Easily Confused Words: Contest vs. Context

by kathleenwcurry, posted in Easily Confused Words

Contest and context are easily confused words.

The spell-check application of most word processing software programs would not catch a slip-up of these two words. Spell-check is looking for words that aren’t in its dictionary, and words that resemble words in its dictionary, but are possibly spelled wrong. Spell-check isn’t perfect. It doesn’t know and can’t guess what word you wanted, or what word you meant, it can only judge the words on the page. If you used words that are all spelled correctly, it gives you a pass anyway. 

Autocorrect suggests words that start with the same letters. It’s suggesting what word you may want to save time, but quite often, its suggestions are pretty off base. They don’t help you out, but they do make you laugh.

Contest (pronounced “kawn-tehst”) has multiple meanings.

  • As a noun, it can mean a competition, lottery, etc.
  • As a verb, it means to challenge the results of a competition, like an election, sports event, etc.

Context (pronounced “kawn-tehckst”) is a noun. It means the conditions that set the scene in a sentence, in a story, or other scenarios.

The following story uses both words correctly:

At Clovis High, there was a great deal of controversy when the results of class rank were contested. This was the first time in the history of the school this happened. Some parents demanded that the GPAs be recalculated and weighted in context to the difficulty of the classes. In the end there was a compromise where the class had 2 valedictorians and 2 salutatorians.

Easily Confused Words: Lori vs. Lorry

by kathleenwcurry, posted in Easily Confused Words

Lori and lorry are easily confused words.

The spell-check application of most word processing software programs would not catch a slip-up of these two words. Spell-check is looking for words that aren’t in its dictionary, and words that resemble words in its dictionary, but are possibly spelled wrong. Spell-check isn’t perfect. It doesn’t know and can’t guess what word you wanted, or what word you meant, it can only judge the words on the page. If you used words that are all spelled correctly, it gives you a pass anyway. 

Autocorrect suggests words that start with the same letters. It’s suggesting what word you may want to save time, but quite often, its suggestions are pretty off base. They don’t help you out, but they do make you laugh.

Lori (pronounced “lohr-ee”) means “bay tree.” It is related to “Laurie,” “Lauren,” “Laurel.” All names are somewhat related to Daphne, the nymph who begged to be turned into a laurel tree rather than be in a relationship with Apollo.

Lorry (pronounced “lohr-ee”) is a British English word for a truck.

The following story uses both words correctly:

It was completely surprising for Mark to come home and find out Lori hadn’t been home. She had lived there five years with him. Most days, she came across reasonably happy and wanting for nothing.

He had thought nothing was unusual the night before. The note she had left said, “Out with the girls. Be home later.” It was not unusual for her to go out with her girlfriends, but she had always came home by midnight. But at 4 am he rolled over and she wasn’t there. This morning, he had woken up and she still was not there.

On further review her bedroom drawer was cleaned out. No meds or her stuff in the bathroom cabinet. He called her number. It went to voicemail. He texted Mel’s number.

“Sry Mark haven’t seen her since last night. I went out to smoke and she wasn’t there.”

He wondered what was happening.

___________

After a couple drinks with her friends, Lori asked if any of them had ever wanted something different. To just blow everything off and go somewhere.

She went outside to smoke. Standing on the corner she caught the eye of a lorry driver at the stoplight. On a whim she asked:

“Where are you going?”

“Suffolk.”

“Can I get a ride?”

“You got any money?”

As they pulled away Mel came outside to smoke with her.

“Hey Lori what’s this about…” she looked around. “Lori?”

But Lori was gone.

Easily Confused Words: Curb vs. Curve

by kathleenwcurry, posted in Easily Confused Words

Curb and curve are easily confused words.

The spell-check application of most word processing software programs would not catch a slip-up of these two words. Spell-check is looking for words that aren’t in its dictionary, and words that resemble words in its dictionary, but are possibly spelled wrong. Spell-check isn’t perfect. It doesn’t know and can’t guess what word you wanted, or what word you meant, it can only judge the words on the page. If you used words that are all spelled correctly, it gives you a pass anyway. 

Autocorrect suggests words that start with the same letters. It’s suggesting what word you may want to save time, but quite often, its suggestions are pretty off base. They don’t help you out, but they do make you laugh.

Curb (“kuhrb;” rhymes with blurb) has multiple meanings.

  • As a noun, it means the cement or concrete borders, usually gray or beige colored, along the sides of a street. The curb separates the street from the unpaved ground, lawns, sidewalks, etc.
  • As a verb, it means to cut back or refrain from an activity.

For example:

  • In the phrase “curb your cravings,” someone is suggesting more healthful food alternatives than gorging on sugary or salty snack foods that cause weight gain.
  • In the catchphrase “curb your enthusiasm,” it means don’t expect too much and don’t get to excited. This catchphrase was used for the title of an adult comedy series starring Larry David, that has aired since 2000 on HBO.
  • In the phrase “kick to the curb,” it means to throw out, discard, show or tell someone he or she can leave or quit.

Curve (“kuhrvv;” rhymes with serve, nerve) is a noun. It means a line with one or more arcs to its path as opposed to being straight. Wavy and curly hair is full of curves.

The following story uses both words correctly:

Kirby’s first driver training class was going well until he got a text on his phone. There was a curve in the road ahead. But his eyes were glued to the screen, and he continued to drive straight. The car ran up onto the curb and plowed into a fire hydrant.

Excerpt from Real Life: YouTube Channels That Made the 2020 Pandemic More Bearable

by kathleenwcurry, posted in Excerpt from Real Life, Wildcard Friday

None of these channels need a promotional boost from me. I did want to say thank you for making all that staying home more bearable in 2020.

  • Kathleen Madigan’s Pubcast and Reading Performer’s Biographies (Loretta Lynn, Tanya Tucker, Liberace)

Speaking and Communicating Goes to the Movies, pt. 6/6: The Miracle Worker

by kathleenwcurry, posted in Communications At the Movies

Having one or more sensory disabilities presents its own set of challenges in communicating, reading, and sharing one’s ideas with others.

The Miracle Worker (1962) In the 1880s in Tuscumbia, Alabama, Helen Keller is a young girl who became deaf and blind after a childhood illness. Her parents have no sensory disabilities, so they are at a loss about how to communicate with their daughter. Thankfully they have contacts and the means to seek help from out of state. They are connected with Anne Sullivan, a woman from Western Massachusetts who went blind as a child. Sullivan has trained as a teacher. She comes to live with the Kellers. Perhaps by using tactile experiences, like using the water pump in the yard, Sullivan can help Helen learn the words of things, and how to “talk” with her hands, and how to read Braille.

  • The Miracle Worker was a 1957 teleplay, then made into a 1959 stage play that was ultimately made into this movie. It was authored by William Gibson and it was based on Keller’s autobiography, The Story of My Life, published in 1903.
  • The film starred Patty Duke as Helen Keller and Anne Bancroft as Annie Sullivan. See a full cast at the link above.
  • On Youtube, there are films of the real life Helen Keller. One from 1928 appears here, another from 1954 appears here. For someone who never heard sounds, but used touch to learn how to sign and speak, I think she communicates very well. 
  • The Braille raised dots reading system was created by blind Frenchman Louis Braille in 1824. He was a student at the French Institute for the Blind Children. The Braille system is based on a rejected system originally intended for nighttime military operations.
    • Before Braille, embossed lettering was used to help the blind people read, but it was not nearly as successful as Braille.

This is the final planned post in this series. If you have suggestions for speaking or communications-themed movies, please share them.

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED JUNE 8, 2021.

If you enjoyed this post, you might enjoy the previous ones in Speaking and Communicating Goes To The Movies series:

My Fair Lady

The Great Debaters

The King’s Speech

Dead Poet’s Society

Temple Grandin

Addendum to High School Graduation 2021

by kathleenwcurry, posted in Excerpt from Real Life

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL:

  • Some meaningful speeches, interviews, and documentaries on Youtube. I don’t think it’s accidental that the a lot of the people invited to speak at colleges in the last 20 years, have had to improvise in their lives, taken big risks, faced big failures, or were a pioneer in their field.
    • Leonard Nimoy talks about driving a cab and meeting John F. Kennedy (at the 3:20 mark)
    • Jim Carrey 2014 speech at Maharishi College of Management (things ramp up at the 9:00 mark)
    • Steve Hartman talks to Carl Allamby of Cleveland, Ohio. Allamby was a mechanic for 15 years. Then in midlife went to college for an MBA, but then pursued becoming the doctor he’d always wanted to be. After years of explaining car problems, he’s really great at talking to people about health.
    • The 7up Documentary series. Michael Apted interviewed English boys and girls in 1964, some from working class homes, some from affluent homes. With their cooperation, he interviewed them every 7 years since. Of those that stayed with the project, you can appreciate how a person changes through life, and the ups and downs of life. Unfortunately Apted died in January 2021, and it’s unclear if someone else is taking on the project.
    • This list at CassiusLife.com of inspiring graduation speeches by high profile Black and Latino/Latina Americans.
    • This is a list at Forbes of excerpts from 2020 commencement speeches.

A few more graduation/life path reads and some psychology reads (feel free to check out reviews on Goodreads for any of these)

High School Graduation Season 2021

by kathleenwcurry, posted in Just Musing, Public Service Message, Wildcard Friday
A graduation tradition: throwing hats in the air. Photo from Pixabay.

Congratulations to the high school class of 2021!

It’s been over 20 years and a day since I graduated, yet the ceremony remains the same: the top 3-5 students in the class give speeches. Graduates get a paper scroll handed to them as they shake hands with his/her/their principal. [The real degree will be mailed later.] A contemporary aspirational song is played or sung. The graduates all throw their mortarboard hats in the air. The crowd cheers. The graduates take photos with family and friends. Maybe they have a celebratory dinner at a restaurant.

Graduates get cards and gifts, maybe a copy of Oh the Places You Go! By Dr. Seuss.

Congratulations! You’ve graduated high school. Welcome to the kindergarten of adulthood. Unless you are headed to college, really, WTF is next?

I wish US high schools did a better job asking their students what they might want to do in life in their freshman year. That’s three years to investigate the other options out there and not make a rushed decision. Springing something important on you the day before it is due is something that happens in the business world, but it’s still bad practice.

Four year colleges (undergraduate) are doing a better job of teaching adulting classes these days than they were in the 1980s and 1990s. It’s a step in the right direction. While all young people grow up and need to become independent, and not all go to undergrad. Again, why not address these things early in high school?

Below are the kinds of things that could be covered in such a class.

  • What are your talents? [Don’t say you don’t have any, it’s not true.] All of the “yes’s” below mean something worthy of further attention.
    • Are you a good listener?
    • Are you a good speaker? Are you persuasive or convincing?
    • Are you a good reader? Do you have a clear speaking voice that’s nice to listen to?
    • Are you good at debate or arguing about a topic or issue? Is arguing exciting and stimulating, or is it draining?
    • Have you had to stop an argument or fight between others?
    • Have you defended someone who couldn’t defend themselves?
    • Have you had to train someone how to use their phone or computer?
    • Can you take things apart and easily get them back together?
    • Can you build things (like a furniture kit) with provided instructions? Is it fun?
    • Are you good with details?
    • Can you make food? Can you make food that’s beautiful?
    • Are you a dreamer who writes, draws, and/or both stories?
    • Do you make good videos people like watching?
    • Are you good at explaining complicated stuff to people who are struggling?
    • Are you good at theater and playing a character?
    • What classes involved your highest grades?
    • Are there moments in your life where you felt you helped, or saved the day?
    • Are you good with numbers?
    • Do you have amazing fashion sense?
    • Do you have a Youtube channel? Can you take those skills into video production for others?
    • Do you play a musical instrument?
    • Can you record, mix, and produce music?
    • Do you make crafts, pottery, models, or something else?
    • Do you write musical compositions or songs?
    • Can you maintain calm and focus in a crisis?
    • Do you always want to know what’s happening and then share that info with others?
    • Are you great with hair and makeup?
    • Do you love to read and research?
    • Do you love to code?
    • Do you like to dance? Can you make up dance routines?
    • Can you grow plants or raise animals?
    • Do you like self-defense or martial arts?
    • Do you have great hand-eye coordination? Can you hit a target easily?
    • Are you fascinated by how human bodies work?
    • Are you fascinated by how human brains work?
  • Are you introverted or extroverted? How social would your ideal job need to be? How do you feel about drama and conflict with other people? Is it energizing or draining?
  • If there’s someone you admire, read their biography or autobiography. Or if they’ve been alive in 2000s and beyond, watch their speeches or TED talks online. Sometimes older media (like radio recordings or newsreels of 1910s-1940s) are available on Youtube, but there’s no guarantees; the library is a better bet.
  • Do you personally know someone whose job looks really cool? Can you interview them about it, shadow them at work for a day, or both?
  • Is there someone on TV, in a movie, etc. whose job looked fun or cool? What would it take to learn more about that job?
  • What do you feel is wrong with your community, or the USA? What are its biggest problems? Would you want to work in government policy or an NGO (non-governmental organization) to help fix one of those problems?
  • Is there a job you were doing in high school you would like to keep doing: landscaping, childcare, pet care, moving company, retail, or restaurant?
    • What have you learned about dealing with customers or the public in this job? Has that affected what you do or don’t want to do for work in the future?
    • Would you still want to be in this business in 10 years?
    • Would you want to be manager?
    • Would you want your own business in this field?
  • What do you hate doing? What would you pay someone else to do for you? These are important things you can cross off a career list.
  • Do you really want to travel and see somewhere else for a change? Assuming you don’t have the money to take trips, would joining the military or joining the Peace Corps be desirable for you? Would you enjoy being a commercial flight attendant? If you are good at video or hair and makeup, maybe you would like to work on movie sets on location.
  • Is there a community college (aka, technical school, two year college) in your town? What career tracks do they offer? Do any of those sound appealing? Could you have a day job to make money and go to class at night?

WHAT’S THE LABOR MARKET LIKE RIGHT NOW?

  • This post at the Work Life Balance Company suggests making a career Venn diagram. There are three slightly overlapping circles labeled “what I like to do,” “what the market will pay for,” “what I am good at.” Where all three circles overlap is a sweet spot for one’s career. For some, but it may be there isn’t a meeting of all three but 2 out of 3 ain’t bad: if you are good at it and it pays bills, you can find things you like to do when you’re off. Or you grind for 10-20 years, save up money, and then totally change direction in life. It happens.
  • The following link is the occupational outlook at the US Department of Labor website. Some jobs pay $100,000+, and that certainly sounds more appealing than those that pay $30,000. But are the $100,000 ones involve doing something you enjoy, or would it be grueling for you? No employer wants someone who is in it just for the money. You may make a lot of money and realize that money isn’t everything.
    • There’s also an annual Parade magazine feature about what different jobs pay in America. Here’s a link to the 2020 survey.

___________________________

  • Do you work in a family business? Are you expected to follow in those footsteps, or take over the business? Is that what you really want to do? Is it something one of your siblings really want to do? Is that business in an industry with a long life ahead of it? Has someone outside the family approached about taking the reins when your parent wants to retire? Would that be okay with your family?
  • Do your parents expect their graduate to move out at 18? Does the graduate want to be able to move out at 18? This is a conversation to have in advance, not on an 18th birthday, or the night after graduation. Too many people think like to think they thrive on the last minute and put off everything, including really important conversations. I think they’re very wrong. It results in needlessly compounded stress and sloppy results. Yes, sometimes people get lucky, but that’s not the norm.

THE MONEY, HOUSING, THE WARDROBE

  • What is the average salary in your area? What is the rent on an apartment or house? Can someone with an average salary in your area afford an apartment or a rental house, or do they have to live 30-60 minutes away from his/her workplace? If you have a job now, could you afford your own studio place, or would you have to live with 2-4 strangers? What about utilities? What do houses cost in your area? Are tiny houses allowed? Are mobile or modular homes allowed? Will you need natural disaster insurance for flooding, tornadoes, etc.? How much is that?
  • The Billfold has some great articles about personal finance by people. While their blog isn’t publishing anymore, their past content was written in the 2000s-2010s and is still very relevant. Also, Forbes recommends these personal finance bloggers to follow in 2021. If you don’t geek out on a topic, find someone who does. The internet has been really great for that.
  • Do you need work or dress clothes, but have *no* idea what looks good on you? You can submit your email to take a color quiz at Color Me Beautiful here. You may also find these seasonal palettes on Pinterest. You can also Google “color season” and see what pops up.
    • Another trick: If you look at your veins on your wrist, do they appear blue or green? Blue veins tend to mean a cool (Winter or Summer) complexion, green veins tend to mean a warm (Fall-Spring) complexion.
    • If there’s a celebrity that looks like you (hair color, eye color, skin tone, height, build/body shape, face shape), notice what they wear on and off the red carpet. They get invited to events and dress up all the time, and they often have pros consulting them. If a look really worked for them, it will probably work for you. If a look didn’t work for them, it won’t work for you either.
    • Tips on how a men’s suit should fit here, and tips on how a women’s suit should fit here. For women, it can be harder to locate an in-house tailoring or alterations department. Bridal stores have seamstress in house or may have names of independent sewing shops. If your local community college or trade school has a fashion department, they also might offer this service. Here’s a video on what a quick sleeve and pant tailoring requires if you have to do it yourself in a timecrunch.
    • In recent years, stylist shipping companies have been introduced. If you have the money, Prime wardrobe, Trunk Club, or Stitch Fix can take the clothes-shopping frustration of your life. You share your preferences and they send you items that match the preferences. 
  • Do you need a car or will you commute on public transit to work? There’s certainly a thrill to a brand new car, but it’s expensive. Per CarGurus, “data show that a person could save at least $6,750 buying a 2-year-old formerly leased car, a 25% savings over a new model.” Read more here.

OFF HOURS

  • The things you did in high school for extracurricular activities won’t take up as much time after graduation, but that doesn’t mean they should be totally discarded if you enjoyed them.
    • A sport can be a career, but it can also be a pastime that enables exercise, manages stress, and enables you to make friends with other athletes.
    • Music or art can be a career, but it can also be a pastime that manages stress, and a means to make friends with other art-inclined people.
  • What is important to you in life? What would you be mad you didn’t do before you died? This is the beginnings of your bucket list. Make time for these things and figure out how to make them happen. Find friends who have the same dreams.

THE FUTURE FUTURE

  • Do you already own a car? How soon will you have to get a newer one? How easy or how hard is it to afford a newer one? Per CarGurus, “data show that a person could save at least $6,750 buying a 2-year-old formerly leased car, a 25% savings over a new model.” Read more here.
  • Do you want to have kids in 2-10 years? How much will that cost? Does your current or desired job offer health insurance? Family leave for parents? If not, can you train for a career that does have these things? Can you afford life insurance, which provides for those kids should anything happen to you? Who would you appoint to raise the kids if (for some reason) you couldn’t?
  • Are you an athlete for school? What would you want to do if you were permanently sidelined by an injury? What would you like to do in the second half of your life (when you have achy joints and half the energy you once had?) Sports medicine, coaching, or something totally different?

This post has been pretty long, so I thought I’d wrap here. I put a video and reading materials list in this post.

Best wishes to all high school graduates on their journeys!

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED JUNE 4, 2021.

If you enjoyed this post, maybe you will enjoy these on a similar theme:

Speaking and Communicating Goes To The Movies, Pt. 5/6: Temple Grandin

by kathleenwcurry, posted in Communications At the Movies

Imagine having an autism spectrum disorder in a time not a lot was known about it, and in a culture dominated by extroverted, neurotypical people. It definitely presents a unique set of challenges for a person to communicate and present oneself assertively in life.

Temple Grandin (2010) This film is a biopic about Grandin’s childhood and discovery of her life’s purpose. Grandin was born in Boston, Massachusetts in 1947. She did not speak until age four.

The movie creates the impression that Eustacia, Temple’s mother, was an advocate for her daughter, even if she (or anyone in the 1950s) understood autism. A supportive parent is a real asset in the years before a child can advocate for his/herself/themselves.

Grandin would come to realize she was a visual thinker, she had a passion for animals, and she wanted work improving the living conditions for cattle.

  • Since the early 2000s, Grandin has been activist for the autism community. She is a professor at Colorado State University. She regularly gives speeches like this one. She has also authored multiple books about her life and autism.
  • Grandin gave a speech about the history of autism diagnosis in America here.
  • People with autism can struggle with in-person interactions: making and/or maintaining eye contact, being touched, interpreting non-literal wording (sarcasm, idioms.) It can be especially challenging in a country like the US that emphasized extroversion in order to achieve personal economic and romantic success.
  • This is a link to an interview with Eustacia Cutler, Temple’s mother.
  • There is a list of famous people on the ASD spectrum, and historic figures who showed ASD tendencies here.

The last post in this series (for now) will come out next Tuesday. If you have suggestions for speaking or communications-themed movies, please share them. Thank you.

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED JUNE 1, 2021.

If you enjoyed this post, you might enjoy the others in the Speaking and Communicating Goes to the Movies series.

My Fair Lady

The Great Debaters

The King’s Speech

Dead Poets Society

Speaking and Communicating Goes to the Movies, pt. 4/6: Dead Poet’s Society

by kathleenwcurry, posted in Communications At the Movies

Who should a person try to be in life? Who their parents tell them to be, or who he/she feels they should be? Should a young person listen to the voices of authority figures or others, or their own inner voice?

Dead Poet’s Society (1989) This movie centers on a group of white teenage boys at a 1950s prep school. Their teacher, Mr. Keating, doesn’t play by the book. He encourages his students to listen to their individual spirits instead of playing the boy they’ve always been told to be. This is very revolutionary message for these kids to get at their age and at that time in the US. The lead, Neil, is internally conflicted. He is realizing he doesn’t want to study to be a doctor as his father wishes, and he doesn’t think his parents will accept that, or him. Another student, Todd, is painfully shy and doesn’t talk much at all.

  • Mr. Keating is played by the late Robin Williams, Neil is played by Robert Sean Leonard, and Todd is played by Ethan Hawke. A full cast list appears at the IMDb page, which is available at the movie title link above.
  • Other movies about teachers trying to make a positive impact on their students:

The next post in this series will come out next Tuesday. If you have suggestions for speaking or communications-themed movies, please share them.

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED MAY 25, 2021, UPDATED MAY 26, 2021.

If you enjoyed this post, you might enjoy the previous and latter ones in the Speaking and Communicating Goes To The Movies series: 

My Fair Lady

The Great Debaters

The King’s Speech

Temple Grandin

The Miracle Worker

Excerpt from Real Life: Making Bread At Home

by kathleenwcurry, posted in Excerpt from Real Life, Wildcard Friday

Due to the 2020 coronavirus pandemic, I wasn’t going out for errands as usual. When we ordered groceries for delivery in March-April 2020, bread was being limited per customer.

In order to adapt, we decided to stock up on flour and I learned to make different styles of bread for different purposes. Biscuits for weekend breakfast, flatbread for Friday night pizza, brioche buns for weekday sandwiches and brats.

BISCUITS: I tried a few different recipes; they ran the gamut from terrible to just okay. I really wanted thick ones that rise. Then I tried these, and they turned out wonderful. The recipe is called Fluffy Cathead Biscuits at A Spicy Perspective.

The recipe asks for buttermilk; I didn’t have it on hand, but I did have evaporated milk and added in cream of tartar powder as suggested here. Rather than mix cream of tartar into evaporated milk, the cream of tartar is added to the dry ingredients, then the evaporated milk is added last. This dough is made during the week, split in half, put in gallon size freezer bags, and chilled in the freezer until needed for the weekend.

FLATBREAD: This recipe at Midwest Foodie has worked out well. I added a bit of olive oil to the half sheets pans with crushed cornmeal and any dough sticking to the pan totally stopped.

BUNS FOR HAMBURGERS & BRATS: This brioche recipe at House of Nash Eats took awhile to get right. I let them rise for 2 hours the first time and 45 on the second rise.

I don’t tightly wrap the rolls with greased cellophane on the second rise; they expanded but appeared squished when I did this. Instead the cellophane is loosely placed on top, then a kitchen towel is placed over that. Once it is time to bake them, I spray the risen rolls with cooking spray in lieu of brushing them with egg wash or milk. I found using my silicone brush tugged at the dough, and using runny wash could burn on the pan, or run under the bread and burn. The spray allows them to brown just a little. They are allowed to cool. They are frozen until they are used, and they brown a little more as they are warmed.

TOAST: We got a bread mix, you can use 12 ounces of soda pop in it. The side of the box indicates you can add eggs to make the bread more dense, like sandwich bread. I’ve also picked up Hodgson Mills bread mixes in the past and they are pretty easy to use as well. The box may say use with breadmaker/bread machine, but you don’t have to have one to use the mix. You do need a 8.5″-9″ loaf pan, or 2-4 smaller loaf pans depending on your preference.

Ingredients I’ve adapted to, when needed:

BUTTER POWDER: This works well in baked goods. If using it for a spread, add in extra virgin olive oil to help the flavor, then chill it.

EGG POWDER: Egg powder works well in baked goods. If they were needed for breakfast omelet or scrambled eggs, I suggest salsa, pico de gallo, or your preferred strong flavored condiment to conceal their bitter flavor.

INSTANT YEAST: This stuff is great. We refrigerate it. Back in the 80s and 90s we had active dry packets in the cabinet and they only seemed to work half the time, so baking anything with yeast was something I absolutely dreaded. I just didn’t expect it to work at all. So now it’s a nice surprise every time this works.

Other items:

Oil Spray bottles: I have two spritzing bottles, one for grapeseed oil and one for olive oil. These are great for spraying frozen fries with grapeseed oil before putting them in the air fryer, lightly greasing a sauté pan, or adding olive oil to butter powder.