Varmint

Even though my beloved Packers failed miserably in the first round, it's likely that I'll still make bratwurst -- lots and lots of bratwurst. Of course, if my kitchen is being gutted then, I'll likely eat it at someone else's house!

I'm a french press newbie, too, and there's absolutely no comparison between the coffee made with this thing and a drip pot. The french press brings out a depth of flavor, including chocolate overtones, that I never experienced in a drip pot. I'm using the same blade grinder, same tap water, but the flavor is amazingly different. Also, I seem to get more of a caffeine buzz from the press. God, I love this thing!

It's 18 degrees right now, fifi, so, no, there won't be much in the way of outdoor cooking. Plus, my gas grill is so beat up that I've converted it to a smoker. A damn good smoker at that! The 2 burners plus the grill will work fine. We'll also have the microwave and a toaster oven. No real baking per se, but we can manage. And we've invited ourselves to dinner at lots of friends' and families' houses!

I received a newly stained sample door from Ken Ables today. The stain is darker than what I'll be getting, but this flush batten, solid wood door is much more representative of what I'll be getting. This is very acceptable to me. The door weighs a ton, although the batten strips across the back add to its weight: When demolition begins in a couple of weeks, we'll spend that time at my in-laws. It's just not all that great being around all that dust. However, once that dust settles, we'll move back home and spend a lot of time in our second kitchen. The master bedroom has a loft above it that contains a small kitchen. This was built for two purposes: first, it allowed my wife or her 3 sisters to have a party, and the parents could invite another couple up to their loft kitchen for dinner and chaperone. Second, my in-laws anticipated closing off that end of the house some day, to serve as a caretaker suite. This is the view looking up the steps to the loft: Here's our dining table and a box that our new mini-fridge came in! We can put 6 people around this, but we haven't put the chairs in place yet. Here's my cooking surface and HUGE sink : Our spiffy new compact refrigerator and trash can: Finally, this post wouldn't be complete without this photo of the light fixture above the table, remembering that this part of the house was built in the mid-70s: I'll have the detailed price list for the cabinets tomorrow.

I received some 3-D renderings of the cabinets from the good folks at Cabinetrydirect.com. This is the first run of drawings, and I'm talking with the owner, Ken Ables, later today to fine tune everything. Their drawing program is not perfect, but it's damn good. I'll go through the details here. As you walk into the kitchen from the laundry room, this sink area will be to your left. The first set of cabinets is a full-depth pantry that will house the microwave. We're actually going to raise the height of the microwave, as Cella and I both like it to be at eye level. Moreover, that maximizes the amount of functional space in the lower pantry cabinet. To the left of the sink is a pull-out trash can (a whopping 50 quart model!). The window above the sink will be new. The old dishwasher will be to the right of the sink, followed by a cabinet that will house the everday cutlery. Glassware will likely be stored in the wall cabinet above the dishwasher. Looking behind the sink is the refrigerator/freezer area. This rendering shows two fridge/freezer combination units, but I have separate SubZero units. The unusual thing about this arrangement is the bookshelf area to the right. The base unit is essentially functionless, as it houses the return air ductwork from an adjacent room. However, we'll put some countertop on there and a fairly narrow bookshelf to house my better looking cookbooks! This rendering also doesn't show that we'll be building a wall to the left of the SubZeros, the end of which will be painted with magnetic paint. We'll find a place to put all those refrigerator magnets, gosh darn it! This is the "baking" area, and again, this rendering does a good job of capturing the cabinet layout, but not the entire "feel" of the area. This rendering makes this region appear to be very tight with limited space, and it won't function that way at all. It's a very simple space, and I'll be making the most of it. To the right will be the doorway to the pantry, and we WILL be installing a swinging door there. The hardware is pretty cheap, so we'll have some fun. This is the range and eating bar area. Two things were left out of this rendering: the prep sink, which will be in the top of the two-door cabinet to the left of the dishwasher, and the support post going through the eating bar. Otherwise, this is pretty darned accurate. Again, it makes the space feel smaller than it actually is, but I'm looking forward to having all this room. This kitchen will be a lot of fun to cook in, with lots of guests pitching in! I'll store some of my cookware in the base cabinet to the irght of the range, and other stuff will hang from a small wall rack that will be on the short wall jutting out from the baking area. I'll keep my cooking "tools" in the drawers to the left of the range, as well as on the countertop. Plates will be kept in the wall cabinet to the right of the hood. I'm not entirely sure what will be kept in the drawers under the eating bar, but at least one will be for towels. There is a second pull-out trash bin to the left of the sink (with 4 kids, you can't have enough trash cans). The Bosch dishwasher will be housed here. So, we're getting down to the nitty gritty. We've actually packed up much of the kitchen already and the second kitchen is almost prepared, even though demolition is not scheduled to begin for another two weeks. We just recognized that things tend to get quite hectic on the weekends, so we wanted to get as much stuff done in advance as we could. And we're succeeding so far! I'll be sure to add pictures of our second kitchen, so you can see what we'll be dealing with. We're actually quite lucky, I must say.

I ordered my two faucets today, both made by Handgrohe. For the prep sink, we'll get this one in steel. Since I'll be filling pots at the prep sink, I went with the higher faucet. For the main sink, we went with this very simple pull out design. Cost for the two faucets, delivered, is $547.30. I bought through ebates.com, so I'll get a 3% rebate for a net price of about $530. I believe I budgeted $1,000 for my faucets and disposal, so it looks like I'm under by 90 bucks. I talked with the HVAC guy, and there's not much for him to do. He even told me any idiot can cut a hole through the ceiling and roof and install the ductwork and cap for the hood, but we'll need to hire a roofer to get the roof-flashing right.

I had a slightly different way of looking at my budget when I started this process. To some people, once you set a budget, you'll end up spending at least that much. To me, my budget was based on an estimate of my costs to get the kitchen I wanted. Last year, when I prematurely began to plan for renovations, I had a fairly firm budget in that I didn't want to spend over that because the job was going to be a temporary fix. This time, however, I'm looking for THE long-term renovation. Thus, I wanted to determine how much it was going to cost me. I didn't want to spend 100,000 bucks, but I also knew I couldn't do it for $20,000, either. I didn't start with a notion of "I have this much to spend", as that can force you to make concessions you may later regret. Thus, when I budgeted $800 for cabinetry hardware, I looked at the stuff I like, estimated how many I'd need, and base my "budgeted amount" from those predictions. Now, I'll scour the internet to find a better deal, and if I do, then my cost will be lower, which is always good!

There's a safe harbor that we in NC can use. Don't worry about that!

My master budget list, which is more detailed than what I've provided here, does allow about 800 bucks for cabinet hardware, which is for handles only. The cabinets come with top-of-the-line Blum hinges and full-extension drawer mechanisms.

Ken Able, the owner of cabinetrydirect.com, is sending me 3 more door samples to help me in my decision-making process. We spent over an hour on the phone today, and I can say with a very high level of confidence that there is no way in hell I could have ever gotten the cabinets from a Home Depot. This guy thinks of every option and can make any minor (or major) adjustment needed to get it right. The level of detail and the amount of attentiveness has been unbelievable. He's spent at least 4-5 hours on the phone with me, thoroughly scrutinized my plans and specs, procured, prepared and shipped samples, and I've yet to send him one penny. This guy goes the extra mile, and I think I'm going to end up with some kick-ass cabinets as a result. I also decided that I'm going with a blue pearl granite tile for my countertop. I'll be purchasing 12X12" tiles for the regular counters and 18X18" tiles for the eating bar. We'll bullnose some of those tiles for the edge, and we've decided to add 45 degree edges at the corners of the bar to avoid the sharp square angles. I need about 100 square feet of the granite tile, and it's sold at $7.95 a square foot from this new, small, local tile shop that I discovered at lunch today. We're using a nice gray porcelain tile for the floor. I'll try and get a picture. This goes for about $4 a square foot, which is a bit more than I initially planned, but it goes perfect with the granite. Plus, my countertop hard costs are under budget (although I saw this incredibly beautiful azul macaubas tile that is drop dead gorgeous. It's only $25 a foot, but man, it's unbelievable. The thing is, most places list azul macaubas as a granite, but others say it's a marble. It's not really an option because of price, but if it has the chemical characteristics of a marble (i.e., keep acids away), I'd be less bummed about not getting it.

If you look at each line item, you might have found it at a better price elsewhere. If you look at the entire set of appliances, no one came close to the net price (particularly when including tax and delivery). This will be delivered into my home, which is another advantage. If I had purchased these locally, I would have paid about $50 for the delivery plus 7% sales tax on prices that already exceeded these.

I ordered my main sink last night from Homeclick's eBay site. The Blanco 810-574 is usually $577, including shipping. I got it from their eBay site for $524, including shipping. I then ordered ALL my other appliances today from an internet dealer as well. I've heard all sorts of stories about whether it's safe to buy from the internet, but I've decided to outfit nearly my entire kitchen using the resources of the World Wide Web!!! Perhaps this will be a live and learn story, but we'll see. I ordered from a Philadelphia-based company known as Ajax Philadelphia, Inc. Their website is http://www.cuttingedgekitchens.com/, although they're creating a new identity under the site http://www.cuttingedgeappliance.com. I had the pleasure of dealing directly with Ajax's owner, Van Weiss, and he was quite helpful. Here's the breakdown of pricing: GE-ZDP36N6HSS GE Monogram 6 Burner Dual Fuel range 4,999.00 GE-ZET938SFSS GE Monogram 30" Single Wall Oven 1,649.00 VH-PRH18236SS 36'' wide Vent-a-Hood with 600 cfm blower and halogen lights 1590.00 BO-SHY56A05 Bosch Integra Dishwasher-Ltd edition-SS 999.00 (yeah, I ended up going with the Bosch) WK-SS8000 Waste King Gourmet Disposer. 1Hp. Continous Feed. 189.00 each, 2 for 378.00 Package Discount (337.00) Total, including shipping: $9,278.00 This is about $150 under the budget I stated above, and I'm getting a better hood and an arguably better dishwasher. So far, so good! I want to again say how much of a pleasure it was dealing with Van Weiss. He's turned to the internet to rescue a failing business, and he's done a remarkable job. Do a Google search for "Ajax Philadelphia", and you'll find a number of stories about what he's done.

The example I showed earlier was not maple -- it was oak. Again, what I received was maple and it represented the "worst case scenario." I want something better than that.

The cabinet maker did tell me that he was sending me a sample with the most pronounced difference in grain that he could find. He did a good job. Geesh, this is starting to concern me. I'll talk to him tomorrow.

Please expand on your thoughts. I feel that I'm heading in a direction towards inferior cabinets, but in my price range, that might be what I'm able to get. Realize, when it comes to wood knowledge, on a scale of 1-10 (with 1 behind totally ignorant), I'm now up to a 3, tops. FYI, I did receive a sample flush batten door, and it is very heavy, but the grain is not at all matched.

Maple. Very light stain, just a shade darker than natural. I'd say it's close to a pine color.

I have a question about doors. It appears that cabinet makers make their slab doors in one of two ways: when they use solid wood, they glue together several panels, creating a "batten" that prevents warping. You end up with a very solid wood door, but instead of a uniform front, you get several "strips" of grain. The second option is to use plywood that is covered with veneer. This way, the grain on the front of the door is uniform. Here's an example of a flush batten door. Now, I'm not willing to go with anything but slab, so I have this choice to make. I like the look of uniform grain, but I'm somewhat reluctant to choose the veneer/plywood combination. What are y'all's thoughts?

OK, it's a semantics issue. Let me recharacterize it as follows: I'm the GC, and Todd is my foreman! I'm still relying on him to handle the day-to-day affairs, but I'm in charge of the decision-making process. Better?

For fried catfish, go to Taylor Grocery a few miles outside of Oxford. I can't tell you where the good barbecue is, but I'm sure folks who visit Oxford will chime in here for more guidance.

I am acting as GC for permitting purposes. Todd (the young guy) acts as GC for day-to-day operations, coordinating with the subs. I'm paying the subs directly, and I have 2 lined up. The electrician called with his quote minutes ago: $2,600. That's actually quite reasonable for the amount of rewiring that this kitchen requires (we're installing a new breaker box as the old one wouldn't pass code!). So, plumbing is $1,600. Electric is $2,600. I haven't talked to the HVAC guy yet, but that shouldn't be much at all, as all we're doing is installing the hood and moving one floor vent. I may have him install another, as the kitchen needs it.

I just got the bid from the "young guy," which includes labor only and then an estimate of costs. Best case scenario: $16,000. Worst case scenario, $20,400. Likely scenario, $18,200. Adding sheetrock, lumber, paint, etc. bumps it up a thousand dollars. So, I'm going with $21,000 even. My "budget" (hah!, if anyone truly has a budget for a remodel) is $50,000. Total hard costs are about 26-27 grand. Adding in the electrician, plumber and HVAC, we're looking at $50,000 here, too. Ultimately, after considering all the pros and cons, I'm going with my gut and hiring the young guy. I think his estimate is realistic, and although the GC gave me some numbers that were somewhat specific, I think he grossly underestimated the cabinets. This is what it all comes down to: feel. I feel comfortable with the young guy. He wants this job more than the GC. He and I think alike, he's creative, and he'll be on site every day, doing the work. Plus, Mrs. Varmint points out, he's really, really cute. Is this riskier? Yup. But I've got some good contracts that will limit my liability. He has comprehensive liability insurance and his two workers have personal disability policies. I just think that the end product, which is the most important thing to me, will be better with him doing the work. I guess I need to call him and let him know! Oh, and he can still start around Feb. 1!

That's interesting. I did indeed speak with John T. about Karen Barker shortly before he spent a day baking with her, but what I told him was how I liked what she did over there, that she was able to take fairly simple concepts and elevate them. I DID mention that one person I know considers Karen to be more of a "baker" than a pastry chef and that her work is nothing to get excited about. Perhaps he attributed that to me, which would be unfortunate, as I'm elated to eat anything that Karen or Phoebe Lawless put on a plate.

OK, I'm taking this slightly off topic, but I have to do it. Maybe I'll create a new thread. Anyhow, we vacationed in Maine this year, and after a week, the rest of the Varmint family headed west, eventually ending up in Niagara Falls, while I headed to NYC for a conference. I told my children that they had a job: to find the single tackiest gift at Niagara Falls that cost less than $5. This is what they brought back with them: I'd have to say they succeeded with their job!

The pocket door would work, but I may have found an even better solution, which I mentioned above: the telescoping pocket door. This company only sells to folks in "the business", but my father-in-law, an architect, is setting up an account with them so we can get all the necessary info. Woo hoo!

I tried to fry up some small, peeled fingerling potatoes that I discovered in the fridge way back when I was in high school. I sliced them up, threw them in the pan, and cooked away. No browning, no tenderizing. They were damn water chestnuts, something my mother never EVER used in the friggin' house. Speaking of my mother, she tells a great "worst dish" story. I was but a babe, and my mother was making pork chops, holding me on her hip. With 3 older brothers running around the house, she'd easily get distracted. However, she continued to make the chops, adding some water from time to time from a styrofoam cup she had sitting on the counter beside the stove. As dinner time approached, one of my brothers came into the kitchen, crying. My mom asked him what was wrong, and he said, "Someone stole all my fishing worms that dug up. I had them in a styrofoam cup." Well, my mom turned white as a sheet. She took the lid off the frying pan, and there you had a typical example of her culinary genius: pork chops a la earthworm. I don't recall what we ended up eating that night.