I am much too late to be of any help to starlightfarm with her salmon dinner, but here is a really good recipe for a whole salmon. Salmon Baked in Foil Source: Minneapolis Star Tribune 1 whole salmon, 6-8 lb and cleaned 1 c sliced carrots 1 c sliced onion 1 c sliced celery ½ tsp fresh thyme Salt to taste 8 peppercorns, crushed 1 garlic clove, crushed 1 bay leaf 2 c dry white wine Preheat oven to 400F. Cover a baking sheet with foil. In bowl combine carrots, onion, celery, thyme, salt, peppercorns, garlic, bay leaf and wine. Place cleaned salmon in center of baking sheet, stuff with vegetable mixture and seal foil tightly around salmon. Bake 50-60 minutes or until salmon is opaque in thickest part. Remove from oven and cool. Once cool, remove skin from fish and serve warm or chilled with Hollandaise or your choice of sauce. Makes 8-10 servings. Linda

Is the detergent granular when you put it in the machine or are you putting lumps in there? Be sure to break up the clumps if that's the case. Powdered detergents will cake up in humidity. After a while it might even get like rocks. That's why I quit using powders a long time ago. But the last times I've tried powders, it's more of a granular, almost like tiny pellets rather than a true powder and I think that has helped with the clumping. I just opened a box of powder I've had on the shelf in the basement for over a year. (Needless to say I've started using powder occasionally again.) Maybe 18 mo? There were some clumps yes, but a light push on top with the scoop and it broke up completely. I just washed a load with it and all is well. Although, come to think of it, in fairness it was a load of whites so that's not proof. But I'm not worried about it. If you have a humid area, you could try putting it into some plastic bags or air tight containers. I use ice cream pails for Borax and the bulk laundry detergent I used to use but now only use for misc cleaning, and I use a sherbet container for the dishwasher detergent that I use as a laundry booster. Size it so you don't have a lot of air space for best results. If you like the way it cleans though, I suppose you could even take a microplane or something and grind up the hardest clumps if they're really rock hard.

For the Chilean Sea Bass or Black Cod (Sablefish), you cannot get easier or tastier than this recipe. The only "catch" is that it has to marinate for 3 days - so you have to plan it in advance. This is the best fish I have ever had or made: Nobu's Black Cod with Miso - Equally *Great* with Chilean Sea Bass! Serves 4 4 fillets, about 1/2 pound each 3 cups Nobu-style Saikyo Miso (see below) Nobu-Style Saikyo Miso 3/4 cup mirin 1/2 cup sake 2 cups white miso paste 1 cup sugar Miso Marinade In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine the mirin and sake and boil for 20 seconds to evaporate the alcohol. Add the miso paste and stir with a wooden spoon until it dissolves completely. Add the sugar, raise the heat to high, and stir continuously until it has dissolved completely. Remove the pan from the heat and leave at room temperature until the mixture has cooled completely. Marinating the fish (suggested time: 2 - 3 days) Pat the fillets thoroughly dry with paper towels. Slather the fish with Nobu-style Saikyo Miso and place in a non-reactive dish or bowl and cover tightly with plastic wrap. Leave to steep in the refrigerator for 2 to 3 days. Cooking the Fish Preheat the oven to 400F and preheat a grill or broiler. Lightly wipe off any excess Miso clinging to the fillets but don't rinse it off. Place the fish on the grill, or in a broiler pan, and grill or broil until the surface of the fish turns brown. Then bake for 10 to 15 minutes. If using a conventional oven, pre-heat at 450 and bake fish for 5-8 minutes. When fish is almost cooked broil for an additional 2-3 minutes until well caramelized.

John, I used steam a couple of times and it faded my clothes so I did not look into it further. I noticed that during the Allergiene cycle the steam is used in the begiging of the cycle with very little water before the clothes are actually washed. It raises the temp very high for 20 min and then fills with lower temp water for the actual wash. When I have a load of whites I will run a steam wash and monitor to see how it works in other cycles and report back. However I do not think it is a sub for a true hot wash for whites and it is too high a temp for darks. I read in this forum that for darks some people like the perm press cycle since it has more water and the temps are a bit better than normal. For my whites I used to do the whites cycle but it is not hot enough and now I am switching to xhot or sanitary washes. Still experimenting. I am still learing what cycles work well. My normal right now (winter) is consistently at 28C.