Marlene

Yes, Dave, I'm sure there are. I just haven't had time to search for them. Besides the fact that I'm a lousy searcher! About 7ish would be good

Oh poor Heidi! I do hope she's feeling better. your menu sounds lovely Susan. Share the mini quiche recipe please? You know, people call me organized. They obviously haven't met you yet! Well Done girlfriend, well done. The one thing that gets me motivated to decorate for Christmas is this party It takes us well over a week to get all the lights and decorations i in place so we have to start early. The glasses, plates and cutlery were delivered today. Tomorrow, I'm off to buy gin and get organized!

What about other online cooking stores in the Toronto area other than Golda's Kitchen? One of the things I'm looking for is a portable ice maker machine, and Golda's doesn't seem to carry them.

There's a lovely discussion of lasagne here. When I made one a couple of weeks ago, I used the oven ready noodles because that's what I had in the house. I baked it covered for the first 45 - 60 minutes and then uncovered for the rest of the time. Once it was out of the oven, I let it stand for 15 minutes before even trying to slice into it. Did you let yours stand?

Susan, I'm just going to get you up here to tackle my kitchen issues when we move. I figure in three days, you'll have my island build the big range I want installed and a feast prepared besides. At least have a glass of wine now.

Or even a poster boy. Congrats on the range delivery, hero. Now of course, we'll be expecting pics of your T-Day feast.

I generally keep my confit pure as well, although I do add a little port or sherry. By the time it's done, I can't taste either as in individual taste. And my confit is never around long enough to see how long it takes to go bad

From the wilds of Canada, the relish tray. I must confess the relish tray I've inherited from my mother is also Waterford crystal. I use it three times a year. Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter. Garlic dill pickles, quartered, Rosette radishes bread and butter pickles olives, usually green not black celery stuffed with chicken salad occassionally carrot sticks. occassionally baby gherkins marinated pearl onions

But won't I have to do that for a slide in model too? Easier to put in a new cook-top as the cuts in the granite are hidden. Cutting the granite is not a problem. Finishing in the field is. Get a really nice Gas cook-top and separate oven. ← When you say finishing in the field, I assume you mean refinishing the edges of the granite where it's been cut to accomodate the slide in or free standing range? While I like this idea, I'm not keen on having my range in the middle of the room. That would mean putting another hood in and I think that's more renovation than I want to do with this. In addition, the range would become my primary cooking area, and if it's in the island, it's too far away from my work triangle. Snowangel is correct in that the wall oven is a bit inconveniently placed. In addition, I'm left handed so my inclination is to turn to the left when taking something out of the oven and placing in on the counter. This would require me to turn almost full circle to place a hot dish from that oven onto the counter behind me. So, I may not be able to get my beautiful 36 KA, although I'm still going to investigate what it would take to do that, but it appears that maybe a 30 in slide in range might work or as others say, a gas cooktop and oven. If I get a range, I want a duel fuel range. I've never used a gas oven before, and I'd prefer the oven to be electric convection. But I want the cooktop to be gas. I made the mistake of going ceramic cooktop in the kitchen I have now, and while it's a pretty good cooktop, I have been kicking myself for not doing gas since the day we finished this reno. Since KA doesn't seem to make a dual range 30 oven, these are possibilities:DCS GE monogram Maybe I'm missing a few others.

Yay Susan. Ok now, take a deep breath, fix yourself your favourite drink and repeat after me. I will not worry about the ceiling until after Thanksgiving. I will not worry about the ceiling until after Thanksgiving. .......drink and repeat until you really don't care anymore

GRRRRRR. The counters are granite.

Well you didn't tell me I'd have to redo my counters to get a free standing one either. If I rip out the cooktop to put a gas one in, I need to expand the counter cut out anyway. If I put the oven underneath, I need to rip out the drawers. So what else do I have to do to accomodate that free standing one?

Hey, you were the one who told me to get a range!

You will quickly become addicted to this Soba in all it's many uses.

I know I need power in the island, I just didn't really want to contemplate it but I will. I didn't notice that it was a free standing range, which rules it up. I'll want a lside in, which may also require modification to my countertop. sigh.

There's next to no storage in the house, which is resulting in us purging any number of items from our curent house, including furniture As it is, my office will be located downstairs, and will also house the extra fridge and freezer. Slide in range. I'm liking this idea more and more.

There are others here who will tell you I don't mix colours well. Those aren't my chairs. Normally, it's just the three of us eating in the kitchen. Any more than that and we move to the dining room, so I really don't need a table and chairs in there. It's hard to tell from the pictures, but that's a huge hood. I don't have the dimensions in front of me, but it can easily accomodate a 36 in cooktop. Now I'm thinking the hell with the utensil drawer and pot drawers, I'll just get a slide in range. like this There are a number of cupboards under that pedestal actually. But these ideas are great, thanks!

One more thing to be thankful for.

I'n some ways this kitchen was designed for show, not work. However, the appliances are pretty much top of the line. The oven, cooktop and dishwasher are all Miele, the fridge is a Frigidare, and the microwave is a Panasonic. But the beauty in that kitchen is that Hood. It's a Faber and it is awesome. I'd rather not destroy the breakfast bar part, I really quite like it. The house is heated by natural gas and the dryer runs off natural gas. I live in fear of propane for some reason. Our RV runs everything off propane and I'm somewhat convinced it will blow up one day. We've owned a BBQ ever since I can remember, and this summer was the first time I ever ventured to turn it on and light it myself. There are no skinny cupboards for sheet pans etc, but the ones above the Fridge, and the microwave oven combo are quite deep. I'll be putting dividers into these cupboards to hold my sheet pans and serving trays and cooling racks. There is another "pantry" over by the desk with narrow shelves, that I could use for sheet racks as well. I could, if pressed, put a small microwave on the counter under the cabinet that you sticking out in the first picture. I was going to put the phone there, but it could go on the desk. Then I could make the oven/micro and double wall oven instead. As far as the island goes, it's meant to be a secondary prep area, when more than one person is working in the kitchen. It's really meant to give me some extra drawer and cupboard space I could, put it closer to the windows, and probably would then be able to bring the power in from outside.

And the grits.

Sam, I don't have any suggestions for you, but I just wanted to say I'm awed by the complexity of this. I can't wait to find out how you do this and spend time with your guests. I'm really looking forward to learning a few things here.

To make up for it, the rest of the house is rather small What they did was knock out the wall between the kitchen and dining room to make it one big room. Great for space, but it's a bit odd shaped.

Keep saying that

It seems like everyone in the world is renovating their kitchens today. so why should I be the exception? Here's the deal. We've recently purchased a new house. The house has already been extensively renovated and it has a pretty decent kitchen to start with. There are a few things I want to do to it though, and I could use some advice. First, here are the pics of the kitchen. I've had to do them in three shots, because the kitchen is huge. In the first shot, you can see the microwave/oven combination in the wall, and there is a small cooktop over by the fridge. Underneath the micro/oven thing are two pot drawers. Underneath the cooktop is a huge utensils drawer and two more pot drawers. The second pic shows a table and chairs which we won't have because that island/breakfast bar is huge. The third picture shows the built in bar fridge and wine fridge as well as the back area of the kitchen where a desk is. Here's what I do. Even though this kitchen is particularly large, 25'3 x 17'9, I have less cupboard space than I do now. In addition, this kitchen was recently renovated, so I don't want to rip it up completely. Keep in mind as we go through this that the basement ceiling below is finished which will make any wiring we want to do more complicated. 1. I need to get a second oven in here somewhere. 2. I'd like to build some sort of worksurface/island where the table and chairs are now 3. I'd like to replace the small 30 inch cooktop with a gas cooktop, preferably 36 inches. 1. Here's my thought's and resrictions on the oven. I could put it in under the cooktop, but that means losing the two pot drawers and large utensil drawer. I'm less concerned about losing the pot drawers becauase I could build more into the island in the middle of the room. Losing the utensil drawer would be worse as it's a perfect place to grab wooden spoons, spatulas etc as one cooks. I could remove the micro/oven combination and replace with a double wall oven, but then I need a place to build in the microwave. yes, I need the microwave built in, because I don't want it cluttering up my counterspace which will have enough stuff on it. I could, if I could get power to the new island put the new oven there, but I'd rather keep the second oven as close to the work triangle as I can. 2. The worksurface in the middle could either be butcher block on top, or more of the granite that already exists in the kitchen if I can find it. Ideally, if there's room, I'd have the top overhand on one side so extra people could hang out there. I'd like to have power at the island, but that may not be possible given the status of the basement ceiling. In the island I'd like to have , a place for cookbooks, pot drawers, and anything else I haven't thought of yet, but I will. Probably more drawer space since drawers are at a premium in this kitchen. 3. I'm pretty sure that gas is available right outside the kitchen as they currently have a gas connected bbq on the deck. So bringing gas in shouldn't be a problem. What do I lose in cupboard space underneath by bringing in a gas line? In addtion, I'd have to find a way to make the granite bigger to hold a bigger cooktop and of course, I'm going to lose the utensil drawer and possibly at least one pot drawer since gas cooktops are deeper than electric cooktops. So there you have it. I'll try to get a floorplan posted in a few days, but in the meantime, I figured I'd give you experts a few days to ponder this.

I just keep telling him, he reaps all the culinary benefits from my participation here Ok, the big party is just a few days away, so here's the final menu: Hors D'oeuvres Asiago, procuitto cheese twists Mini corn bread muffins with jalapeno chicken salad Teriyake beef roulade puff pursew with smoked mozzarella and chicken Main Buffet Rolls and butter Mandarin Almond Salad Brocoli salad with Sesame ginger dressing Prime Rib (you had to know, I'd end up with this ) Tortellini in cream sauce (vegetarian dish) Green Beans Almonidine Basmati Rice with onion Dessert Crepes (suzette, rasperry, romanoff or fresh fruit) These will be made to order at the time of serving Domestic and Imported cheese tray Coffee and Tea The caterers are supplying everything this year, froms staff to glasses, cutlery, plates and chafing dishes etc, to decorations. The house is decorated for Christmas, but the catering package comes with a decor that includes a waterfall, fresh flowers,lights etc. This I have to see. All the rentals will be delivered here the day before, and Saturday, I'll get spend the day at the hairdressers, instead of running around in a panic. so here's a question: I have a pretty well stocked bar, but I'm wondering if there are any things I should be sure to have on hand? In particular, since I don't drink it, which gin would be the best to have on hand for martini's? I'm pretty sure we have some sort of pedestrian brand.