marie-louise

Great job on the cabinets!!! This thread is now a classic for anyone who is depressed because they can't afford to rip their kitchen down to the studs! I like the idea of metro shelves. I have seen what you are describing as making a type of potrack (I think it is a display at a kitchen store where I shop) and it looks and works great. With a matching worktable, your kitchen will have a finished look. With your low ceiling, I'd resist the tempation to hang anything over your worktable. I think that will make the room feel claustrophobic, and I sense you are getting close to having enough space for everything without it. I have a tremendous amount of storage under my worktable. Ignore the tiles. They look ugly, I can see why you want to get rid of them, but once all your stuff is in there you will never notice them. You can cover up a few of them with a strategically-placed utensil crock or two (or perhaps a new Kitchen Aid mixer?) Another idea I once used was to drill screws partway into the wall and arrange decorative plates on the backsplash (I had a funny set of Guy Buffet waiters.) You probably have a great platter or enamel tray or something you could prop up over a couple more. Put up a shallow shelf over the two over the sink & they're gone. I want to move your refrigerator. It is in the right place to be useful, but the fact that it is so much deeper than the cabinets bugs me. Any chance it would fit next to those pantry cabinets (#C on your drawing)? The area near the sink would feel much more open with something the same depth as the counter there. I wish someone would come along and help you with that ceiling (although FG is right, different bulbs make a huge difference.) Is the ceiling something that can be painted? Where is that ceiling fan in relation to where you are planning to put your worktable? I also have a wall of metal grids in my pantry (it is on the wall you can't see in the picture, to the right of the doorway.) You can hang a lot of stuff on them, and they don't take much depth.

Trivia note-they took her to The Olive Garden for lunch, and her comments about what America had done to Italian food are in the article. Some of them are priceless, as you might imagine, but there actually was a dish she liked. They also had a piece on her kitchen, it looks incredible (but small.)

I really like having a big unbroken workspace in my kitchen. I highly recommend that you keep every inch of it-if you looked at the picture of my kitchen, I had about the same amount of counter space as you do. I use this table for everything, and so will you. I would recommend all butcher block-not only do I chop it, I use mine for pastry, pizza dough, you name it. By the way, mine is only 34-inches high, which is a very comfortable height for chopping and kneading. If you buy an antique, make sure it's not too high (or cut down the legs some.) PS the tiles sound cool! Now whne do we get to see pictures of those painted cabinets?

I don't always agree with them either-and I've made at least one "best recipe" disaster- but I find that reading about their trial and error process teaches me how to critically examine and tinker with my own recipes.

Thank you Halland!!! I have never heard of the Habitat for Humanity's Re-Store. It seems there is one in my city as well. I can't tell you how many times over the years that I've felt bad about letting contractors take something I no longer want but is still usable to the dump. I hate the idea of discarding something into landfill just because I want a new or different one. Believe it or not, an appliance salesman told me last year that there was no market for my Wolf Range unless I wanted to sell it on eBay. I've never known how to share my remodeling castoffs until now-and best of all, the money raised will go to a cause I like! Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

I've always wondered about that, but your estimate makes sense. Assuming you have gas at your house, and there's a crawl space under your house, it is just a matter of the plumber running pipe to the area of the house under the kitchen, then attaching a flexible gas line through the floor. (At least in California, it is code to have a flexible section of gas line nearest the appliance to decrease the possibility of the line breaking in an earthquake.) If you have to tap into a gas line all the way out at the street, buy and install a propane tank, or get gas into a room of a high-rise apartment, then I'm sure the cost is much more.

I have another suggestion: let go of the idea of eating in there. If you don't have a dining room, then use part of the living room as a dining area. If you use that empty area for shelving and a work table, you'll have a VERY functional space-with a lot of storage. It will look like a cook's kitchen!

I have a small kitchen, too-it's pretty, but was designed for a single guy who never cooked. Making it larger would be cost-prohibitive. It is the most functional kitchen I have ever cooked in, and it started out being depressing. (The Wolf range was not there, nor was the pantry.) This is how we solved the problem: a 30-inch by 60-inch work table w/ a chopping block surface. I'd post a picture, but I can't find my eGullet photo album, so here's a link to a thread where the picture is: (it's post 105) http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showto...=kitchen&st=100 I love this table-I use it for prep, use it to plate food, use it to stack dirty dishes. This particular one was from Williams-Sonoma, and the company is no longer in business, but I've seen other similar ones. It cost a little over $1000 (delivered up stairs) 7 years ago. It's very heavy-duty-that's the key. I once owned a stove like that. It takes forever to heat up, but those hobs get really hot. You will be able to stir-fry on it. I agree w/ Fat Guy. Get some colorful rugs, paint the cabinets white. Hang a great poster in the dining area. Get a pot rack. I've had great success taking off the upper cabinet doors in several dreary kitchens-once painted, once plain wood. Arrange some colorful dishes and glasses and no one will even notice the base cabinets. I'd also take off the door to the kitchen and take off the doors to those pantry shelves-make it look like a real working kitchen. Here's a link to the thread that has a picture of my pantry (the former laundry room) http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showto...5086&hl=kitchen Any chance you have a laundry room next to your kitchen? It really is amazing how much stuff fits in there! You could also put up shelves along the wall w/ that wallpaper-you have to be neat, but chances are you have enough good-looking stuff to put out on display. An open kitchen isn't for everyone, but if you put enough stuff out on display, no one will notice your cabinets. My personal priority would be to get rid of that wallpaper border. My next investment would not be a stove, but some better lighting. I'd invest in new appliances one at a time. Considering the age of your appliances, I'd probably keep $500. or so in a savings account, assuming they were going to blow when I could least afford to replace them. I'd assume that you are going to new a new DW, stove, and fridge any day. Only when I'd saved the cost of two appliances would I replace the one I hated most.

Well said! Saveur is my only food magazine subscription. I LOVE how they write about a region's culture through their food. It's a good read, even if I don't make any of the recipes I feel like I've gotten my money's worth. I buy Cook's Illustrated as a yearly bound book-makes for great winter reading. Again, even if I don't make any of the recipes as written, reading about their process for determining the best makes for interesting reading and my money seems well-spent. Re: Artisan Baker's comments re: Fine Cooking. I'm not sure if I've outgrown Fine Cooking or if Fine Cooking has lost its edge, but I find that lately whenver I buy a copy, I recycle it without making a single recipe. Unlike Saveur and CI, it's all about their recipes and the techniques they represent-since the recipes don't appeal and the techniques seem recyled, I feel like I've wasted my money. Plus the photography is so poor, it often takes a leap of faith to make the recipe! I've got to give Food & Wine another look..

I don't subscribe but will have to pick one up. Thansk for the tip! (I have a fig tree in my yard, there are about 100 figs on it at the moment!)

Susan-I'll love it if you posted how you think through some of your menu plans. I was hoping that others would post their questions/ rationale in this thread. JAZ-thanks. You gave me a great idea-I bought some little mushroom turnovers from The Pasta Shop. I'll bake those, but I'd still like to MAKE something, too. Maybe something w/ fresh figs? Really Nice-WOW. Thank you so much. That is a very handy list!

Since you've seen most of the sights before (and on behalf of all of us, thank you for leaving your tourist dollars in our area!) I'd plan on eating somewhere between Carmel and the SF airport. You can either drive up Highway One, or since you will have seen the ocean in Carmel, up Highway 9 to 35, then cut over to the airport. That will take you through some wonderful redwoods. How about dim sum? Koi Palace is south of SF (not too far from the airport.) Crazy, crowded waiting area but the BEST dim sum. Also, I've had some terrific Vietnamese & Thai food down in San Jose, but at places I've just stumbled onto, don't know the name of, and couldn't find again. There are also some great casual Indian restaurants down that way. Depending on exact timing, there are also some great places to eat in Santa Cruz... I'm sorry to hear you are coming for such a sad occasion. October is one of the most beautiful months in the Bay Area; I hope the ocean or the redwoods on a beautiful fall day gives you comfort.

When are you coming? The weather would change things... Do you like to hike (or at least stroll through the flat part of Muir Woods?) Do you want to see the ocean/ drive along the coast? Go up to the wine country? How many hours do you have? You can get to a lot of places in a 1-2 hour radius from SF. Since "decor is immaterial" the first thoughts that come to mind are Taylor's Refresher in St. Helena (the quintessential American Drive-In experience, except they serve wine) or one of the taco trucks (at best, there will be a picnic table for your dining pleasure.) There's a whole thread on the taco trucks & someone's posted pictures of Taylor's Refresher. Another thought is a drive down Highway One. You could get all the way down to Gayle's Bakery in Santa Cruz in about an hour. (both she and her husband have written cookbooks-the food is terrific, and again, it's a real American experience.) You could drive back up through the redwoods. There is also something called "The 49-Mile Drive" in San Francisco proper. It goes through all the neighborhoods, so you could just stop and pick up a bite at multiple places. There are street signs and books that will tell you the details. Last but not least, you could come to Berkeley and have lunch at Chez Panisse. Then go across the street to The Cheeseboard Collective to take a look at the some of best the Bay Area has to offer. You could buy a slice of pizza and/or some bread there-it is unbelievable. We could give you directions to Berkeley Bowl so that you can see the best of the Bay Area produce.

I'd like your advice again... I've been asked to bring an appetizer to a Saturday night dinner for 10 celebrating a friend's 50th birthday who's in town. The party is an hour from my house, and at friend's home/winery outside Napa. It may rain, otherwise it is going to be 75, so who knows whether this will be inside or outside. They make a great Pinot Noir, but I'm not sure if they will be serving that at this point. (their only white wine is a Chard; otherwise, they make only reds.) Here's the only direction I have from the host: "I am planning a big meal (pork roast, roasted potatoes & vegs, applesauce birthday girl's choice!) so something just to sample with our wine before dinner would be great." [also, the only known allergy is to crab] Something on bruscetta/ crostini seems logical. Mushrooms appeal for both the season and the menu. I want to keep it light because it IS a big heavy dinner (plus, Im sure there will be a cake, too.) But special, because it's a dear friend's birthday. Ideas???

We have a small kitchen, so to some extent we have to clean as we go, although I find it annoying when my husband empties the dishwasher when I'm trying to cook. However, my real philosophy is "can't see it from the bedroom." IMO, there is nothing wrong with leaving a mess until the morning-I can do a load of dishes in the ten minutes that it takes to make my morning coffee. I need something to do then anyway!

Me too-but fortunately, my neighborhood store sells organic free-range (Rosie), free range (Rocky) and "regular" (Foster Farms) chickens–and all of them come packaged in cut-up parts, so I can choose a package of all thighs or boneless, skiness chicken breasts from any of those producers. Our markets are incredible out here; we are very fortunate.

Favorites, in no particular order: 1. Chez Panisse 2. Jojo's 3. Zuni Cafe 4. La Boheme (Carmel) 5. Terra (and Hurricane Kate's, but that's in Eureka, so I suppose that doesn't count.) Places to avoid: Cafe Beaujolais and as far as I can tell, any place in the Montclair area of Oakland. Parking sucks and I've yet to find any place with a meal that's worth three circles around the block. Since I live five minutes from there, this should be your clue I've had some REALLY bad meals up there! Also, I have sworn off chef's tasting dinners forever. As far as I'm concerned, they are the upscale verson of "value meals" and "go big." No matter how small each portion may be, at the end of the evening I have eaten two to three times the normal portion of food. One thing all of my favorites have in common (with perhaps the exception of Zuni, and their chicken makes great leftovers) is that they serve what would traditionally be considered "normal portions." I've just had it with places that serve platters of food!!!

Thanks for your post. That reminds me, my house isn't completely unattended for 10 hours. I have four cats, and as you can see by my avatar, one who keeps insisting that it is okay to go onto the counters. That could a problem w/ an ill-fitting lid, couldn't it?

Now that cooler weather is a mere month away for those of us on the left coast, and my work days are longer than ever, I find myself wondering yet again if I should buy a slow cooker. I usually have some time on my days off to braise as JAZ has described, and I believe that most braised dishes taste better reheated anyway, but the idea of walking into a house that smells like dinner really appeals... PS I am gone from the house 10-11 hours. Is that simply too long for anything to cook well in one?

I think the organic, free range chickens we get in the SF Bay Area (Rosie brand) taste much better than the Foster Farms brand. My definition of "better" is that they have a more intense chicken flavor. They also have a little firmer texture without being dry. I recall hearing Jacques Pepin say once that French Bresse (sp?) chickens are also more intensely flavored-perhaps they are also free-range? Even if they didn't taste better, I would still buy them because I don't want to eat antibiotics, hormones, and God knows what else in my food. Edited to add this link to Rosie (and Rocky) chickens: http://www.petalumapoultry.com/products/index.html

Alex Did you preheat the oven for an hour? It makes a difference.

For those of you who never use written recipes: How many dishes do you think you have in your memory? 100, 200, 500? How long can you go (one month, one year, two years, more) between times you made a dish and remember timing, technique, general amounts? Just how much detail do you remember? (How complex are the recipes you remember-5 ingredients, 20?) I find this so fascinating-just the other day I had to pull out my business card to read someone my FAX number (I've used it every month or two for several years now.) I just can't remember details...

Check out the pictures on this thread about Michael Mina's in San Francisco: http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=46639 This is SO MUCH FOOD. It's simply an upscale version of super-sized fast food meals. Is this a trend in other countries, or is this simply an logical extension of American value of more is better?

Yes, I use recipes. I'm not a detail person, I have to have stuff like that written down or I'll never remember timing, general amounts, techniques, and seasonings. It'a a memory tool. Unlike deltadoc, I've always been forgetful. BUT.. The recipes I use are my own, the ideas and techniques gleaned from assorted cookbooks. I write them down (each is a Word file) and am constantly tinkering with them as I find new ideas from here, magazines and the newspaper, or from all those new cookbooks I keep buying. Very few of my recipes were copied verbatim without some sort of change on my part, and it is extremely rare that I "follow" a new recipe as it is written the first time I make it, but I simply have to have a written record for me to be able to recall how I made something. I tend to read it through before I start to cook, then only occasionally refer to it for amounts of ingredients or timing. No way I'd ever be able to cook without written recipes-and I've been cooking for almost 40 years!

NOT true w/ the type of gas range w/ heavy cast iron grates (like my Wolf & the other professional-style ranges.) I've burned myself more than once 1/2 hour later-those grates stay hot for a very, very long time-probably longer than my glass-top cooktop, now that I think about it. For instance, the grates are still too hot to pick without a potholder when I go to clean my stove AFTER dinner and doing the dishes. You also can't simply turn off the gas & leave something on that burner-it will continue to cook. I burned more than one dish making that assumption. Those heavy grates also make things (like a large pot of boiling water) take longer to come to a boil, because the grate takes a while to get hot. It also helps keep the heat even once it's hot, of course... PS Can't resist getting off topic. I know you live in Florida, though I can't remember exactly where. Glad to see you posting, it must mean you have power today. Stay safe and here's hoping this is the last hurricane of the season!