Didn't see it mentioned here, but it's easy to cut the time required to bring butter/eggs to room temp. by immersing them in a bowl of barely lukewarm water (put the wrapped stick of butter in a plastic bag of some sort first). In half an hour, you have perfect room-temp ingredients! Thanks, Susan - I often do that with eggs, but never thought to do it with butter... or cream cheese, which is the other ingredient I always forget to take out of the fridge... PJH

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