Jambalyle

I think I'll make my chicken soup stock this weekend too... I'l let you know how it goes! -Lyle

Pam, thanks for the advice. I think I do have a couple of chicken necks buried in the freezer and I think I can get plain ole wings at the market. I wasn't sold on the roasting/browning the feet before adding to the stock pot, so that's one less pan dirtied. Those times when MIL's soup was on the bland side, a dash of salt and a grind of pepper went along way to cure the problem. Do you use any other seasonings besides salt and pepper in your basic chicken soup? How far in advance do you make your soup before seder, or do you make it that day?

Hi all... We're hosting two seders at our home, mostly potluck family and havurah affairs. Since traveling with a large amount of liquid is often a recipe for disaster, we've offered to make the chicken soup for others' matzo balls. My MIL swears that the best chicken stock/soup is made from chicken feet. Yesterday, my MIL calls me at work and tells me that she put 3lbs of chicken feet in my fridge and would put the $ on "my tab"... Anyway, my MIL's chicken soup is good, but sometimes bland - some years better than others - but she always starts with chicken feet. So, in an effort to kick the chicken soup up a notch, my questions to you are: Should I roast or brown the chicken feet before adding to my stock pot? Do you have recommendations for adding other vegetables to the stock pot, besides onion, celery, carrot, and parsnip? Thanks in advance! -Lyle

I'm with Jennifer... the traffic flow looks off somehow. I'm not seeing a benefit in the change? edited to ask: what is the space around the kitchen?

Here's one of my favorites: Avocado Cherry Tomato salsa 6 ripe, but firm avocados, diced 2# cherry tomatoes, sliced in half 1 red onion, fine diced 2-3 jalapeno peppers, seeded and minced small bunch fresh cilantro (or basil will work) 2-3 limes (fresh juice) kosher salt black pepper olive oil Slice tomatoes in half and put in large non-reactive mixing bowl and sprinkle with some salt to bring out their flavor. Place diced avocado in another large mixing bowl. Squeeze in the the juice of 2-3 limes and 1-2 tbsp of olive oil and toss lightly to cover. Add chopped onion, minced jalapeno, and chopped cilantro. Add sliced tomatoes. Mix gently. I usually cover and chill for an hour or so before serving, then do a quick adjust with salt and pepper. The jalapenos provide the only "kick" - two is often sufficient. The proportions are "to taste" and are relative/approximate... I usually make a ton - I typically start by buying a bag of 6 avocados (a couple of days before I need them just to make sure they'll ripen) and 2# of Santa Sweets cherry tomatoes at Costco. You can scale up or down from there.

I'm sending back my brand new GE Monogram 42" refrigerator!!! My west coast butter won't fit in the butter dish that came with it!!

Were we in the same first grade? We did the exact same thing! It was yummy... and didn't take long at all. In fact the last kids to get the jar didn't have much luck getting anything in the jar to shake. -Lyle PS: It's a shame that schools probably can't do this anymore... given all the kids with dairy allergies (at least in my kid's classrooms).

9-out-of-10 times = hate 1-out-of-10 times = OK, not love Cilantro is fine...

Thanks Jennifer! So far it's a fun kitchen to work in... though I haven't done too much serious cooking yet. I did, however, have four burners going at once for one dinner last week! For Superbowl, we used the small oven to keep things warm, mainly the extra batch of pulled pork. In the large oven, I roasted a 12lb sirloin tip roast with a pepper herb rub. I used relatively low temp and convection - worked like a charm. I left it in a tad too long and it was a little too medium for my tastes, but it was a big hit with our guests. We've baked cookies no problems. On top of the range, it was nice to bring a large pot of water for spaghetti to a boil in a third of the time it used to take! I broke in the infrared grill with a marinated tri-tip. Worked well, but I don't think it will replace the BBQ grill outside. I love the new GE big fridge and little one. It is certainly nice not to have to store beverages in the main fridge. We're still getting the hang of the dishwasher... it holds an amazing amount of plates and traditional place settings, but we're struggling with how best to place Tupperware and other weird-sized things. I appreciate having the large stainless sink - definitely a good investment. My wife loves the garbage disposal - she prefers the strong silent type (which made it the perfect birthday present for her). Last night, I finally installed the halogen spotlights on the monorail track lighting system above the island. That makes a big difference, both for functional work lighting for the island, but also adds ambiance to the space. Anyway, I plan to post some final pictures of the greatroom sometime soon and keep people informed of my likes and dislikes in the new space. Thanks again and good luck with your remodel! -Lyle

Thanks for your patience... we're almost done - hooray! - but we also feel the last 5% of the project will take another year (and more money). And another year after that to unpack all the boxes. First some quick advice about blogging your remodel on eG: 1) Do not use disposable cameras... the turn around sucks and the quality of the pictures is worse. 2) Have a functional computer and Internet access to facilitate your blogging. 3) Commit the time needed to do this - time to write, time to document your progress, time to upload photos, but keep your patience when there's nothing blogworthy happening. I feel I've failed in my blogging and documenting our project, but am generally happy with how the remodel/addition have turned out. So here's where we stand... Our first night back in the house was Feb 16th and as of last Sunday all of our boxes and belongs are here. Thank you mom-in-law for letting us live with you for eight and a half months (the first seven and a half months were terrific) and we could not have done this with out you! We successfully had an open house and Superbowl party on Feb 4th. Over 75 people came through our home, feasted on sandwiches of pulled pork and carved sirloin tip roast, watched the Colts beat the Bears, and debated the pros and cons of Prince's rain-soaked halftime performance. Overall everyone had positive comments about our project and loved the kitchen/greatroom areas. What's left to be done... Interior: just some trim work, some touch-ups with spackle and paint, swapping some electrical switches and adding a dimmer or two. Exterior: install AC condenser, exterior paint, garage door, exterior lighting, downspouts, deck, and landscaping, in general... OK, it's more like 10% to go. I have yet to have my photographer friend come in and shoot final pictures, but to give you another near finished glimpse of the kitchen area, I have attached four, poor-quality disposable camera pictures showing the overall kitchen area, the island, the buffet/beverage area, and the entertainment center:

It's been a while since I've eaten in Portland, but three memorable meals come to mind: 1) The best kung pau chicken I've ever eaten was in Portland's chinatown, down by the train station... don't know the name of the place or even if it had a name. It was 1:00am, it was upstairs, the fluorescent lights had a yellow hue to them, and the fly strips were hanging... but, my god, the food was good. Might be worth exploring in chinatown to satisfy your ethnic food cravings. 2) There's some strip club up the river that offers a really tasty ribeye, but that's a whole other story. 3) McMenamins Brewery/Alehouses are scattered around the Portland area and I really enjoyed their food and drink. Memorable... I can't remember.

Under the category of "it worked for me" and "try at your own risk"... Years ago, living in Alaska, I had the flu and fever had been in bed for days. None of the medicines I tried seem to help. I needed to eat and my cupboards were bare. I managed to drag myself to a wonderful, hole-in-the-wall Chinese restaurant near my home. I ate a family size bowl of hot and sour soup (very hot, very sour) and drank a warm carafe of sake. Not quite Jewish Penicillin, but I slept like a baby and my fever broke. I've tried several occasions since... works every time! -Lyle

I'm enjoying your thread! The plans look fabulous and I think it's great that you are trying to keep the traditional/original look and feel of the place. Bravo! -Lyle PS: a house in Redwood City for $8-$9K... and I thought housing values in my neighborhood had improved.

I just installed an Independent 27” x 54” Incline INHL54SS (w/ heat lamps) over my Wolf 48". I chose a 1400CFM external, roof mount blower. Works great and relatively quiet! I had it on low during our Superbowl party and no one knew it was on. I chose it over a Wolf hood. Here's a picture (toward the end of our remodel): My whole remodel thread can be found at: Jambalyle's remodel. Edited to add: There is a good hood comparison guide on the Independent website (Hood Comparison Guide) that compares Independent hoods against Vent-A-Hood, Broan, and Abbaka. Shows pricing too!

Thanks for the encouragement Dave... but am really enjoying the look of the "transformed, sealed" tumbled marble. Thank you for not posting until it's too late. And Porthos, it has really grown on me!! Dave, I look forward to posting on your kitchen remodel thread. We are getting close now and I have arranged for a friend with a highend digital camera to come take the final shots. We did hit a bit of a setback yesterday - looks like we won't move back in for another week or two. Our floor guy came to put the final finish on the new hardwood floor and noticed it had "swollen, but not yet buckled" due to recent weather and inadequate ventilation in the crawlspace. We need to let it dry out for a week, then he'll come back to finish it. So, we still plan to have our SuperBowl Openhouse, but I doubt it will be totally finished by then. Thanks everyone... more to come!

The local papers here in California are telling us to look forward to $2 oranges... and that's before shipping! Good luck on your story.

Well it's been a month since my last post... which doesn't mean the project has ground to a halt. My contractor's favorite line these days is "the devil is in the details" - well it's second after, "I'm going to need some more money..." This past month has been full of tiling and painting, crown molding and baseboards, fixtures and faucets - mostly in rooms other than the kitchen, so pictures of new things in the kitchen have been scarce. Below are a couple of pictures to keep the thread alive: First, we chose a tumbled marble tile (verdigis laguna) for our backsplash behind the range, then repeated it on the island and as a fireplace surround. We chose it because it was a light gray with a hint of green and thought it went well with the granite we chose - especially the light vs. dark contrast. We knew the tile would darken some when sealed - we tested it by wetting it at the store before purchasing. Anyway, the sealer darkened the tile much more than we thought it would and I was really disappointed at first. Then it grew on me... while darker than I initially hoped, the greens in the tile and the green in the granite go together beautifully and it makes the room look more rich (and finished). Here's a before and after shot of the backsplash: Here's a sneak preview of the nearly finished kitchen (cluttered with "tools of the trade") and built in buffet area around the corner: We are on the home stretch, at least on the interior of the house. Recent activity: yesterday - carpet in the master bedroom; today - shower doors and enclosures in both bathrooms & final wiring and installation of phone, computer, satellite and other entertainment system connections. We are planning to move back in the house the weekend of the 20th, so we were out of the house a total of seven months. Open house on Superbowl Sunday!

We went to the movies to see The Pursuit of Happyness. We ran into several temple members at the theater who, indeed, had Chinese before the movie. We opted to head home and finish off the leftovers from our friend's Tamalada we were at on Saturday. Definitely preferable to walnut shrimp and sweet and sour pork!

We spent Saturday at a friend's for their annual holiday tamalada. We poured some drinks, set up the assembly line, and got down to business. Even the kids enjoyed making tamales. We made four kinds of tamales, three savory, one sweet. The three savory fillings included a spicy chicken mole, an pork adobo with peas, and my favorite: jack cheese and jalapeno and carrot escabeche. The sweet tamales were pineapple and raisin. All in all, we must have made 80-100 tamales. After what seemed like two hours of steaming, we gorged on tamales served with homemade roasted chile salsa and ice cold Bohemia. Delicioso! PS: Our host bought red masa preparada down in Watsonville. However, we spent about an hour or so working the masa by hand and incorporating some olive oil into the mix. The masa in the tamales was light and fluffy, except for a few that got a little too wet in the bottom of the steamer.

We were over at a friend's house who gave us a sonos demo. Very cool, but perhaps something we might add later. I believe we've met the lighting requirements with the fluorescent undercabinet and main cans in the kitchen. We'll have other forms of lighting in the hood, pendants over the island, and the chandelier in the dining room. Throw in the skylight and I think we're set. Our only setback this week is they had to "undo" a few pieces of tile in the backsplash behind the range to get the potfiller plumbing connections right. Otherwise looks good!

Great one about the train, Doc... I've been wondering about the "ding-ding-ding" I'm hearing. I just thought it was the cash register, not the crossing gates! We purchased the 18"X30"X9" from Franke. We chose the sink because it can accommodate a half sheet pan and the 9" depth because of the wife and kids. I've lived with double bowl sinks and hated them. I also got tired of washing the sheet pans in the utility sink in the garage.

Time for another update... Our granite was installed last Thursday and we are thrilled with how it looks. No matter where you stand in the greatroom different patches of iridescent blue and gold colors pop out of the overall green and black background. And the best part, it pops under the incandescent light as well as natural daylight. Here are some pictures of the kitchen as of last Thursday-Friday. First the overall view of the kitchen: Next a shot of the business side of the island: Finally, a close up of one of the iridescent patches in the granite: Today they installed the range and are beginning work on the backsplash! We are starting to pick paint colors, lighting, fabrics and carpet for the master bedroom, and even some furniture. We definitely see the light at the end of the tunnel.

with sour cream on latkes!

While things have been busy at the house, there's not much in the way of new pictures that really document the progress. Most of the last couple weeks have been spent tiling the bathrooms. Both are done. Yeah! Yesterday they were putting up the crown molding and casings around the doors throughout the house. Our granite countertops are due to be installed on Thursday or Friday. Last Wednesday I was at the fabricators laying out the counters on the slabs... way cool. I was also given a tour of the facility and saw the amazing computer driven machines that cut the stone. Wow... just like on "This Old House"! Finally, here is a picture of the materials I chose for the backsplash behind the range - primarily tumbled marble 4" tiles in gray-green - "verdigris laguna" I think it's called. Four "palm tree" metal accent tiles will be randomly placed in the backsplash. I sketched what I thought it would look like during a break at choir rehearsal the other night. We chose the palm tree accents because we had palm trees on our wedding invitations! And, yes, that's a potfiller faucet above the range...

One of my favorite destinations in Solana Beach on the San Diego coast... you made my day, except now I'll look at my lunch and yearn to be at Pizza Port. Great beer and very good pizza. Congrats on the article!