FistFullaRoux

I got more of a barbecue flavor. Maybe some cheese as well.

If the cabinets were made with plywood (even cabinet grade), there are solvents involved in the making of the stuff that can linger for a while. It could also be regarding the moisture content of the wood that was used. The wood may not have been completely dry when it was built. I would air them out extensively, including the use of fans. It may need more than 3 or 4 days, but move the air out if you are able to do so. If it just circulates the same room air, you really aren't fixing anything. There are some more drastic steps to take that may help as well. You may be getting the smell from the unstained wood in the interior of the joints and the ends of the panels and such. You can use some clear silicone caulk on all of the edges where wood meets wood. That will keep the fumes and smells from intruding into the interior of the cabinet. You can also use a tack rag to make sure all of the sawdust and other particles are removed from the casework.

Here's some more to try on for size... 1 - Her brother was on the sofa eatin chocolate pie Her momma was in the kitchen cuttin' chicken up to fry 2 - You are my candy girl, and you got me wantin' you 3 - There's a skeleton choking on a crust of bread 4 - So after a lot of thought, I'd like to reconsider. Please, If it's not too late, make it a cheeseburger 5 - I was chasing the black girl with the Oysters Rockefeller 6 - Eggs ain't poultry, grits ain't groceries, and Mona Lisa was a man 7 - ...sucking down quarter pounder cheese burgers from McDonald's in the old-fashioned non-biodegradable styrofoam container... 8 - Get you one of those greasebombs all peppered up, put you in the hospital for 10 days (This is quite obscure. Anyone gets this one, I'll have to make you the winner of the internet.) 9 - Boy grows up, he eats the enchilada, with the sauce that burns the heart (Even more obscure than #8, this was even a hidden track) 10 - Across the street, a neon sign, all you can eat for a dollar ninety nine - That old stew is the baddest in the land, but one dollars worth was all that I could stand

http://blog.al.com/whatgrinds/2007/05/real...ork_nights.html Admittedley not the best example of writing I've ever come across, but he does have a point.

Then how does Jello fit into the scene? Imagine grape pickled plums suspended in lemon jello. I would eat that.

In my experience, people who join organizations like that tend to be the more outgoing type, and usually aren't afraid to talk to a "stranger". Don't worry so much about the character you think you should be playing. Be yourself. It's not Iron Chef. I've done 2 of these cooking expos through the Jaycees here in Birmingham. You'd be surprised how much a pot of gumbo will raise outside of south Louisiana. The food is almost secondary. These folks would pay good money for grilled cheese sandwiches. It's the donation they are going for. I've also donated my services as a DJ for the Jaycees as a moneymaker. It's a great opportunity for you. Even if you are uncomfortable talking to people you don't know, it should be easy to handle. Just plan a menu that gives you some wiggle room, and never let them see you sweat. Remember, whatever you put out there is what you meant to do. Also, teach yourself a few mixed drinks that you can throw together if you hit a lull waiting for something to finish. More booze equals happy guests. You could also do some quick appetizer things for the same reason. Bring a cantaloupe and some prosciutto. That will fill a couple minutes.

Money. That's why. There are places that cater to those among us who are willing to spend an extra dollar or two to get a really high quality meal. But they are rarely full The flip side is to make it as cheap as possible and turn those tables over.

I've seen small pots of herbs, in a number of grocery stores around here. Publix and Whole Foods do have them. Just snip off what you need, then put them back on the windowsill. I've done a large dinner that way, and it was very easy to do. Cheaper than the plastic encased ones as well. I want to say the small 3" pot was around $1, with enough ready to go herbs in it to cook for 15 people. There was a lot left over, and I sent some of the pots home with some of my guests who commented on them. It made for a neat souvenier, and I didn't have to hassle with keeping up with them. They are fresher and cheaper than the packaged herbs, with a more than generous amount of herbs in there. They are around. Of course, most herbs can be planted in small pots that will sit near a window. It does not get any more convenient that walking 5 feet to a window and snipping off as much basil as you need. Then just continue your task.

Here ya go. Not to scale, and some things are not quite perfectly placed, but now I think you see what I'm talking about. I'm thinking that the utility room will be changed big. Pantry 1 gone, and washer/dryer go against Wall 2. Wall 1 to be shortened to about 5 feet in length to hide the washer/dryer. Freezer to move to garage wall. Wall 2 to be full wall for 8 feet from the garage. The rest of the wall will become a half wall/snackbar setup, no upper cabinets. Snack bar will dogleg out into the living room about 3 feet, and passageway from foyer to living room will be widened as much as possible, leaving the header intact, and expanding it. I'm pretty confident that we would have some columns over the length of the Wall 2 snackbar, but I can live with that. Wall 3 will be lowered to cabinet height, with cabinets installed top and bottom, same countertop as the rest of the kitchen. This will leave a passthrough to dining room, and we will widen the current pocket door to a 40" walkthrough. The trouble spot is where walls 2 and 3 meet near the current stove. That's where the support will have to be massive, since it will be supporting a long part of the roof line (peak of roof runs directly above Wall 2 for entire lenght of the house), plus headers for the Wall 3 cabinets and foyer/living room passthrough. That support will be covered with a full height narrow cabinet for large baking pans and assorted other goodies. The end result should be a much more open kitchen area, connecting it to the living room, and the big blank wall at the far end of the loooooong living room that is just begging for a HUGE television. Plus more cabinet space than what is there now.

Thanks for the help. I may have talked her out of the travetine type floors for the time being. Hadn't even thought of cork so much. I'll look into it. I am a proud overbuilder. Code requires 2x4's? If it's in the budget, I'll buy 4x4's. Half inch drywall? Let's do three quarters. We're being very careful about what we are doing to which walls. Instead of taking walls completely out, there will still be headers above those spots, with super beefy solid pine to hold them up. The one sticking point I'm seeing is one corner where the living room, dining room and kitchen meet. It is no doubt a load bearing wall, so I'm looking into going with a steel pipe that can replace a much larger hunk of wood. We'll cover it in a full height cabinet for baking items, tall and narrow. I really need to get some kind of sketch, even if not to scale so people will know what I'm talking about. More to come on that, should be done tonight.

I'll be out of town for most of next week, stuck in a hotel in Dallas taking apart laser printers and putting them back together (I love training - been doing computer hardware stuff since 1980 - hot shot "trainers" think they know it all. phht). Maybe that will give me a chance to catch up on the sketches and renderings. Still having digital cam issues, guess I need a new one. The weather may be lousy this weekend, so I'm not sure how much we can get accomplished, plus we only have one day out there this week, since I'm flying to DFW Sunday afternooon. This will be an ongoing project, it's not like we have a $35,000 home improvement loan. I have the tools (well, most of them), so we'll buy whatever materials we can and make a bunch of weekend projects once we move in. Which will be soon, we're getting the cable installed next weekend, which means I will have high speed internet and Discovery Channel. That's all I need. Well, working plumbing and air conditioning help. As long as I have all of those, I can do what I need to do on a daily basis. In short, still working on the pics, and I'll hopefully have renderings soon. I think the Punch software will even let me do an animated walkthrough and save it as a movie file. I'll have to double check.

Welcome. What does it look, smell, or taste like? What kind of fruits are in it? What kind of texture? Is it like a jam of different fruits? Or a juice product? What kind of dishes would you use it in? Does it come in a can, jar, bottle, or something else? Where did you get it before? Give us any clues you have and I bet we can come up with something.

Beer. Or failing that, banana.

Be careful of the bowl used in the microwave. You want to effectively re-steam the rice, and I would only use a microwave safe Corningware or something similar. Styrofoam or cheap plastic just won't cut it. They can't handle steam temperatures for any length of time without getting soft or failing.

You may want to try a low-acid variety. Another shade in the flavor profile of sauces and such.

There's always cheese sauces, make up some bechamel, and use as needed. Or for the really soft cheeses, try a piping bag.

Sketches and pics to come later. Still working on them. Using the Punch software, and it takes a bit to get correct. But they will be posted somehow someway. One decorating thing we did come up with was to take both our grandmother's recipe cards, scan them and clean them up, then frame the prints all over the kitchen, so the originals can be preserved safely. Maybe even get one of the digital picture frames that would scroll through the scans, since there are far more than we could ever put on a wall.

I appreciate the input on the tile. I think it will look great, even with a small rug at the workstations. Personally, I would rather a laminate wood floor, but we reached a compromise.

An enthusiastic second for Upperline. The best gumbo I have ever had. I'll repeat that. The best gumbo I have ever had, and I'm a Cajun born and raised in south LA. Best. Ever.

nola.com's account of the melee Well, that's a helluva thing. I haven't heard AB mention that one yet. I'm just wondering what kind of bottle it was.

Yeah, but what about the filling? The cake is only there to hold the filling.

I wouldn't risk it. Dig 'em up and try again. It's early enough to get them back before too long. In the meantime, you can buy at least some herbs already in pots to use in the meantime. I did most of Thanksgiving dinner with small pots of fresh herbs. They're cheaper than the packs of "fresh" herbs that most supermarkets sell. And smack him upside the head for being a dumbass.

I like the Corian for the following reasons. It is a synthetic surface. It is highly workable and is widely available in a wide variety of colors and textures. It's durable, and the color goes all the way through so you can sand away nicks and stains. Plus it's really good in the microbe department from my research. And yes to the integrated sink. Plus granite countertops just would not fit into the type of house. I just don't think of solid stone anything in a ranch style house. Most of you would probably fall over for what we got the house for, especially in what will be a bedroom community for a major city soon. The suburbs of Birmingham are within 5 or 6 miles already. The developers are going after the few remaining cotton fields around here. This lot got in under the wire. Considering we are probably going to put 30K into the house, with me being primary labor, and it might just double the value of it. But I ain't moving again. This thing will have to last me 40 years or so, so I may as well do it right. Do all of the modifications for handicapped accessability and all that. Given my wife's health issues, and the somewhat unknown future regarding her mobility, we may as well do it now. That's changing bathrooms and all, but the kitchen will get the primary update. Most of the other stuff is paint and decoration. I'm a wood kind of guy. I could build butcherblock countertops and make my own wood flooring. I grew up on a farm, and learned a bit about construction and tools. Also a bit of veterinary science, diesel mechanics, chemistry, botany, and many more things. I apprenticed as a luthier (guitar maker) for a couple of years. I can handle just about any home repair. I'd prefer to pay for plumbers, roofers, and electricians, but I could do it in a pinch. All that to say, I'd love to do an over the top high end hand shellacked highly figured maple cabinet fronts or something. Real world, more than likely solid ash or alder fronts, with a quartersawn maple veneer, stained a compromise color. I think cherry just looks fantastic against stainless, but that may be a bit dark. Oak is not my favorite look. I don't like the grain. There are so many other options. Appliances are still up in the air a bit, but we do know Kenmore and stainless. Side by side fridge, a seperate deep freeze (I am sick and tired of apartment fridges and the two ice cube tray freezers), gas cooktop (industrial type would be nice, but whatever delivers the highest BTU's available), double ovens, built-in microwave, and a computer. Yes, I'm going to connect the kitchen (being the geek I am) with a laptop, wirelessly. We already have the stand mixer (thanks, Mom). Of course a garbage disposer and dishwasher. Instant hot water is still an option, but filtration is a requirement. Same for the icemaker in the fridge. Floors, I would be happy with a laminate wood floor, but the wife wants the travertine. I'm still hoping for the ceramic because of the maintainence issues.

For most of my adult life, I've lived in apartments. The times I wasn't in an apartment, I was in a rental house. My wife and I have landed our first actual house. It's gonna need some work. It's sturdy and structurally fine, but way outdated in the looks department. Built in 1970, it's your basic brick ranch house, 1 story, but fairly spacious with a big back yard. Plenty of room for a deck and a big honking grill. The house hasn't been touched since it was built, except for a new roof about 7 years ago and a new heat pump last year. Still has the goldenrod shag carpeting in it, and the 1969 Frigidaire fridge, still running. To the kitchen - We will be trying to combine kitchen and living/dining space by removing and modifying some walls. I'll be building the cabinets myself, we'll do new floors and get rid of the faux wood paneling everywhere. I'm pretty set on Corian countertops, if I can convince my wife. We know we want stainless appliances, looking at one of the Kenmore lines for that. We are going to have to relocate appliances within the kitchen, as the wall between the kitchen and living room will become a snack bar/ countertop type setup. That wall currently houses the stove and dishwasher. The dishwasher can probably stay, but the stove has to move, maybe replaced by the sink. We want an actual diner style booth for the kitchen to save a bit of space when we aren't using the dining room. I'm hoping to find a Denny's that's closing or something for that, since my skills do not go into upholstery at all. We will also probably take out a wall between the kitchen and utility room, and just make a small closet type room for the washer and dryer. I also want to convert a short wall between the kitchen and dining room to a countertop with storage beneath. That will add about a hundred square feet to the "kitchen area", since it's not going to be confined to one room with four walls and two doors. I'll need some input on rearranging this stuff. I'm going to the house this weekend to mow the yard (for the first time heh heh) and take some measurements, maybe some pics if I remember my camera. Oh, and I'll be converting the stove and water heater to natural gas as well. It's in a semi-rural area (city water, though), and they have been known to lose power. This is going to be a blast. And a pain. But I'm prepared for it. My wife has her mind set on travertine for the kitchen floor. I've already found ceramic tile that looks like travertine, but is, well, ceramic. Anyone have experience with this stuff?

Many veggies are fine fare from frozen. As long as they aren't cooked to death. Some other things are still really good, if you suspend your belief in what the item is "supposed" to taste like. For what they actually are, they're pretty good. I'm still a Hot Pockets fan, and Stouffer's Lasagna is a standard in my freezer. French bread pizza. Frozen waffles are also a common item in my home. No, I don't have a waffle iron - small apartment kitchen and not enough room to fart much less add more equipment. Though that is about to change. Does this discussion include ice cream?