I'm with you guys - I don't want anyone near me in my kitchen when I'm cooking or actively baking. (While something is in the oven and I'm not working they can come in). My only pets are tropical fish, but that's just because I'm allergic to cats. I enjoy both cooking and baking, but I always like to have baked goods around so I might prefer baking. However, I kind of like to experiment with my baked goods. That isn't always such a good idea - last time I made bread it overflowed and ended up all over the counter! The final product was good, though. I can vouch for the Marsala Tiramisu recipe attached to that article. I suppose it combines both cooking and baking for me, and it's fun to make. I make it for my husband's birthday every year (the first time was when it showed up in my Mom's Bon Appetit magazine back in the mid 90's - he was my boyfriend then). I always bake something to use in lieu of the store bought champagne biscuits. One year I made homemade lady fingers, which was quite the chore. Now that I have a decent mixer and Silpats, I might try again. I usually end up making a sponge cake and set it up in a springform pan, which makes the tiramisu sliceable like a cake. It is a very yummy recipe, and very good with lots of bittersweet chocolate shavings on top in lieu of the cocoa powder.

Parma, It was me. Here is the article: How to Pick the Best Size Chandelier for your Room By Susan Welch Heeney, ASID, Decorating Studio, LLC Whether you are selecting a chandelier or light fixture for your Dining Room or Foyer/Entry Hall, it can be confusing to decide on which size is best. Then, once you determine the correct size of light fixture, how do you determine at what height to hang it? Its really not too hard if you follow some tips that Interior Designers and Decorators use when selecting and handing chandeliers. Visual Weight of the Chandelier for a Dining Room Before following the guidelines below, keep in mind that the style and heaviness of the light fixture will affect what size you need to go with. A visually heavy chandelier can go more towards a smaller diameter. A visually light chandelier can be a little wider in diameter. ChandelierSize Over the Dining Room Table One universally correct formula for determining the correct size light fixture for the Dining Room is to go with a fixture that has a diameter that is half the diameter (or width) of the tabletop. For instance, if the Dining Room table is a rectangle of 48" wide x 72" long, a chandelier that is approximately 24" (half of the 48" width of the table) in diameter would look fabulous. If the table is a 60" round diameter, a 30" diameter chandelier would be appropriate. If you want to hang two chandeliers over an exceptionally long dinging room table (for example a table that is approximately 54" wide x 120" long), then if you select chandeliers that are 1/3 the width of the table and hang them centered on each end of the table that would be correct. Therefore each chandelier would be approximately 18" in diameter. The height of the actual chandelier should be determined on the ceiling height of the room. Many Designers follow the rule of allowing 2 ½"  3" for each foot of a rooms height. Using this calculation, a room that has an 8 ceiling can use a chandelier that is approximately 20" to 24" in height. If the ceiling is 10 feet high, than a light fixture that is 25" to 30" would look more appropriate. The chandelier should be hung centered over the table (unless you are installing more than 1 fixture over the table) and the bottom of the light fixture should be about 30" above the table top. Dining Room chandeliers should always have a dimmer switch so that you can use the Dining Room for a multiple of activities from romantic dinners to a study area for the kids. Chandelier Size for a Foyer or Entry Hall When you donÂt have a table to help you determine the width of the chandelier you need for a room, you base the size on the overall room dimensions. One easy favorite that rarely fails is to add the width and length of the room together in feet and convert that figure to inches to come up with the correct width of the chandelier. For example, if an Entry Hall is only 8 x 6Â, you would add 8 + 6 together which equals 14, but instead of 14 feet, it would indicate that a 14" diameter chandelier would work best. If a room is larger, say 10 x 18Â, you would figure the diameter of the chandelier by the following formula: 10 + 18 = 28 (Therefore, a 28" diameter chandelier would fit the room proportionately.) It makes sense that the higher the ceiling the taller the chandelier should be so that it will look balanced in the room. Many Designers follow the rule of allowing 2 ½"  3" for each foot of a rooms height. Using this calculation, a room that has an 8 ceiling can use a chandelier that is approximately 20" to 24" in height. If the ceiling is 10 feet high, than a light fixture that is 25" to 30" would look more appropriate. The chandelier in a Foyer or Entry Hall should be hung centered in the room with the bottom of the fixture no lower than 7' from the floor. 7' is the absolutel minimum to allow for head clearance. If you have a tall ceiling you should follow a rule of thumb of at least 7' 6" from the floor to the bottom of the light fixture. For more information and practical help on decorating, visit DecoratingStudio.com. All Rights Reserved, Copyright @ 2005, Decorating Studio, LLC Reprints are allowed as long as article, with by line and links to Decorating Studio at top and bottom of article are left intact.

I'm a lefty, in my current kitchen (haven't moved into the new one yet), I've always prepped on the left hand side of the sink or to the left of the range. I'd never thought about this until this thread. It's just where the available space was. In the new one, other reasons drove the layout in a way that I'll be prepping to the left of the sink again. I hold the knife in my left hand and I guess that means I could scrape veggies into a colander in the sink with the same hand. When washing veggies, I'll grab the colander with my right, switch hands and drip water over the countertop to transfer the food into a pot, bowl or cutting board. Now that I'm thinking about it, if I were prepping to the right of the sink, it might drive me nuts and I'd teeter the cutting board on the edge of the counter to be on the left of the sink. I don't know if it's because I'm a lefty or because I'm used to it and don't like to learn new tricks.

Doc--seriously??? It's a religion issue? Huh. Never heard of that. My old kitchen was DW left of sink. Being very right-handed, I was used to that directional movement and felt it made ergonomic sense. Then, while working my new kitchen layout, the DW would have needed to be on the right. I was worried, but read lots of posts here saying that neither placement is "correct" and that you easily get used to whichever side yours is on. True. It took me about two weeks to not feel awkward while loading the DW in my new kitchen. *Caveat. I have never used hand washing as the way to clean the majority of my dishes. Growing up I had a DW and have had one in every residence since college. My hands have always been sensitive to water which felt hot enough to come remotely close to cleaning dishes well, and I dislike standing at the sink for so long being wet. Isn't that what a DW is for?