Am I the only one who always cooks brown rice with chicken stock? If IÂm in a hurry  I throw it into the rice cooker  perfect every time. Otherwise, I use this recipe: Brown Rice Pilaf 55 min : 5 min prep SERVES 4 1 tablespoon olive oil 1 tbl butter 1 small yellow onion, chopped 3 garlic cloves, minced 1 cup long grain brown rice (not instant) 1/2 cup Vermicelli (check Mexican isle - El Guapo Pasta) 2 1/2 cups fat-free low-sodium chicken broth or vegetable broth salt & pepper, to taste 1. Heat oil & butter over medium-high heat. Add onion and cook, stirring, until onion is golden, about 5 minutes. 2. Add garlic, rice, and spaghetti and sauté for 1 minute. 3. Add broth, and season with salt and pepper to taste; bring to a boil. Cover and reduce heat to low. 4. Simmer until rice is tender and most of the liquid is absorbed, about 45 minutes. Fluff with fork.

Oh, no! Bad sentence on my part. Southern California. We had a wonderful Syrian bakery that made brilliant pita. I still miss them. My heart breaks for what has happened there, but I've never been to Syria. You haven't said why you're eschewing "enriched flour" and don't need to, but white flour products are required by law to use vitamin enriched flour, and even most home baking white flour (bleached or unbleached) is enriched and has a little malted barley flour in it as well, which has a lot of an enzyme that's needed for rising. Unless you have a specific problem with one or more of the vitamins or the barley, the enrichment shouldn't be a problem. Maybe you're just concerned that there's white flour in there. White flour is often added to whole wheat flour to make the rise spongier. Sometimes vital wheat gluten is added to strengthen the gluten (the bran in the whole wheat can weaken or cut it). Wheat gluten can be isolated by hand by washing the wheat and kneading out the starch, and has been done for centuries, so it's not a weird industrial product. Anything that's made with white flour in the U.S. uses enriched flour. There may be some places that mill and sift their own flours that do not, but that's an extremely rare exception. Therefore, I would guarantee that the Lebanese pita are made with enriched flour. The thinner thing is probably a lack of leavening. Even in the Middle East, nowadays, the pita have leavening and are a bit spongy. That's not traditional. :) I haven't seen Kontos, and I'd guess it's an East Coast brand. I don't doubt that it's good! Whole Foods might be a better place to get 100% whole wheat, however, unless you can find a Middle Eastern or halal store where people are into the "new" kind of dietary laws (no white flour, pasture raise livestock, etc.). Maybe try stores near the colleges? College kids tend to be into better eating. Turlock is from California. I know they freeze to ship it to avoid preservatives, so you might find it there, but more likely the Whole Foods have something local. Good luck on your quest.

But flourescents? Really? You bet. I love 'em, both for the intensity without excessive heat or electricity use, and for the smoothness of the light. At least for the linear type, the large radiating surface minimizes shadows, like working outside under a clear blue sky with indirect sunlight. Funny, when I was much younger, I hated fluorescents. I ripped them out of one house I owned. But three things happened. I got older and my eyes got weaker. Electricity got more expensive. Fluorescents got much, much better. A lot of people still think that fluorescents are those ghastly greenish-grey humming, flickering "cool white" tubes in offices. No more. I'll have to admit you can still get the ugly type if you're a cheapskate. The buck-or-two lamps are the low-CRI cool white or pinkish warm white. But for fixtures and lamps of any quality, the light is dramatically better. Tri-phosphor T8 lamps have a range of color temperatures from warm to bluish daylight, and very good color rendering index (but don't let them sell you lamps with a 7xx number - those are lower CRI). Fluorescents come in more shapes and types (notably compact fluorescents). This makes them easier to fit into more spaces. Finally, there are even a few decent looking fixtures if you look around. In my area the big locally owned electrical supply carries some fairly nice ones. I've seen a few online, too.

I basically cook all the rice in the same manner: On electric stove, 1 part rice (washed or un-) to 2 parts water, pinch or 2 of salt, bring to a low boil over high heat, then cover tightly & turn heat to low/warm for 25 - 50 minutes. Shorter time for white rice, longer for brown. Remove from heat & let stand covered for 5-10 minutes then uncover & fluff w/ a fork. I often mix in some butter. Best brown or white rice is short grain for sure - lovely soft & chewy texture. Here's yummy brown rice recipe of mine that's not too sweet : Orange Coconut Rice yield: 4 cups 2 cups raw brown rice 1 can unsweetened coconut milk (12-15 oz?) 1/2 cup unsweetened coconut flakes (grated OK too) 1-2 tsp. finely grated orange rind - approx. 1/3-2/3 of 1 medium orange water salt In a medium (2 quart) saucepan w/ a tight-fitting lid, place rice, coconut & 1/2 - 1 tsp. salt. Grate rind from orange directly into pan - about 1/3-2/3 of rind. Squeeze juice from orange & add to coconut milk w/ enough water to make 4 cups, then add to pan. Bring to a low boil, stirring a few times, then cover tightly, reduce heat to very low & cook 50 minutes. Remove from heat & let stand, still covered, for 5 minutes, then fluff w/ a fork. Do not remove lid until done!