The discussion reminds me of a story from my grad school days. One of the professors was an Asian fellow named Dr. Hu. When he first introduced himself he pronounced his name "Dr. Hugh", and that was how I subsequently referred to him. One day when talking about him with several of the other students, I was asked why I said his name that way since everyone else pronounced his name "Dr. Who". When I replied that that was how he himself pronounced his name so it had to be correct, I was informed that he only said it that way because of his accent. I thought this was a very funny statement but the other student was in earnest, the implication being that since I do not speak with a Chinese accent I should say the name the right way, "Dr. Hu". To this day, it still makes me chuckle to think of the student who believed that Dr. Hu prounced his own name wrong. Alex

Very interesting thread especially considering the mix of accents & regional variation we have in our family (FL, NC, & NY), so I did some research: From Dictionary.com: cab-i-net [kab-uh-nit] I think it really comes down to how fast you say the word--the faster you say it, the less you hear the 'i' & it becomes 2 syllables vs. 3. The slower you say it the more pronounced the 'i' becomes and you end up with all 3 syllables.) hu-man [hyoo-muhn or, often, yoo‐] I always hated when the 'h' is dropped. Had a highschool teacher for a year who dropped the 'h' & it made me nuts! I'm a fan of phonics, the 'h' is there for a reason-let's pronounce it. car-a-mel [kar-uh-muhl, -mel, kahr-muhl] Pronunciation always seemed regional to me like pee-can vs pe-cahn. But using the rules of phonics, I have to hedge on the side of car-a-mel. I-tal-ian [ih-tal-yuhn] Being 1/2 Italian, I can definitely say it's not pronounced eye-tal-yan or-ange [awr-inj, or-inj] Seems like I use the first pronunciation for the color & the second for the fruit--go figure! wash [wosh, wawsh] Definitely no 'r' in either pronunciation or the spelling Some other interesting facts on the 'English English' language which American English is based on: -"Many varieties undergo h dropping, making harm and arm homophones. This is a feature of working-class accents across most of England, but was traditionally stigmatised (a fact the comedy musical My Fair Lady was quick to exploit) but less so now.[12] This was geographically widespread, but the linguist A.C. Gibson stated that it did not extend to the far north, nor to East Anglia, Essex, Wiltshire or Somerset.[13] In the past, working-class people were often unsure where an h ought to be pronounced, and, when attempting to speak "properly", would often preface any word that began with a vowel with an h (e.g. "henormous" instead of enormous, "hicicles" instead of icicles); this was referred to as the "hypercorrect h" in the Survey of English Dialects, and is also referenced in literature (e.g. the policeman in Danny the Champion of the World)." Source: Wikipedia -"A glottal stop for intervocalic /t/ is now common amongst younger speakers across the country; it was originally confined to some areas of the south-east and East Anglia." Source:Wikipedia. (i.e. the kitten, mitten references: pronounced as ki'en, mi'en) -"The distinction between /w/ and /hw/ in wine and whine is lost in most varieties, "wh" being pronounced consistently as /w/." Source: Wikipedia -"Most versions of this dialect have non-rhotic pronunciation, meaning that [r] is not pronounced in syllable coda position. Nonrhoticism is also found elsewhere in the English speaking world, including in Australian English, New Zealand English, and South African English, as well as most nonnative varieties spoken throughout the Commonwealth of Nations.[10] Rhotic accents exist in the West Country, parts of Lancashire, the far north of England and in the town of Corby, both of which have a large Scottish influence on their speech." Source: Wikipedia. (i.e. Norm Abrams reference on the word 'drawers': draw-ers vs draws).

Tom. Not sure it's any secret, just a schedule which works for me in my area (around 40* latitude at 8300' elevation). I start seeds indoors at the end of January (coming up in a week or so). Usually with temp controlled bottom heat. And they grow under lights for 6-8 weeks. Then I transplant them to a greenhouse where they are mover further apart, and grow under natural light, but with some heat control, for another 6-8 weeks. Until they are roughly wood pencil diameter. Sometimes bigger, depends upon the weather outside as to when they move to the garden. The tops are trimmed back when they move to the garden. They grow outside, with irrigation when needed, for about 4-5 months or so, depending again on the weather. I try to harvest them before temps fall below 28F. If they are out in colder temps than that it does reduce their storage (outer shell or two will be frost damaged). Often I am harvesting them before the tops die back. I cure them under cover, in a barn (and a few times inside the house, until the tops are dried. Then they get stored in mesh bags in a makeshift root cellar. Depending upon the growing season this usually yeilds bulbs of 4-6" or so in diameter weighing in the 3-5# range. Of course some years are better than others. Last year was a poor one; late spring, early fall, and a surprise 20F night that was supposed to up at 30F, so I am seeing some onions come out of storage where the outer layer or two needs to be discarded. But on better years, the onions remain in good shape until April to May.

1. I grow my own stevia plants and harvest the leaves each fall and I convert some of it to a liquid extract and some to dried leaves to make extracts later. Remember, stevia is NOT sugar, just plant leaves which are sweet tasting. 2. Your dried leaves will have varying levels of sweetness depending on the growing season and variety of plants - somewhere between 10 to 30 times sweeter than sugar. Depending on the variety of plant that was grown, stevia has a bitter component and some varieties are less bitter than others. So you have no idea how much sweetness is equal to 1-cup of sugar - you'll just be guessing. 3. Pure stevioside extracts of stevia in the form of a white powder or clear liquid are 200 to 300 times sweeter than sugar. So commercial stevia products are entirely different, and usually much sweeter, that those made from the stevia leaves. 4. Stevia has it's own unique taste (a little like licorice). Therefore, if you are using it for baked goods, I'd suggest buying a commercial stevia product which has less bitterness and a more neutral flavor, and the sweetness is regulated so you know how much of the product equals sugar. 5. Sugar in baked goods has attributes that you can't duplicate with stevia. Sugar is a tenderizer and it's hygroscopic and attracts moisture. It also helps with browning. Stevia does none of those, so you have to include some ingredients that will aid those attributes, not just substitute stevia for sugar. 6. Since one cup of sugar could be replaced with as little as 1/4 t. of concentrated stevia powder, that will throw off your ratio of liquids to solids. Baking is also a science. 7. If you plan on having any kind of success making banana bread, find a recipe that is already designed for using stevia and use the kind (powder, liquid, sugar replacer packets, etc.) called for in the recipe. 8. Expect a somewhat different flavor, especially an aftertaste that takes time to get accustomed to as your taste buds switch from sugar to stevia. 9. Try to make small loaves. Baked goods made with stevia tend to get dry very quickly, so plan on using it quickly and refrigerate or freeze any leftovers so they don't dry out. Wrap it tightly in foil to help maintain the moisture. 10. By converting the leaves to a concentrate by carefully cooking stevia leaves in water, it will make a dark, syrupy liquid which is better used as a substitute for molasses or brown sugar in recipes. It is stable for months and the flavor "improves" with age. So how it will taste just after making it doesn't mean that's how it will taste 2-months from now. It would also be helpful to know what your food goals are by substituting stevia for sugar. Is the banana bread for a diabetic, for instance? If so, they are still consuming high-glycemic flour and I could suggest a better recipe that includes low-glycemic almond flour. For diabetics, it's the total amount of carbohydrates, whether it's from white flour or white sugar. Perhaps the recipe below will help you with your sugar to stevia conversion, but I don't have a recipe using homemade stevia concentrate from cooking the leaves in water. BANANA BREAD Source: "Stevia" by Rita DePuydt 2 very ripe, medium to large bananas 1/4 t. powdered stevia extract 1/2 t. stevia concentrate 1 T. lemon juice 2 c. whole wheat pastry flour 1/2 t. baking soda 1 t. baking powder 1/4 t. salt 1/3 c. oil 1 large egg 1/2 c. plain nonfat yogurt or buttermilk 1 t. vanilla extract 1/2 c. chopped walnuts (optional) Preheat oven to 350-degrees F. Oil a medium-sized loaf pan (7-1/2x8-1/2x2-1/2 inches). Mash the bananas in a small bowl. Mix the stevia extract, stevia concentrate, and lemon juice into the mashed bananas. Set aside Sift the flour, leavenings, and salt together in a bowl. Beat the oil and eggs together in a mixing bowl until creamy. Bean in the yogurt or buttermilk and the vanilla. Stir in the mashed bananas into the liquid mixture. Fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, stirring as little as possible. Mix in the walnuts just before the flour is completely blended. Place into the loaf pan. Bake for 50 minutes to 1 hour until a toothpick or fork stuck in the middle comes out clean. Turn out the loaf and cool on a rack. Yield: 12 servings Per serving: Calories: 162, Total Fat: 7 g., Protein: 5 g., Carb.: 20 g., Fiber: 3 g., Sodium: 141 -Grainlady