suncommon.com

More sunshine plus more daylight means more energy fueling your solar array. In New York, your utility allows you to “bank” the unused energy you produce as credits toward your energy bill in the off-season. That means that solar’s goodness keeps on giving throughout the year (unlike a Pumpkin Spice latte that only lasts you a few minutes). Installing a solar system this spring will pay back dividends next winter and every winter after that.

This newly available data has not been considered, as local utilities have consistently reduced incentives for solar in recent years. So, while there has been some debate, we can clearly say that this is going in the wrong direction, as we work to decrease costs for everyone while building our renewable energy future. So while incentives are dropping this year in Vermont, there is still time to get in on the current rates. Learn more here.

Turn out on a heavily floured board (use 1/2 cup flour) and knead for 10 to 12 minutes or until the dough is smooth, elastic, and rather satiny in texture and all the flour on the board is absorbed; add flour if you need it. Cover with a towel and let rise in a warm, draft-free spot until doubled in bulk, 1-1/2 to 2 hours or slightly more. When thoroughly blended, cut the dough in half and let rest for 10 minutes, then roll out each half into a rectangle about 11 x 6 inches and let rest for 2 or 3 minutes more. Place the dough in two well buttered tins, cover, and let rise in a warm spot until the bread has reached the top of the tin, or slightly higher, or has more or less doubled in size.

A: Creating this piece was not an easy process; there’s so much emotion that came up. With all the emotion that comes up, I sometimes [find it] really hard putting my work on display. An artist friend of mine recently said, ‘A piece is not truly finished until it is exposed’. We have all experienced such an enormous shift this year, so many things have happened we could not have imagined possible.