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Q: I have a recipe that calls for rose water, and I'm unable to find it. Is there an ingredient I can substitute? -- Norm S.

A: Why substitute (and no, I'm not aware of a good one) when rose water is so easy to make at home? It's a lot like making tea, actually. Take three handfuls of petals from a fragrant rose and pour 6 cups of water over them in a large saucepan. Place over medium to low heat and allow the water to simmer until it's reduced by half. Strain the water into a clean container and discard the petals. Presto! You've got rose water.

Rose water is used in many Middle Eastern and Mediterranean recipes, often as an addition in pastries and light dishes. It's also used in many skin care products.

Q: I have many bottles of honey that I was given as a present. I don't want to waste it. Can I substitute honey into baking recipes instead of sugar? And how many cups of honey would equal how many cups of sugar? Thanks! -- Frances

A: Baking bread and cakes with honey has been going on a lot longer than baking with refined sugar, so of course you can substitute! You just need to make a few small modifications.

Honey is, of course, sweeter than granulated sugar, so you use a 4-to-5 ratio. In other words: if your recipe called for 5 cups of sugar, you'd use 4 cups of honey. Also, decrease any water added to the recipe by 2 teaspoons per cup of honey used. Now, since honey is a natural product, that may vary a bit either way, but your results should still be edible.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, add a pinch of baking soda to balance out the Ph of your mixture and allow it to rise properly.

You may never use sugar again!

Q: I am looking for an official definition to explain the difference between BUN and ROLL. i.e. hot dog bun (not roll); Kaiser roll (not bun); hamburger bun ( not roll); sweet roll ( not bun); however cinnamon bun and/or roll. I don't believe it is a matter of colloquialism, but must contain some form of cullinary distinction, yet I have been unable to find the "truth." Can you provide me with a serious answer please? It's one of those questions that has gone unanswered too long! -- Saskoul

A: I truly love questions like this, that send me scrambling for my Webster's just as quick as my cooking tomes.

Technically, there is no difference between the terms, but I've never been much of one for technicalities unless they're helping me win at Scrabble.

One school of thought is that buns are sliced, whereas rolls are presented whole. This holds when one speaks of hot dog or hamburger buns; and the hot yeast rolls I pound down by the dozen at Thanksgiving are always uncut until I bury a tablespoon of butter in them.

We run afoul of the terminology, however, when we get to the cinnamon roll. Or do we? First off, I've also seen these concoctions referred to as cinnamon buns, but we needn't stoop to such distinctions to make our point.

Now, purely for the purposes of research, I'm going to ask you to make the sacrifice and go and find the gooiest cinnamon roll you can. It's all in the interest of science.

Look at the roll. Is it one whole piece? Well, this could be argued either way. Certainly it's one complete spiral of dough, but each ring of the spiral is separate from the other. Now pull loose just the outer ring of the cinnamon roll. Doesn't it come loose from the remainder of the roll easily, like one half of a hot dog bun from its mate?

We are now done with the outer portion of the roll. You may dispose of it in whatever you manner you see fit. I'd recommend eating it, as it's wrong to waste food.

Move on to the next ring of the roll and repeat your observations. Continue observing and, uh, disposing of the layers until you reach the center. Here, at the terminus of the spiral, where the dough makes one final tight turn, is a formation which could fairly be called a bun.

However, if we're going to use different terminology for something, shouldn't there be a perceptible difference between what we're giving the new name and its predecessor? Since we're dealing with food, the natural divinitive method here would be taste. You're just going to have to eat the center of the cinnamon roll.

Now that you've consumed a nice, warm, gooey cinnamon roll, go curl up in front of the fire with a fuzzy blanket and a hot toddy. Leave the philosophical discussions to the philosophers and contemplate your next cinnamon bun/roll.

Q: Currently, I have a spice rack hanging horizontally on the back wall above my electric stove. Am I damaging the spices or promoting bacteria because of the heat from the stove? Where do you recommend storing dry spices? How often should they be replaced? --W.C.

A: Get that spice rack away from the stove! While herbs and spices are pretty sturdy stuff, heat will suck the flavor right out of them and reduce their shelf lives markedly.

The best storage vessel, especially for ground spices, is an airtight, opaque container in a cool place.

Ground spices generally should be used within six to eight months; the more pungent the spice the longer it will last. So, even though that gigantic tub of cinnamon at the grocery store may be a better value per ounce, you'll never use it all before the quality degrades.

Whole spices, such a nutmegs, cinnamon sticks and peppercorns, keep far longer, sometimes up to two years.

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