There are a few studies that show that 14 day compost just does not have all of the nutrients as readily available to plants as compost that has been allowed to be digested longer. There is also some indications that the 14 day composting is not quite long enough to kill any "weed" seeds that may be there, so that only means more care in what goes into that compost is needed. What I have seen, from Cornell Composting and others, is that when "weed" seeds are in the compost they will germinate but because they get no light to grow they die. Many "weed" seeds have been found to be viable even after being composted with 160 degree temperatures. There are some people that talk about "curing" compost but that is not something that needs to be done since when finished the compost is ready to be used.

If I was willing to live with a 9" tread at the 12" walk-line I would make the stair width 44 1/2 inches and be done with it. To maintain the 48" wide stair you would have to reduce the number of stair treads or allow the tread at the 12" walk-line to be less than 9". It appears that the 1 & 2 family dwelling code in Cleveland is the 2006 IRC but it is not clear to me if it has been modified by amendments. In any case here it is: R311.5.3.2 Tread depth. "The minimum tread depth shall be 10 inches. The tread depth shall be measured horizontally between the vertical planes of the foremost projection of adjacent treads and at a right angle to the tread's leading edge. The greatest tread depth within any flight of stairs shall not exceed the smallest by more than 3/8 inch. Winder treads shall have a minimum tread depth of 10 inches measured as above at a point 12 inches from the side where the treads are narrower. Winder treads shall have a minimum tread depth of 6 inches at any point. Within any flight of stairs, the largest winder tread depth at the 12 inch walk line shall not exceed the smallest by more than 3/8 inch." Even if this building code has been modified locally, because it is has been the national standard for so many years, I would insist that the designers adhere to it. Ask them what code they are using and why it might be more appropriate than the IRC. I've designed enough buildings to know that being reputable doesn't mean you can't make a seemingly amateurish mistake.

I'm envious of all that snow! We hardly get any anymore and I miss it! OK, layout...where is the main entrance? The plan is a little difficult to read. Your main issues seem to be.. (1) Too far to walk b/w range & sink (2) Don't like range in a major walkway (3) Don't like going around the peninsula to put away groceries I like the idea of trying to keep things fairly close. But I'm not sure this particular layout will work. What do you plan to store in the row of cabinets on the other side of the range "wall"/island? The island is pretty long so I would not put anything over there that you will need in the kitchen...like dishes, pots/pans, cooking/prep tools, etc. b/c if you think it's a pain now to go around the peninsula to put away groceries, wait until you have to constantly go around the island to get to the items on the other side... The peninsula was/is just once in a while for groceries, this island would be quite frequently. Also, keep in mind that you have a range in the middle of the room with no safety zone behind it to protect those walking by (even if it's just your DH)...this is really a bad situation. When using the range, grease splatters, steam & smoke drift, etc. You really should have at least 18" on all three sides for safety, preferably 24". This would mean that you would have 18" of counter behind it...and you don't have enough room for that. Also, you will need an island hood since essentially that's what you have. A wall hood like you show is only designed to capture fumes/smoke/steam/grease from 3 sides...front, left, right. It assumes you have a wall behind it to contain and funnel the fumes/smoke/steam/grease to the front & up. An island hood, OTOH, is designed to works from all 4 sides. I also think hanging both the cabinets & hood from the ceiling will make the kitchen look & feel chopped up. An island hood will hang down, but it won't take up so much "air space". Although, I'm not sure your kitchen is big enough or open enough to support a hood hanging in the middle of it, I'm afraid it will overwhelm the kitchen and be a huge looming presence. Are the seats around the island at a raised height? I don't recommend bar-height seating in general. It can be difficult for children, older people, and short people to get in/out of stools that high. You may not have children, but if you plan to stay there "forever", you should plan to age-in-place. Also, your parents are aging... With the bi-level island, you're also cutting down on valuable work space around the range and for larger projects you might want to use the island for...like rolling dough.Right now, the working part of the island is only about 25 or 26" deep and is open...rolling out dough would not be easy on this shallow a surface w/o a wall behind it. You will have things falling off the island while you work. I roll dough in a 25-1/4" deep space and while it's OK, it's only OK b/c I have a wall behind it to keep things contained...I can't accidentally push things off the other side. What I really wish I had was at least 30" of depth...but it didn't work in my kitchen. But, in your kitchen you have an island to work with. If you keep the entire island one height, you will have plenty of deep work space where the chairs are (just move them out of the way). Additionally, unless you are very tall, rolling dough at bar-height will be very uncomfortable. The back wall is only 16" deep...this is not deep enough for rolling dough, etc.; it's really not deep enough to use all those appliances either... If this wall was made at least 25" deep (24" deep cabinet + 1" overhang) it would make an OK Baking Center as well as room for using those appliances...not ideal for the Baking Center since the oven is on the other side of the island, but at least it would give you some real working room and a place to permanently store your mixer. It would also give you better space for a Snack Center...which is really what you're creating if you plan to store your Toaster Oven there. There would also be plenty of room for a Prep Sink there if you could get the water to it. Actually, that area is long enough (9+ feet) for a Baking Center + Snack/Coffee/Tea Center + Prep Sink.... The Snack/Coffee/Tea Center would be easily accessed from the rest of the house w/o having to go into the working part of the Kitchen. [You could store your bread and sandwich makings in the cabinets there, along w/all your baking tools & supplies. Mugs would fit there as well.] Or, you might consider a 30" wide or so tall pantry cabinet + Snack/Coffee/Tea Center + Prep Sink and keep the Baking Center on the island. Maybe get an appliance lift to store the mixer under the counter. These are all things to think about & consider b/f finalizing your layout. It's too bad this wasn't done initially...b/f installing permanent things like water lines, but that's water under the bridge...you have what you have.

o RE: Cookalong #40 - Wine clip this post email this post what is this? see most clipped and recent clippings Posted by walnutcreek (My Page) on Sun, Feb 12, 12 at 16:05 CHICKEN IN HEAVENLY WINE SAUCE 1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon all purpose flour 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper 1/2 teaspoon crushed dry oregano 4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves 1/4 cup butter 1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon olive oil 8 ounces sliced fresh mushrooms 1 cup Marsala wine 1/2 cup sherry wine Clean and rinse chicken, place between sheets of plastic wrap and using the side of a square mallet pound chicken breast to 1/4 inch thickness. In a shallow dish or bowl, mix together the flour, salt, pepper, and oregano. Coat chicken pieces with the flour mixture. In a large skillet, melt butter in the oil over medium heat. Place chicken in the pan and lightly brown, then turn over chicken pieces and add mushrooms and any remaining flour mixture. Pour in wine and sherry. Cover Skillet and bring to boil, then reduce heat to simmer,and cook for 10 minutes, turning chicken once, cook until no longer pink. Serve over egg noodles or your favorite pasta, topped with the wine sauce. Serves 4 SPICY WINE MUSTARD 3/4 cup brown mustard seeds 3/4 cup yellow mustard seeds 1 cup white wine vinegar 1 cup dry white wine 1/4 cup EVOO 1/4 cup sugar 2 tablespoons dry mustard (Coleman's) 1 tablespoon sea salt 1 - 2 teaspoons red pepper flakes 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper Put all ingredients into a deep, medium-sized bowl, stir well, cover and leave on countertop at room temperature, stirring once or twice, for 24 hours. Transfer bowl contents to a food processor puree until creamy. Transfer mustard to jars, seal tightly and refrigerate. Makes about 3 cups. APPLE, CHICKEN, AND WINE 1 whole fryer chicken 1 whole apple 1 cup apple juice or 1 cup white wine Salt and pepper Sprinkle salt and pepper all over the inside of the chicken. Put the whole apple inside the chicken cavity. Place chicken breast side down in a crock pot. Pour apple juice or wine around the chicken. Cook on low 4-6 hours. SHALLOT AND WINE BUTTER 1 shallot, finely chopped 3/4 cup dry red wine 4 oz butter cut into small pieces Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste Bring the shallots and wine to a boil in a small saucepan over moderate heat. Boil until all the wine has evaporated, about 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and whisk in the butter, salt, and pepper until the mixture is smooth except for the pieces of shallot. Refrigerate for 1 hour before serving. To serve with steak, top each steak with 1 to 2 tablespoons of the butter. BLACKBERRY WINE CAKE 1 Duncan Hines white cake mix 1 3-oz. box blackberry Jell-O 1/2 cup salad oil 4 eggs 1 cup blackberry wine 1/2 cup chopped pecans Preheat oven 325 degrees. Combine all ingredients except pecans. Mix on low speed until moistened then on high for 2 minutes. Grease and flour a 10 inch Bundt pan. Sprinkle pecans on bottom and side of pan. Spoon batter to cover pecans. Bake 1 hour. GLAZE: 2/3 stick butter 1/2 c. blackberry wine 1 1/4 c. powdered sugar Combine butter, sugar, and wine, bring to boil. Punch holes in cake with ice pick and pour half of glaze over cake while in pan. Let stand 30 minutes. Turn out and pour glaze over cake. PARMESAN WINE RICE 1 tablespoon butter 1 medium onion, chopped 1 clove garlic, minced 1 cup chicken broth 1 cup uncooked rice 1 cup dry white wine 1/2 cup grated Parmesan Melt butter in heavy medium skillet over medium heat. Add onion and garlic; cook 8 minutes or until translucent. Stir in broth, rice and wine. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low; cover and cook 25 minutes or until liquid is absorbed. Stir in grated Parmesan and serve warm. Serves 4 o RE: Cookalong #40 - Wine clip this post email this post what is this? see most clipped and recent clippings Posted by wizardnm (My Page) on Mon, Feb 13, 12 at 10:28 A big Thank You to all that participated in this thread, there are some really good recipes here. I just pulled a name for the next Cookalong. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ bbstx ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Please choose the next focus ingredient. Try to pick something you have a special interest in. If it happens to be something that has been covered in the older Cookalongs, that's fine, especially if it is basic. All the older Cookalong threads are in the FAQ. Think about Seasonal, Fresh, Basic, and Readily available ingredients.... If you have questions, you can email me through GW. I will check back here and then set up the new Cookalong. Nancy o RE: Cookalong #40 - Wine clip this post email this post what is this? see most clipped and recent clippings Posted by foodonastump (My Page) on Mon, Feb 13, 12 at 12:51 A little late, but I think worth mentioning here. I had been meaning to try this since I first chose wine for the cookalong. Recent conversations about mussels and fennel finally got me to do it today for lunch. I winged it but here's approximately what I did: Saute about 3/4 cup small-diced fennel and a minced shallot in butter with a pinch of salt. Add some thyme, a pinch of saffron, and 1.5 cups or so wine. (I used Gewuertztraminer, as recommended in Patricia Wells' "The Paris Cookbook" for its slightly sweet note.) Reduce wine by half and add scrubbed mussels. Steam for about 3 minutes or until they open. If some open earlier than others remove them so they don't overcook. Once all the mussels are done, remove them from the pan and add a dollop or two of creme fraiche to the broth. Adjust seasoning to taste. I think that's about all I did. I ended up eating the full 2.5 pound bag, plus half a baguette to sop up the sauce. It was awesome! o RE: Cookalong #40 - Wine clip this post email this post what is this? see most clipped and recent clippings Posted by wizardnm (My Page) on Mon, Feb 13, 12 at 15:42 The next topic is #41 - Greens - Cooked and Raw Here is a link Here is a link that might be useful: Cookalong #41 Greens, Cooked and Raw o RE: Cookalong #40 - Wine clip this post email this post what is this? see most clipped and recent clippings Posted by sally2 (My Page) on Sun, Feb 19, 12 at 8:19 I'm reporting back way late on my cooking with wine attempt. I made Ruthanna's French Bean Soup, and know it would have been wonderful if......I didn't burn it. Yes, I actually managed to burn soup. We were up in Oklahoma where I have a substandard set of pots and pans, basically camping gear, cause I don't want to spend a lot of money on another set of pots and pans. Anyway, the soup pot I used is very thin aluminum. It was already cooked earlier in the day, and tasting delicious. DH had to go on an errand, and while he was gone, I turned the soup back on to heat up for dinner, and sat down with my cross stitch. Big mistake. When DH got home, he headed for the kitchen,stirred the soup, and announced, "Did you know the soup is burning?" Aaahg! Oh, well, it was still edible, and I'll definitely make it again, but I was very disappointed that I did something so stupid. Ruthanna, I think I'm drawn to your recipes. I'm sure I've made more than one other of your recipes. If you had a cookbook, I'd probably buy it. I do have one question about the recipe. In the last part of the instructions you say to remove the cinnamon sticks, but there are no cinnamon sticks mentioned anywhere else in the recipe. I didn't have any, so I added a dash of cinnamon to the soup. Sally o RE: Cookalong #40 - Wine clip this post email this post what is this? see most clipped and recent clippings Posted by lakeguy35 (My Page) on Fri, Feb 24, 12 at 0:53 I'm late checking back here too...I did make the dessert that Lindac posted. Oh man was it good!! My group loved it. Photobucket I have my eye on several recipes posted here that's for sure. Glad to see the cookalongs back in action. David