Blu Greenberg's book may be more my speed

I got up to about page 114 in Forst's The Laws of Kashrut (see here) and gave up (or, at least, took a break)--the charts that Larry recommended are about the only things I can understand. I decided to read Blu Greenburg's How to Run a Traditional Jewish Household instead--and already, on pages 45 and 46, I learned two things that I didn't know. On page 45, Greenberg says, concerning Erev Shabbat/Sabbath Eve (Friday evening), that "There is no partaking of food from the time candles are lit until Kiddush is recited at dinner . . ." Apparently, this is not just a chumrah (extra stringency not required by halachah/Jewish religious law), as I thought it was when our last rabbi, the Yeshivish one, complained about not being able to eat before our 8 PM Friday service--if someone as famously *Modern* Orthodox as Blu Greenberg follows this rule, I think it's reasonable for me to assume that the acceptance thereof is probably widespread in the Orthodox community. Next Friday, remind me to grab a handful of nuts before two minutes until z'man l'hadlik nerot/licht bentchen/candle-lighting time. I also learned, on page 46, that just because we switched from using tea bags to using tea essence (made by brewing a bunch of teabags in much less water than you would usually use, so that you can dilute the essence with pre-heated water for hot tea) on Shabbat out of concern that dipping the bags on Shabbat might constitute cooking, that doesn't mean that we're allowed to put the tea into the cup first--we must still pour the pre-heated water into the cup or teapot first, then add the tea essence.

Hmm, maybe I just need the right teacher.