Tag Archives: Kitchen

It’s a New Year, a week in already

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The first week of the new year (2011) has gone quite fast, yet seems slow as well. The new year started with warmer weather, and that lasted a few days, then back to cold enough to start a fire in the fireplace again. It’s not terribly cold, just normal cold for The South where we live.

There is a weather system that is supposed to form over the The Gulf this weekend, and bring a winter storm to us through Tuesday. It isn’t our first, we actually had snow on Christmas Day, though it started late in the daylight hours and continued through the night into the next day. We had a few inches at least, over 2 for sure. The snow lasted that day then, the next, starting to melt, but on our property we had a lot of snow the day after still, then only in spots, then none at all. Then it was warm, early spring warm. We had fireworks to shoot off on New Years Eve. We were outside with barely light jackets at 9pm through to midnight when we shot our two cakes off.

We didn’t get enough wood to burn before the season, so we were glad for the warm-up some. We stocked up with more wood after 2011 started, and have enough for awhile, and will get more when we get paid again. We did get a nice wood rack to setup outside, an arched bridge sort, it needs to be assembled still. Once that is put together the wood will get stacked neatly behind the garage and really look NICE!

I haven’t written a lot on this blog, more on my other blog, but not much anywhere. I’m trying to do things to make myself do more, get more done, more creativity, which spawns more posts here and there.

I did make a Christmas Card this year. I had a hard time getting a picture for the inside, finally accomplished that quite late, and got them printed on my HP printer (got it new this past autumn, it’s awesome to have a color printer that can print great photos!) trimmed and removable glue dotted into the card (so the photo could be easily taken out by the end user if desired.) I only sent out 10 cards in the end. I was going to send more out, but then canceled ever getting ANY out when the photo shoots I took made for nothing good to use. I was not happy, but just couldn’t get any card out without the plan of the photo for inside. It was a totally handmade card, lots of effort put into making it. Anyhow, the radio was on when we were out doing some shopping one of the last days before Christmas, and they said “get your cards to the postoffice by Noon so they’ll arrive before Christmas!” and that sunk deep into my head and the next morning I had the 10 cards ready and off to the postoffice they went. So maybe a tad late, but not entirely, and at least they went out. That was a sucess, partially. I mean, I had so many others I could have sent cards to, and didn’t. FWIW.

Anyhow, I feel sort of stuck in some ways right now. Things are sort of tight, still not done enough (the house) and trying to work through getting some of that done sooner than later. We actually moved our kitchen back to the start of where it was in 1997. I hate it. It’s not permanent, thanks be to God for that. I can’t live with it like this and we will change it again, to where it works better, basically flipping it on end. It’s do-able, and we need to do a few extra things to make it work out to be permanent and done right, and get everything installed that is supposed to be installed. This all will work to make a better place to live, even though it’s still small and will always be smaller as my family is growing.

My eldest is now 14. He’s way bigger than me now. So in essence it’s like having 3 adults in the house now. Two years ago it wasn’t. Now it sure is.

Winter Begins

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Winter has begun fully for us this week. It’s not “officially Winter” but the “season is here. Yesterday it snow flurried for hours, but no accumulation. Today it’s very cold, still below freezing, reaching that mark maybe, but probably not quite. It’s 31.6 degrees F. on my front porch digital temperature thing, it’s connected wirelessly to an inside panel (a cheap little gadget I got at Staples on clearance a couple of years ago.) It’s not necessarily correct, but close, I figure, usually. I really want a nice full system to collect data and see what’s going on entirely around me. It’s not a priority for my husband, just a nicety for me, not a necessity (Saize).

We got the fireplace going for the first time for this end of year cold season. Usually we have started in mid-November, and would have this year several times from then to now, but our ‘living room’ has been such a mess since we are living in the house and putting down new wood flooring in the living room. It’s a slow go, 3/4ths of it is done, but it now languishes away since the piano and device stuff for the TV are on that side, and there is no easy way to move the piano anywhere else except for the kitchen (no way!)

I am stuck with my christmas cards. I need a picture for inside and that is holding me up. I tried a few weeks ago to get one good one outside of my children, but over 70 photos, and nothing good enough, not even to photoshop something together.

I’m doing December Daily this year for the first time, but I’ve fallen off the cart. I have it in my head, but haven’t gotten the ideas down or pictures taken, daily. Time marches on and now it’s the 13th, so after 6 days I fell off, and am now that much behind. Ack!

I wish I could figure all this stuff out, but I feel stuck on all sides. I did get some video off of my Sony Handycam today, and uploaded a few things to YouTube. (I have so much to do with all my video too, I still do not have the software to do what I want to with it all.)

Anyhow,  I did get a new food processor this weekend. Finally able to replace my broken Kitchen Aid 11-cup UltraPower one. (Broken collar on post, cracked case here and there, bowl broken, small work bowl lost, post for discs lost … not very useful or nice to use for what it COULD do with my help.) The one we got is a Cuisinart 12-cup Elite, it is different, but solid, and has a wonderful case to hold all the pieces (my old KA had a case, long gone, not very good for what it held and how.) Now I can grate, shred, cut, mix, even better than ever before. I love this unit.

We also got two tall cabinets for the kitchen at Home Depot … they are the future for the kitchen, along with the sink cabinet that we already have. The other cabinets with slowly (but as fast as we can) be replaced until we are done replacing and ahead with finishing everything. The two new cabinets are a whole new world for me. Something I’ve wanted, places to put canned foods and such, never had anything but some lower and upper cabinets. Then I also have wanted a place to put my big things that I don’t always use, away, like my Nutrimill, crockpot, cake stand, etc. as well as a place for my cloth kitchen towels (for bread & baking) and for future things like tablecloths (which I love for holidays, but don’t have.) So I have a tall cabinet just for all that kind of stuff, with two wide but short drawers (for cloth) and lower and upper shelves behind two doors, that hold big things, with room to grow.

Status Quo

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We had a mini-vacation by going to Charlotte for CKC there last week. Hubby had business there too (made the trip useful for him to be able to create appointments since we’d be there.)

It was nice, in some ways. Hard, in many ways. Nice to get home. Not nice to get home.

Home is static. Flooring waiting to be installed. Stuff waiting to get sorted through. Never enough energy for the latter. Never enough help to gain such energy (by shared effort.)

My kitchen is a sore point. My living room is a sore point. My basement “family room” is anything but nice. Junky couch (really a partial couch) and not enough seating for my family unless bringing in kitchen chairs if we watch a movie together.

Anyhow, I’m just tired thinking of it all. Same old, same old. There are other things to do, always. So we live with it all. Going away just makes it more painful to live with again when returning. It’s like a wound, scabbed over, the wound is there, but covered with scab. Going away it seems like the scab falls off, wound healed. Coming back it’s just like the scab was just masquerading as healed, and it’s split wide open with the effort of going back realized.

It helps to write about it. Hopefully my hubby and I can get some things done in the house now that we have no “trip” that’s coming up. If only he’d be able to be motivated. Oh, then there is the long summer grass. It’s getting longer every day. That takes up so much time. I hate grass. It’s the enemy of household renovation, of weekend fun. It’s a slave driver. I’m full of cheerful thoughts today, aren’t I?

Kitchen

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My kitchen is partially better now. We moved the refridgerator to a new spot, close to where it was originally in the house, but down a few feet. It will be the anchor for the island someday. We’ll build it into a closet like structure, and that way put in a small pantry & also a media area for the network. The island will be next to that … hopefully the countertop will be made from at least Corian, or on the other end Granite.

We also put the stove where I had put it before, which is exactly opposite from it’s original position in the house. Well not thoroughly exactly, but opposite and in the configuration of cabinets it is over some inches to feet/foots, being somewhat centered on the 10 foot wall, which on the other side of the house, opposite, there is a door into the garage which hogs much space. Moving the kitchen down to the other end of the 20 foot long room enables 10 feet of kitchen space on one side, and 10-to-12 feet on the long side, with the island nestled into the area.

We had tried to come up with a double-L layout, but it was just a bit too tight in how it felt. We like the L with island much better now, but there is more work to do. We do have decent counters on the whole way around (didn’t for awhile) and it looks nicer. We still have to get the flooring that we want put in. It’s horrible vinyl tiles right now, and they are cracking and awful where the floor is uneven, it’s a mess to me, looks OK if you don’t look hard.

Once we install the wood flooring we can hook everything in completely and see about getting the final counters when $$$$$ allows. All in all though it’ll mean the cabinets are locked in, level, the floor level, the island ready to be finished, everything much better.

We do have a new sink/faucet installed, but no dishwasher for now. We were using a portable dishwasher, but can’t use it with the setup we have now … so it’s handwashing everything until we get a dishwasher in. But the sink is so enjoyable. It’s a Kohler white castiron smart divide “Langlade” style. The faucet is brushed nickel, very nice. We are having some water dripping down from the spray connection, and will have to figure that out soon. We have to keep a bowl under the faucet to catch that mess, it’s alot, but not much, if that makes any sense. It’s purely an annoyance at any rate since it’s part of the faucet that comes pre-connected, it’s not something we tightened on or anything. It’s not going to be easy figuring it out by getting under the sink, it’s really back there, up there …

So we have progress. We have more sitting in the garage. A very nice glass/stainless steel hood for the stove, and a sliding glass door. The door has been there for years now. The hood just for weeks. I wonder how long it’ll be for either at the end.

Getting Ready for Thanksgiving Day

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November is well underway. Time is flying, does so all the time, but moreso now with Thanksgiving right around the corner, which always means even more for us since my girl has her birthday right before, on, or after Thanksgiving. She was born the evening before Thanksgiving. She likes that. Which is great. I was born 2 weeks after Independence Day. I like that. Which is great. I personally wouldn’t want my birthday literally a month before Christmas. :) I like the mid-year spot I’m from. My hubby is right there with me, a week before me, and our youngest is another couple of weeks before that. Our two other boys are in Spring and the very end of Summer. FWIW.

Thanksgiving Day is two weeks from today. We haven’t yet found where we are getting a turkey from. I should make some bread to cube for stuffing, put it in the freezer. I love my Thanksgiving stuffing. I use walnuts & raisins & apples usually, with a basic bread, onion, celery, sage base (from my pantry, not from a box!)

I like using a couple types of bread cubes, usually something dark & something light. So in this case I’ll make a white spelt bread & a whole grain spelt bread, maybe put some organic blackstrap molasses in it.

Speaking of molasses, my eldest was speaking of flies, my third eldest said something then, and we got onto the topic of Shoe Fly Pie and what it was, which made both me and my eldest have mouthwatering thoughts about Shoe Fly Pie. Maybe I’ll have to take the tradition of Shoe Fly Pie in Summer & put it to Thanksgiving/Christmas in our house. As traditional in summer as it is, I haven’t made any for a long time, not this year or the last, or probably even the one before that.

For planning purposes I’ll put down what I’ll make for Thanksgiving this year:

    Thanksgiving Dinner 2009
  • Turkey w/stuffing
  • Gravy
  • Mashed Potatoes
  • Cranberry Sauce
  • Green Olives
  • Green Bean Casserole
  • Baby Peas
  • Cauliflower w/cheese sauce
  • Sweet Potato Casserole w/marshmallow top
  • Pumpkin Pies
  • Shoe Fly Pie