January 2011 Archives

Good bye Kitchen

By Marcella on January 31, 2011 4:56 PM | 2 Comments | No TrackBacks
On the first day of demolition, the workers wasted no time getting rid of the cabinets, appliances and dry wall.

Good bye harvest gold double ovens!

ovenwalldemo.jpg

So long fridge and sink!

sinkwalldemo.jpg
All the dry wall and much of the insulation was removed.

However, never say that contractors don't have a sense of humor.  Every morning when the newspaper arrives the rubber band was stuck on the kitchen door knob.  Very occasionally one was used.  As a result we had many, many rubber bands piled up. What do the rest of you do with those things?

Our contractor decided we might need them :-)

doorknob.jpg

One day down, 10 weeks to go.

- - marcella


Before the Demolition

By Marcella on January 21, 2011 8:38 AM | 3 Comments | No TrackBacks
When we were house hunting, things in this area were crazy.  We would see a house on Tuesday (which around here is the day they are first open) and bids were taken on Thursday. Most times there were more than 20 other bids.  It was nuts.

All of the houses we looked at were either 1950's vintage complete with pink or turquoise bathrooms and flocked velvet wallpaper.  The rest were 1970's style in all their harvest gold and avocado green glory.

Going in, we knew updating was going to be necessary.  What we looked for was good layout and decent room size so that changes would be as painless as possible.

Immediately we got rid of the amazingly ugly light fixtures, the green and silver wallpaper, and the popcorn ceilings, and the gold and red dining room wallpaper was plastered over.  The hideous vinyl floor in the powder room was tiled over too.

Next the white carpet (always a good choice for entry ways and dining rooms) was replaced with hardwood floors.

The ugly green polyester drapes were switched out for plantation shutters, the mexican tile fireplace was replaced with tumbled marble and a mantle was added, and the drafty windows were replaced too.

It was better, but it did leave the kitchen.

The kitchen is a good sized room that is really poorly designed.  Cupboards and counters are just in one corner of the room and the rest is blank.  This gave us about 9 feet of counter space broken up by a sink and stovetop.  It also mean fewer cupboards and less counter than the tiny but well designed condo kitchen that I was leaving. 

Aren't you just loving the harvest gold ovens?  They do usually both work, though I admit that the guys at the appliance parts store recognize me because I've had to replace the element from the top oven so many times.
oven_wall.jpgThis past fall we decided to suck it up and endure the pain of a kitchen remodel.  We thought we were being smart by planning ahead and starting the work in January.  Too bad none of the experts mentioned the pain of shopping for appliance and other kitchen parts and pieces (of which there are at least 27,006) during the holidays when there is all that other extra shopping and planning and company visiting going on. Yeah well, I'm telling you: see how nice I am?

fridge_wall.jpg
We did replace the dishwasher recently because the old one sounded like a jet engine and one could not be in the house and think while it was running.  I believe that would be the final straw in living with the old kitchen.  If we were going to be buying new appliances they might as well be going into a functional and face it, not hideously ugly, kitchen.

Love how the freezer door is smack up against the wall so it cannot be opened all the way?  Seriously, it is a testament to the human spirit the things we can not only get used to but not even really notice after a while.

And because we have those other blank walls and many more things that did not fit into the pitiful cupboards we have this:

backwall.jpg
And no, that is not all of our cookbooks.  And yes, we do cook out of them.  Really.

And in case you are not fully grasping the horror of this kitchen from top to bottom.  Let me point out this little bit of design excitement.

floor.jpg
The floor.  

I bet amid the rest of the ugly, you didn't even realize how truly awful the 1970's vinyl floor  was, did you?  You might not have even noticed it in those other pictures. Let me just say, that is not even the ugliest pattern that was in this house when we moved in.  That would have been in the powder room and when my Dad saw it he actually yelled to the rest of us to come see how bad it was.  Now you know why bathroom tile was toward the top of the list.

It was really that bad.

And the family room vinyl was a close second.  Who puts vinyl flooring in a family room anyway?  But I digress.  It's gone now and was replaced with carpet by the hardwood flooring men.  

This ugly floor was only the third ugliest vinyl in the house.  How sad is that?

But it's all going away.  Monday the men come with power tools and a trailer and will start ripping out and hauling away.  Some people are tearful when things go away.  I suspect there will be happy dancing around here.

However, it also means I just didn't have time amid all the packing up and sorting out (and still more kitchen shopping) to bake my French Friday's with Dorie double chocolate mousse cake.  If you want to see the deliciousness that others baked up you can visit their links.

It also means that you're in for fewer cooking posts around here.  After all, I suspect not much that is exciting is going to come out of our spare bathroom turned "kitchen".  If I'm wrong, I'll be sure to share.  

I am sure there will be updates on the kitchen progress and maybe even some quilting finally going on around here.

Wish us luck!
- - marcella

A Happy Find

By Marcella on January 18, 2011 9:35 AM | No Comments | No TrackBacks
As you know, we've been busy, busy, busy around here getting ready for the kitchen remodel.

Shopping, sorting, cleaning and boxing up the entire upstairs.  It makes me tired just to type that.

This past weekend we worked really hard in the garage and found some exciting things.

garage.jpg
Exciting enough is just to see that back wall which, honestly, I don't remember ever seeing.  When we toured the house before buying it, the garage was jam packed and we couldn't see inside it at all.

The first really exciting find is that outlet!

All this time we believed that there was only one outlet in the garage.  Even when Mr. Garage Door man came to install the door opener he declared that we had only one outlet.  Last year when electrical work was done the workman said it was too bad we had only one outlet.

We have two!  It makes us so happy because now we have a place to put the refrigerator while work is being done.  A nice place that doesn't involve an extension cord as a tripping object.  

On the left is the start of all the boxes of cookbooks and dishes and other cooking items.  On the right is the rack where I keep all things kitchen that don't fit in our current kitchen.

The other happy find?  A foot.  Yep.  A little black rubber foot that belongs to the ice cream maker.  Years ago my husband gave me an ice cream maker as a gift, and I love making ice cream.  However, shortly after I got it, one of the little rubber feet fell off "somewhere".  I hunted so many times for it but just never found it.  Every time I made ice cream I had to put the Williams-Sonoma Salad book under the left rear corner of the ice cream maker to keep it level.

When we started to work on the garage I told my husband to be on the lookout.  We cleaned and swept and still no foot.  We moved the metro rack that used to sit along the now empty wall, and swept really well back there.  Still no foot.  But Monday, happy Monday, we moved the rack completely to a new wall and there on the floor was the foot.

Happiness! Now the ice cream maker has all four feet again.  Too bad I don't have time to make ice cream to celebrate.

The simple things that make me happy.  An outlet and a rubber foot.

- - marcella

Gnocchi a la Parisienne

By Marcella on January 14, 2011 7:47 AM | 1 Comment | No TrackBacks
Here's this weeks dish from the French Friday's with Dorie gang who are all cooking though Around My French Table by Dorie Greenspan.

I've never thought that gnocchi was remotely French.  Actually, I'd never even heard of this dish before.

Yet on Thursday, not only was it scheduled for our dinner, but I went to lunch at a new restaurant and what did I spot on their dinner menu?  How can that happen all in one day?

Forget about what you know as gnocchi.  These babies are not those light potato dumplings.

Nope.

These are made from pate a choux - the same dough used to make cream puffs or gougeres.

Make the dough and drop it by teaspoonful into simmering water for a poach.  Then layer them with béchamel sauce and top with cheese before baking. 

gnocchi.jpgLooking at it as I worked I was pretty sure it was going to be one doughy stomach bomb.  However as it baked, it puffed up beautifully.

The "gnocchi" were very light.  It still was a wicked buttery, cheesy, carb fest.  But it was a good comfort food dish for a cold day.

Visit some other blogs to see how they fared with this recipe.

- - marcella

Paris Mushroom Soup

By Marcella on January 7, 2011 8:15 AM | 7 Comments | No TrackBacks
I was really happy with this weeks pick for French Friday's with Dorie.  We've been having a bit of chilly weather around here and mushroom soup sounded just perfect for dinner.  I also love soup and if that weren't enough, we also had leftover mushrooms in the fridge that needed to be used up.

The soup itself went together quickly.  Simply cook until soft some onions and garlic.  Add in the mushrooms and raise the heat until all the liquid they release had cooked away.  Toss in the herbs and liquid and simmer for 20 minutes.

While the soup is simmering, a little salad is made.  Nope, not the leafy green kind to serve on the side.  This soup calls for a little mushroom salad at the bottom of the soup bowl.

See how cute?
mushsoup.jpg
It's simply thinly sliced mushrooms, minced herbs and some salt and white pepper.  Pile it in the bottom of each bowl just like in a fancy restaurant.

Once the soup has simmered away puree it until smooth.  I have to say that once we bought are beloved VitaMix our creamy soup consumption skyrocketed.  That machine can puree corn cobs into silky smoothness.  It's so simple to pour in the soup and really have something smooth and rich in no time without having to add lots of cream.

After the soup is smooth just ladle it carefully around the salad and top with a dollop of creme fraiche.

soupbowl.jpg
We served this up with some hot fresh bread and were very happy on a cold winter's night.

enjoy!
- - marcella

Cookbook Mountain

By Marcella on January 5, 2011 11:44 AM | No Comments | No TrackBacks
It has been so busy around here.  You too?

Between the holiday clean up and the shopping for new kitchen appliances and well shopping for everything a kitchen needs I have had no time for fun.

My sad vegetable garden pots on the back deck need some serious attention.  Not a stitch of quilting has happened since well before the holiday.  I didn't make a single French Friday's with Dorie recipe in December.

And taunting me is this.

cookbooks.jpg
All these wonderful cookbooks were gifts for me this year.  Yep, I am spoiled. Unfortunately, I've barely had time to flip through them.  I've done a little reading from the Cooking Under Pressure book because I'd like to try a thing or two from it (with the new pressure cooker that I received as well) before all kitchen things are packed up for the remodel.

Think it will happen?

Oh, and that jam book is KILLING me.  Who knew so many interesting jam flavors were out there? I just know my sisters meyer lemon tree is waiting to be picked.

And I'll need some new bread recipes to go with the jam.

Darn kitchen.

Maybe I need to find a cookbook for when you're cooking in the spare bathroom.  Think there is one of those?

- - marcella
« December 2010 | Main Index | Archives | February 2011 »