BekkiM

Fabby... I've had to smile each time I've looked at your "lighting platform" over the island--great minds think alike! We're going to have a walnut panel with pendant and recessed lights over our island--very similar to yours. How big is that island of yours? I always find it hard to estimate scale in pictures.

The appliances are in! Well, sort of... They're in place, they're just not hooked up yet. Apparently, the gas line from the old cooktop, which we thought was going to work just fine where it was, has to be moved, so the range is just pushed into place. And our installer has been MIA for a week now... I think his brother is sick, but we're not sure when he's coming back. My husband's a little irritated, but (a) what can you do about it?, (b) show a little empathy, man, and © what's the rush, the countertops aren't coming for at least 3 more weeks. I think we're all sick of having this disruption in our lives, though, and are ready to move to the next stage. Also, the new couch for the attached family room arrives on Saturday and we were hoping to move it straight into its new home which is impossible with the cabinet doors and drawers stacked in what is currently a staging location for the installer. Oh well, it can live temporarily in the library with the rest of the kitchen stuff. In the meantime, we have our final meeting with the interior designer this evening (hopefully--she's a little flaky and I have my doubts that she will arrive with the final items from the punchlist in hand, at which point I may throttle her). We've got to get light fixtures ordered for the island and the circular ceiling in the family room, as well as an area rug and some additional furniture pieces. I ordered a chair on eBay which arrive via Greyhound express two days ago and I'm strangely pleased with it. It needs new cushions and new strapping, but the frame is sound and it was pretty inexpensive (a pleasure, given how much this project is costing us). eBay has definitely been my friend this year--I got my sink (Blanco), my faucet (KWC), my soap dispense (also KWC), and now furniture and every purchase has been a satisfying one. All three items came from Home and Stone on eBay (Home and Stone) if you're interested. If you're planning a project like this, I highly recommend it if you're the kind of person who can do the digging and research required to sift through the mountain of stuff and find the hidden gems. Otherwise, it's a nightmare and you'll probably get a good enough deal without the stress by purchasing through someone local. I ordered my cabinet knobs from a place called Knobs-Etc (knobs-etc) and they were fantastic--I got a good price, the shipping was reasonable and prompt, and the handles are lovely. On the other hand, I ordered the refrigerator handles from a different vendor (Home Decor Hardware)) and I've been less than pleased--their shipping is expensive, they misled me about when my stuff would ship, and when I complained, were virtually unresponsive with a sort of "sucks to be you" attitude. I definitely don't recommend buying from them. Anyway, here's a picture of the stove (naked, without it's doors and grates) in it's new home:

I love (love!) the little pig next to "ham" on your shopping list! My lists may be madly organized, but they're not charmingly illustrated. That's awesome!

Because I work with Excel all day long, it didn't seem like a big leap for me to use it to track cooking "requirements" (I'm a software analyst by trade). I actually set up my spreadsheet so that the list of recipes is a dropdown box on the ingredients list page, then I use an Excel formula to "look up" the quantity to multiply ingredients--it's particularly useful at Christmas cookie time when I'm calculating how many batches of each kind I'll need for all my friends. It's also useful when I eliminate a recipe--I just set the quantity to 0 so that I don't have to go digging through my shopping list to figure out what I no longer need to buy. If you'd like, I'd be happy to send you a blank spreadsheet... There is recipe software out there that does the same thing, but for these kinds of meals, I'm almost never repeating a recipe that I've used before (so I don't already have the ingredients listed) and it seems like more trouble than it's worth to type the ingredients into their software. I haven't found one yet that I find easy for recipe entry--at least, not as easy as my Excel version. Plus, I keep them all and they are a fun (if a bit geeky) memento of past dinner parties.

"Desperation dinners" I love it! And I love the printed, hole-punched, bindered lists... The geek clearly runs strong in you... lol

I don't have a copy of a weekly/everyday shopping list with me, but I do have screen shots of my series of lists (yes, that's a series of lists) that I use when I'm planning a major dinner party. First, I start with a list of recipes... I actually start with a huge Word document of recipes that I cull from the internet (I try to remember to record the source so I can properly attribute it, but I have to admit that I'm not always good about that) that I whittle down to a set that seem to work together for a menu. Those recipes are recorded, by course (and sometimes by plate/flatware requirements when I'm planning something big and think I may run out of table settings), on the first page of my spreadsheet. Here's a sample from last year's Halloween dinner. You can see that sometimes I rememberd to attribute the recipe, but not always. I record the multiplier for a recipe as "quantity" in case I need to double (or half) something. Then I list all of the ingredient requirements for the recipe, by measurement: I try to be consisent with what I call each ingredient (e.g. "figs, dried") so that I can gather everything together when I sum up. The "total needed" column takes the quantity from the recipe list page and multiplies the ingredient quantity so that I don't forget to double (or half) something. Nothing like starting to cook an onion confit and realizing that you only have 2 onions when you need 4... Finally, I use Excel's "pivot table" function to add up the quantities required for each ingredient: Usually I have to review/refine this list several times to cross off things that I already have in my pantry, but I try to include everything (even staples like salt and sugar) so I remember to check my supplies. Since I live in a state where you have to go to a liquor store to buy wine and I often need specialty items from ethnic markets or from Whole Foods, I also usually review the list and write in where I need each item. As I'm working with the list, I use Jaime Lee's method of crossing off what I find and circling the things I can't find (or don't like the quality of). And, just in case you don't already know that I'm a complete and utter geek, here's a sample of my cooking plan which I use to organize my time prior to (and during) the meal: Yes, if you look closely at the bottom of the image, you'll see tabs for 4 days leading up to the dinner. Note also that I block off time to shower and dress--I learned that one the hard way... And the ultimate in cooking geekdom, my plating plan: This one isn't for the Halloween dinner, it was for a "deconstructed" dinner I did last spring, in this case for deconstructed French onion soup. I tape the cooking plan and the plating plan to the cabinets the day of the meal so that I don't forget anything. I'm famous for getting up the next day and finding the carefully prepared balsamic reduction in the refrigerator, completely unused, so the plating plan keeps me on task.

Just wanted you to know, Peter, how much I am enjoying this blog. I'm headed to Bangkok in March with husband, son, and another family and as the food-geek of the group, I'm in charge of figuring out where we'll eat. I just ordered Nancy's latest map (thanks so much for the pictures--I'd been thinking "how special can a map be?" until I saw the pix and then I just had to have one of my own) and can't wait to experience the food you're picturing in person. Thanks!!!! PS: The refrigerator tour was one of the funniest things I've read on this, or any other, board in a long time.

Well, I discovered a big quirk yesterday. The oven door's still locked this morning. I called the number for service, and the first thing they recommended I do was kill the power by flipping the breaker and keeping it off for at least 30 seconds. When I came back upstairs, the "door lock" light was still on. So now I'm trying recommendation #2: running a short (1-2 hours) self-clean cycle, turning it off and letting it cool, and seeing if that does the trick. The person I spoke with said that sometimes the door will refuse to unlock if the self-clean cycle gets interrupted somehow. We've had problems with power failures this week, but I didn't think we'd had one yesterday. Nonetheless, in about an hour and a half, I'll be able to turn the oven back off, and a couple of hours after that it should be cooled down enough to open. IhopeIhopeIhope MelissaH ← You know, I had similar problems with my GE Profile ovens before. I had the repair guy out 3 times--he kept ordering a new locking mechanism, which he'd install, then it would fail again. In the end, the lazy S.0.B. simply disabled the self-clean function and called it good. I have no idea why I didn't insist that they replace the ovens (all of this work had started when they were still under warranty), except that maybe I hated the kitchen so much that I was apathetic. In any case, I'll be waiting on tenterhooks to find out what becomes of your saga, since it was one of the reasons I almost didn't buy the Monogram. On the other hand, this time I won't be shy about insisting that they get it right. Good luck!

Thanks for the update, MelissaH. Please do post back and let us know how the second round of self-cleaning turns out. They delivered a big-ass dolly yesterday, so it's possible that they're actually moving my GE Monogram range into the kitchen today (or possibly tomorrow) and I'm looking forward to discovering its quirks.

Wow. That cutting board is lovely. I've just added it to the top of my Christmas wish list--and the walnut will complement my new kitchen perfectly! Question, though--it looks like you got feet on yours. Are they non-skid enough to keep the board in place when you're working? And I'd be worried about being squeamish about getting such a beautiful work of art messy--do you use the board for "special occasions" or for everyday chopping.

Amen to that! Mission creep is exactly why my new kitchen also includes a new family room, new stairs, hardwood floors upstairs, a new bedroom for my son, and a new deck. Oh, and a new powder room. Oh, and new pots and pans, a new toaster, a new coffee maker, and, if I have anything to say about it (and believe me, I do), all new dishes and flatware. Oh, and a vacation to Thailand to appease my husband who prefers travel to gutting the entire house and starting over (go figure).

As a counterpoint to the "Grocery store pet peeves" topic, I offer a small, but pleasant experience, with one of our local Whole Foods (the one on Hampden, for fellow Denverites)... I was in around 5 this evening, when it was fairly crowded, and just as I was signing my credit card slip I realized that I had forgotten to remove my milk from my cart. I handed it to the clerk (with a full line of people behind me, rolling their eyes and thinking, at least in my mind, well *this* is going to take a while) saying "I'm sorry, but I forgot this, can you put it back for me?" (I was trying not to make a scene and take more than my allotted time in the check-out line). She handed it back to me with a smile and said, go ahead, consider this one a sample and gave it to me for free. Now I'm not advocating this as a practice to get discounts on your groceries, but it was definitely a small incident of customer service that had me walking out of the store smiling and in just a little better of a mood when I came in--and honestly, isn't that what we want from a shopping experience?

In this case, our jungle guide, Percy, broke open the termite mound (I'd describe it more as a "hive") and let a few critters crawl onto his machete, then husband and son let a few critters crawl from the blade to their fingers, whereby they popped them into their mouths... Ewwwwwwwwwww

Try as I might, I can barely contain the screaming gribblies* at the thought of eating insects. I'm not even that big a fan of lobster and its ilk for the same reason--too many legs. Damn. I'd like to think I'm more culterally culinarily open-minded, but noooo... The presentation in question is lovely, but I too wonder about the ratio of fruit to, er, meat. It would seem that unless land shrimp is particularly pungent, most of the flavor would simply be apple and watermelon? My husband and son both tried raw (straight from the nest) termites in Belize and both declared that they taste "minty", but I was too much of a wimp to try them for myself. * fabulous phrase... a friend of mine once described the shudder after a tequila shot as the "piss-wiggles", a phrase that's stuck with me ever since. I think "screaming gribbles" will as well.

I think the best approach is to say "Oh yes, I think we'll be done by Thanksgiving..." Just don't specify which year! Countertop man arrived this morning to measure and he thinks it will be at best 4 weeks, and probably more like 6. Oh no! There go my plans for being ready by Halloween. We're also going to be very, very, very tight in the sink cabinet due to the size of both the sink itself and the radius on the base of the faucet. Countertop man is going to pull the sink as far forward in the cabinet as he can, but I still think we're going to end up with ~1/4" clearance between the back of the faucet and the tiles of the backsplash. In retrospect, we should have had the sink cabinet moved out from the wall by an inch or so (we've certainly got the space) to give more clearance for the faucet, but it's a little late now. Once everything is in, it will be okay, but as my husband says, there's going to be a lot of cursing before that sink is functional. We're going to have Robert cut a bit out of the back of the cabinet to give us another 1/2" of manuevering room for installing the faucet, but it's still going to be a tight fit.

Well, almost all of the cabinets are in place (lots of trimming out still to do, but the basic skeleton is there) except for the pantry cabinets. Robert focused most of this past week on getting the island cabinets laid out so that we can template the counters tomorrow. He had to build a custom-height toe kick to accomodate the extra-thick (6cm) limestone on the island. Here are some pictures of the progress so far: This is the end of the run of cabinets along the sink wall--the taller cabinet on the end will have glass fronts and will hold dishes. The shorter cabinet will be trash and recycling. The right-hand side of the range wall. In retrospect, I needed a lot more bookshelf space so now I'm haunting eBay looking for some sort of hutch to double as desk/cookbook storage in the family room. Those odd metal "arms" on the cabinet next to the shelves will be lift-up doors on an extra-wide cabinet. Robert is currently working on making shelves for that cabinet since it didn't come with any (very strange for a 36" tall cabinet--guess someone assumed I'd be storing a lot of tall vases). And I've now completed 18 sq. ft. of my mosaic tile--here's a picture of one. They're truly lovely in person, but I'm very, very sick of gluing... It's getting close now... But having read Genny's comments in Fabby's thread on her kitchen, I'll be joining Fabby in giving her a big pinch if she actually brings this thing in by Thanksgiving. We started in July and I think it will be a miracle if I'm not still painting trim and hanging wallpaper by Thanksgiving...

I realized last night that I left one of my consistent favorites off my original list... Solera on Colfax. It's not Frasca, but I've always had a good meal there and I like the wine list (and the fact that the wait staff has obviously actually tried the wines and can speak knowledgably about them). I had dinner there last night and while some of the meal was just good (the fried calamari appetizer is great bar food, but doesn't seem consistent with upscale dining), the fois gras I had as my meal was outstanding. It was a good-sized lobe (not just a puny slice), seared, served on a similarly-sized serving of savory bread pudding, with truffled-honey on the side. The truffled honey was spectacular with the fois gras--I'm still drooling. The rest of the menu looked okay, but it was too heavy on seafood for my taste and the non-fish items (1 beef, 1 pork, and 1 chicken) just didn't float my boat. The chicken seemed too plain (I almost never order chicken in a restaraunt), the pork was too spicy, and I'm not a huge steak eater (although the truffled fries sounded interesting--unfortunately the only person at our table who ordered the steak was seated too far away for me to snag a sample). People who got the seared scallops served on truffled macaroni-and-cheese (I think there's a truffle theme going on) raved about it, but the mac-n-cheese I tasted couldn't compare to my honey. Anyway, I've eaten at Solera many times and have never had a bad meal there, have always liked the service, and they've been in business for a while now, so they've definitely settled into their groove. If you're looking for a place to eat in Denver, I'd add them to your short list.

WOO-HOOOOOOOOOO!!!!! The cabinets have arrived!!!! All of the cabinets were delivered yesterday morning and Robert the cabinet installer (I love Robert) is "staging" them in the family room end of the kitchen to inspect them all before he begins actual installation. I am thrilled with my selection and can't wait to see them start going in to place. (Pictures tomorrow--unfortunately this major event in my life has coincided with a major deadline at work, so I'm a little overwhelmed at the moment) We had one minor glitch when we realized that the pantry/refrigerator cabinets were going to overlap the recessed lights--(a) we forgot about the crown moulding when we planned the lighting layout and (b) the electrician couldn't get the fixtures all the way to 30" on center due to the soffit framing. So my husband and I (with lots of help from Robert--have I mentioned that I love Robert?) spent 4 hours yesterday laying out the profile of the cabinets and figuring out how to get smaller recessed fixtures (we switched to renovation housings) into the soffit space. We ended up drilling into the soffit framing itself ("scalloping" out a 2" bite from the edge of the 2x4) to get the lights out far enough not to interfere with the cabinets. Nothing like frantic electrical wiring at the last minute. This is so exciting!

Oh, but pork stock is big in Chinese cooking, has been for a long, long time. ← Cool. I'll look for advice/recipes there then. Wonder why western cookbooks don't mention it...

And when they made them microwaveable............the crust went right down the tubes ← Microwaved pot pie = pure evil

How come you don't make pork stock? You make beef stock, chicken stock, fish stock, vegetable stock, why not pork? Why doesn't that porky goodness translate to stock?

Cinnamon rolls anywhere... I know in my mind what they're *supposed* to taste like, but whenever I order one, whether it be a diner, a fancy breakfast place, or a local bakery, well, bleagh... Dry, cardboard, with no particular taste of cinnamon, just sickenly sweet sugar. I should know better. Frozen chicken pot pies... I remember, as a child, loving these things but either they've changed the recipe or I've grown out of them (which is a sad, sad state of affairs--growing older is fine, growing out of chicken pot pie is just tragic). Mushy, greasy, too salty, and the vegetables are just nasty. I should know better. Supermarket peaches, plums, and nectarines... So round, so juicy-looking, so glowing with fruitiness. They always make me think of the description of the peach in James and the Giant Peach, which, in turn, always made my mouth water. Then you taste and *gak*... Mealy, dry, juiceless, hard, sour yuckiness. I should know better.

My name is Bekki, and I have a problem... * crystalized ginger * shredded coconut (the nasty sugared kind, usually wadded up with some chocolate chips) * spoonfuls of caramel sauce * stolen mini-candy bars from my son's halloween or easter stash (depending on the time of year, of course) * stale graham crackers (I never seem to use the whole package when making a cheesecake, but am too cheap to throw away the unused portion, so they linger in my pantry) * snowcones made with kool-aid syrup * candies filched from my gingerbread house supplies * semisweet or bittersweet chocolate (scharfenberger) from my baking supplies * spoonfuls of frozen raspberry sauce (from RLB's Cake Bible)

This discussion seems to have strayed a bit off topic from kitchen sinks, but I can't help adding my two cents. First of all, single or double bowl sink is truly a matter of preference and cooking style. I, personally, could not work with a single bowl sink as I almost always have dirty dishes/pans/etc. collecting in one side of the sink, keeping the other side of the sink free for rinsing veggies, washing hands, getting glasses of water, etc. Maybe I'm just disorganized, but it works for my cooking style (my kitchen--my cooking style). I know you've already made your decision (give us a little more notice next time, will you? ), but in general, like most other things in the kitchen, your decision should be based on weighing your personal factors like budget, cooking style, aesthetics, and material/construction. Price isn't the only factor, but you are going to pay more for a Franke or a Blanco (in part due to the quality of the materials and the standards of construction, in part due to the name) than you will for a sink at Home Depot. But, that doesn't mean you have to have the "superior" sink based on any external value scale--you need to find the sink that works for you. As for kitchen designers, they're not all bunk. I'm certainly capable of sketching up plans for a kitchen, but when I'm making a $30K purchase, I like the backup of a trained professional drawing up (and taking responsibility for) the final layout, complete with measurements and tolerances up to 1/16". AND, I have to say that I found my kitchen designer extremely valuable in working with me to come up with efficient solutions to my individual kitchen needs to keep my project on budget. My kitchen designer didn't try to sell me anything in the way of appliances, fixtures, or hardware. Yes, she reps specific lines of cabinets, but we took that into account when we interviewed her. Other than that, her services were truly design services--when I found my Blanco 512-750 sink on eBay for $100 less than she could get it for me, she was only too happy to let me make the purchase. There were no hard feelings or hard sell tactics to get me to order it (or anything else) through her company so she could get the commission. I'm sorry you had such a poor experience with kitchen designers, but it doesn't mean everyone did--or that all kitchen designers are a waste of time and money.

I am just thrilled about the KWC--we ordered the soap dispenser to go with yesterday, along with cabinet hardware (RusticWare--very plain, kind of distressed brushed nickel, if that makes any sense--they're the ones in the upper left of the "Satin Nickel" section here) and appliance pulls (Colonial Bronze, 18", also nickel, here). The circular drop in the family room end of the space will be wallpapered on the face (something "chartreuse" according to the interior designer--jury is still out on that) and then have lights. The ID has been telling us she's going to make them for us, but (a) I can't imagine paying her to do arts and crafts and (b) it's been 6 weeks and we still don't have a picture of the lights, so we're about to fire her anyway. I've been searching for some small, crystal pendants because I think we need a bit of bling in that dark room--if anyone has ideas, I'm all ears. The large island in the kitchen will be a blue limestone (mink grey, I think it's called), 6cm straight edges, "floating" above the cabinets by about 1/2". At least, that's the plan now. We still need to meet with the fabricator to discuss the engineering of a 4'x11' slab of limestone, with a 3' cantilever at one end for seating. The plan is to have our carpenter fabricate walnut legs to support the overhang, but it's a tricky scheduling job, since we won't know the exact dimensions of the legs until the cabinets are in. I'll see if I can find the ID's sketch of the legs--it'll make it clearer, I think. The perimeter counters are going to be white caesarstone or silestone--some sort of engineered quartz, anyway. The original color we wanted has been discontinued, but I don't think there's enough difference between them to worry me much. The ID, of course, is in a panic since she can distinguish between 72 different shades of white, but they all look the same to me and it's my kitchen, so I think it will turn out okay. I completed 9 sq. ft. of mosaic this weekend (I'm gluing the little buggers onto 12"x12" mesh squares) and I'm really happy with it. Unfortunately, it's taking me pretty close to 2 hours per square, so it's slow going. I've had several friends offer to help, but I'm afraid that I could be a real bitch if they don't do it exactly right (I'm a bit of a control freak, especially when it comes to something like this that's going to be a major focal point of my kitchen), so I'm debating the wisdom of hurting someone's feelings just so I can get done a little quicker. I'm also starting to stress a bit about installation since I know I'm going to have just as many control issues there. Maybe I'll brew a big pot of herbal tea to sooth my nerves and sit there and watch the tile-setter the entire time... lol (well, it's kind of a joke!) In the meantime, I think I'm going to be watching a lot of movies to make the time pass more quickly while I'm creating my masterpiece one tile at a time. It's a little like Tetris--each piece has to be laid "just so" We should be getting our first sample walnut panel for the fireplace wall this afternoon. It was supposed to be last week, but the mill screwed up and they had to order another one. If it works out, we'll get 11 more of those, plus the 3'x10' piece that will hang over the island and get to work on installing them. The only thing I'm missing are the glass "pegs" that the ID wants to inlay in the corners--making it look, I guess, like the pegs are actually holding the pieces in place. I found a source online that will cut glass rod to specific lengths and polish the ends, but they wanted $200 for 48 pieces of glass and that seemed a little steep to me. Don't know why I'm balking at $200 given the overall budget of this project, but it must be the frugal New Englander in me. Last, but not least, the deck is finally finished. We too decided on ipea for the decking, but used redwood for the railing and pergola. I can't wait to start growing vines on the pergola to give us some shade from the fierce southern sun. Pictures will come soon...