Okra in zone 2? That is impressive! I don't have any experience growing it, but I just assumed my season was too short here in zone 6. I will definitely have to give it a shot next year! If you manage to harvest any more pods, I would highly suggest pickling. Though I've never done it myself, pickled okra from the store is one of my favorite snacks. I can only imagine how good it would be when homemade!

Thanks Shaxhome. Very good question. There are very important benefits for the sous vide method. 1. Less meat shrinkage, may be 5% less. This adds up to a lot of money. 2. Cheaper cuts of meat. I recently did London broil ($2.49 a lb) medium rare, and tender like expensive steaks. This will save a lot of money also. 3. Precise quality of meat done-ness. Rare, medium rare, medium ----- it is all up to you to set the temperature, nothing can go wrong. No-overcooking or under-cooking. Fool-proof. 4. Makes no difference how big the meat is, from one thin breast meat to a whole turkey. Set it and forget it. 5. Makes no different starting temperature, from frozen to room temperature. No need to poke around with a probe thermometer. 6. Re-heating without over cooking. 7. No need to "rest" the meat. In this case, the steaks were frozen, I put them in the sous vide cooker with a little seasoning, set the temperature at 129 F for one and 133 F for the other. A few hours later, 5 minutes before meal time, fire up the cast iron grill to red hot and grilled the steaks 1 1/2 minutes each side to sear. Perfect steaks. Perfect hot steaks. Guaranteed every time. dcarch

Let's clarify Zillow's statistical use: they can't make something out of nothing. If there has not been sufficient sales activity in your area to do comps, they cannot use only your house, no matter how long or short a time you have been in it, as the sole "average price". What you paid for your house will be averaged out with a pre-determined circular geographic area of roughly similar houses. If there aren't enough houses nearby, or not enough SIMILAR houses have been sold recently, the comps are going to be off. They don't claim complete accuracy, it is a STARTING point for people who are afraid to call a local RE agent and bother them every single month to find out "what their house is worth right now." And if you want Zillow to be more accurate, how many of you have bothered to update your housing profiles? It takes a little time, and many people don't bother. So why be surprised if it's not accurate? They get their info off the public records. I had to instruct the county tax assessor not once, but twice, in phone conversations during the earlier years we had the tax assessment reduced, on the correct # of rooms and bathrooms we had, even though the county had that information from the remodeling permits we had filed in 1989. But it took the tax assessors 8 years to correct their own records! Zillow corrects itself a lot faster, and over time will get more accurate in most areas -- not all because they just won't have #s to be statistically valid.

My kitchen remodel was absolutely designed around how I cook & how we use the kitchen. Three things I wanted were: 1. Lots of natural light - I cook from-scratch meals almost every day and spend a lot of time here. In addition to prep/cooking, this is where most casual entertaining happens, where I fold laundry, work on the computer, and where DH & I eat most meals. I used to have one small window and we looked at walls of upper cabinet boxes (depressing). We eliminated many uppers, added storage in the island, put the range in the corner so that this is now what I see when I'm working there. 2. Induction range - I also chose my stove for how I cook. I prefer the look of a pro-style gas stove but chose induction because the perfect stovetop temp control works best for my style of cooking. I don't do wok or high sear frying, but for 9 months of the year you'll likely see a pot on my stovetop. I do lots of stocks, soups, stews & chowders. Induction was made for simmering! Here's the pot of chicken stock I have going on this rainy day. 3. Big stone (no prep sink) island -I chose to have a big, uninterrupted island top that, in addition to being our preferred everyday eating spot, also works as a serving table for buffets (has the plugs for crockpots/warming trays). It also allows for a number of people to work around it with room to spare. Like when the grands come over for the annual Christmas cookie bake ;) There are SO many elements I just love in other kitchens posted here but some just wouldn't have worked as well for me. I've used this kitchen for almost a year now, though, and still appreciate it every day. Great thread to get people in the planning stages to really consider their priorities for use over just looks. ETA - Happy Birthday, Texas_Gem!