and you ain't missing anything. Just do me a favor and thank Dr Ryan for being such a good customer in Hyde Park. We appreciate it. Regards, Sean

I'm making a casserole. A layer af mashed potatoes on the bottom, then a layer of cornbread sausage dressing, next is the turkey meat soaked in gravy, then the herbed bread dressing, next the candied butternut squash and topped with creamed spinach and bread crumbs. I bake it in a 9X13 pan and then serve with cranberry sauce. The only thing is that I have house guests coming this weekend and some of them don't eat pork so I'll probobly do 2 different casseroles, one larger with the sausage dressing and a smaller one without.

Well I started with an Edge Pro and moved to waterstones and I am much happier free handing with stones. You have an ideal knife for waterstones and I'm sure you'll be happy with the results.

It isn't too difficult. Use a marker to paint the bevel and that will show you where you are and just take it slow. Also one thing I love about Takedas is that the kiriuchi (sp?) finish hides a lot of sharpening mistakes. It's a lot more forgiving of scratches than a mirror finished Yanigiba or Nenox.

BTW: I get my sharpening supplies from Japanese Knife Sharpening http://www.japaneseknifesharpeningstore.com/category-s/27.htm. The diamond spray and chromium powder are excellent. I would also highly recommend the rock hard felt blocks for deburring. The block combined with a diamond spray loaded felt pad were a complete revelation for me to get rid of not only the burr but the wire edge as well.

Takedas are 7 degrees per side. I have a Takeda funayuki-bocho and it is a fantastic knife. I typically start at 1000 and then go to 6000 and then 10,000. I finish on a diamond spray loaded felt strop and then a Cromium powder loaded leather strop. I would not use an Edge Pro Apex because it won't go low enough, angle wise. If you really want to use the Edge Pro you would need to put a shim under the knife in order to produce a low enough angle. Sean

I have a 30 inch side by side and it doesn't make me very happy. The freezer is just a sliver and with the icemaker/water set up I lose even more interior volume. But truthfully, I could live with that freezer because I don't like cooking out of the freezer so it is less important to me. What I really don't like is the narrowness of the fridge. I guess I would gladly go for the French Door Freezer on Bottom option if I was buying a fridge today.

I used an Edge Pro for a few years and got excellent results. Recently I have transitioned to freehand and have acheived equal or better results and I enjoy it more. I have never personally used an electric sharpener but I have heard that the Chef's Choice line is the best and can do a decent job. Chad Ward discusses them in his book "An Edge in the Kitchen", some of which is posted on Egullet. I would not use them on Japanese knives with high Rc but I would try it on Chicago Cutlery, Henckels, Wusthoff etc.

My advice would be to skim the cream and taste the remaing milk. Most likely it is between 1/2% and 1% depending on the time it has sat and the percentage of butterfat you started with from the cow. If you like the mouth-feel and body of the milk I would not try to determine how close it is to 2% because that is irrelevant. If it is too thin than you can either drink it anyways and eventually you may come to like it or add some fat back as said before (many people switch to lower fat milks because of health concerns and don't like it at first but then become accustomed to it think the higher fats are too rich). Half and Half is officially between 10.6% and 18% but almost all commercially sold half and half will be as close as possible to the 10.6% so what most people are accustomed to is roughly 11%. I would mix the skimmed cream at 1 part cream to 5 parts milk and taste.