Baking area:
Island:
Sink section:
Buffet:
Coming this week more shelves, knobs, and trim!
Sunday, June 6, 2010
Kitchen Progress - Drawers
Things are starting to look really good in the kitchen.
Baking area:
Island:
Baking area:
Island:
Saturday, June 5, 2010
Creamy Cucumber Salad
Adapted from the Barefoot Contessa.
Ingredients
4 hothouse cucumbers, thinly sliced (3 to 4 pounds)
2 small red onions, thinly sliced in half rounds
Kosher salt
4 cups (32 ounces) plain low-fat yogurt
1 cup (8 ounces) low-fat sour cream
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1/2 cup minced fresh dill
1 1/2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
Directions
Mix the cucumbers, red onions, and 1 1/2 tablespoons of salt in a bowl. Pour them into a colander and suspend it over a bowl. Wrap the bowl and colander with plastic wrap, and place in the refrigerator to drain for at least 4 hours or overnight. Make sure there's plenty of space in the bottom of the bowl for the water! Discard the liquid that collects in the bowl.
Pour the yogurt into a sieve lined with a paper towel and suspend it over another bowl. Wrap the bowl and sieve in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight. Discard the liquid that collects in the second bowl.
When the cucumbers are ready, roll them up in paper towels or a kitchen towel and press the towel lightly to remove most of the liquid. Place the cucumbers in a large bowl. Make the dressing in a smaller bowl by combining the yogurt with the sour cream, vinegar, dill, 2 teaspoons salt, and the pepper. Add enough dressing to the cucumber mix to completely coat them. (You can always add more, but once it's in, you can't undress the salad!) If you have extra dressing, store separately. Toss well and refrigerate for a few hours to allow the flavors to blend. Sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper and serve chilled.
2 small red onions, thinly sliced in half rounds
Kosher salt
4 cups (32 ounces) plain low-fat yogurt
1 cup (8 ounces) low-fat sour cream
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1/2 cup minced fresh dill
1 1/2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
Directions
Mix the cucumbers, red onions, and 1 1/2 tablespoons of salt in a bowl. Pour them into a colander and suspend it over a bowl. Wrap the bowl and colander with plastic wrap, and place in the refrigerator to drain for at least 4 hours or overnight. Make sure there's plenty of space in the bottom of the bowl for the water! Discard the liquid that collects in the bowl.
Pour the yogurt into a sieve lined with a paper towel and suspend it over another bowl. Wrap the bowl and sieve in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight. Discard the liquid that collects in the second bowl.
When the cucumbers are ready, roll them up in paper towels or a kitchen towel and press the towel lightly to remove most of the liquid. Place the cucumbers in a large bowl. Make the dressing in a smaller bowl by combining the yogurt with the sour cream, vinegar, dill, 2 teaspoons salt, and the pepper. Add enough dressing to the cucumber mix to completely coat them. (You can always add more, but once it's in, you can't undress the salad!) If you have extra dressing, store separately. Toss well and refrigerate for a few hours to allow the flavors to blend. Sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper and serve chilled.
Friday, June 4, 2010
Return of the Deck Master!
And here you thought our kitchen was the only reno project we had going on. My husband has been working on a section of our back deck each summer. He just finished the 3rd (and biggest) area yesterday. Here's the before:
Not actually completely before, you can see he started some demo before taking this photo. The section is about 14 1/2 feet deep (bottom of photo to top) and about 23 feet wide (left to right). He had the wood delivered last Friday, did demo Saturday, shored up the framing on Sunday and laid the new boards Monday (thanks much to Jenn's husband Marc who helped on Monday!!) and we finished up yesterday morning. Ta da:
Much better looking, and much safer. He used all coated deck screws - we had a lot of problems with the old nails popping up. No one got hurt and now we don't have to worry. Yay!
Not actually completely before, you can see he started some demo before taking this photo. The section is about 14 1/2 feet deep (bottom of photo to top) and about 23 feet wide (left to right). He had the wood delivered last Friday, did demo Saturday, shored up the framing on Sunday and laid the new boards Monday (thanks much to Jenn's husband Marc who helped on Monday!!) and we finished up yesterday morning. Ta da:
Much better looking, and much safer. He used all coated deck screws - we had a lot of problems with the old nails popping up. No one got hurt and now we don't have to worry. Yay!
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Tropical Island Salsa
We found this recipe when it was featured in the amazing food section of the Houston Chronicle (years ago when we lived in Pearland, TX). It's been a favorite at our house ever since. It's originally from the book Roy's Feasts of Hawaii by Roy Yamaguchi, who also brought us the Hawaiian Martini.
Ingredients:
1/2 cup each, peeled, cored and diced: fresh pineapple and Granny Smith apple
1/2 cup peeled, pitted and diced ripe mango
2 Tablespoons minced red onion
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 Tablespoon finely minced fresh ginger
1 jalapeno, seeded and minced
1 ripe tomato, peeled, seeded and diced
2 Tablespoons fresh passion fruit juice or juice from fresh pineapple
juice of 2 limes
Directions:
Combine everything in a medium mixing bowl and toss gently to combine. Chill salsa before serving it with meats and salads.
Note: It is a waste of time to make a single batch of this. We usually make at least 4x the recipe amount. I am always amazed at how fast even a big batch disappears.
It is really good eaten just like regular salsa, with tortilla chips. We especially like it with blue tortilla chips, great color contrast and the flavor of the chips holds up well to the salsa.
Ingredients:
1/2 cup each, peeled, cored and diced: fresh pineapple and Granny Smith apple
1/2 cup peeled, pitted and diced ripe mango
2 Tablespoons minced red onion
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 Tablespoon finely minced fresh ginger
1 jalapeno, seeded and minced
1 ripe tomato, peeled, seeded and diced
2 Tablespoons fresh passion fruit juice or juice from fresh pineapple
juice of 2 limes
Directions:
Combine everything in a medium mixing bowl and toss gently to combine. Chill salsa before serving it with meats and salads.
Note: It is a waste of time to make a single batch of this. We usually make at least 4x the recipe amount. I am always amazed at how fast even a big batch disappears.
It is really good eaten just like regular salsa, with tortilla chips. We especially like it with blue tortilla chips, great color contrast and the flavor of the chips holds up well to the salsa.
Bar Stools in the Kitchen!
The bar stools arrived this evening (thank you Mr. UPS Man). They are just the right height and I think they look great in the space!
We are now also the proud owners of 43 new knobs (see previous post). Not quite as many as we need but a good start, and all they had at my local Home Depot!
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Cabinet Knobs
The finalist in the cabinet knobs is this lovely little guy. It's Liberty Hardware's P15569-SN-C 32mm Domed Raised Panel Knob.
Not as ornate as the original one I liked (see it here) but it has some detail without being fussy.
We installed one to see how it looks... so here it is in its natural habitat :)
We installed one to see how it looks... so here it is in its natural habitat :)
Cabinet Doors and More Cabinet Doors
Sorry to be so long overdue with the posts. There hasn't been a lot of action in the kitchen, but we have had 2 days of cabinet door installs, today and a week ago Friday. Let's start with the first ones (all solid doors):
(To the right of the sink)
(In the baking area)
(To the right of the sink)
(In the baking area)
(Crown molding installed in this section)
(Left side of buffet)
(Right side of buffet)
And the second set installed today (all 8 glass doors)
(to the left of the sink, close up so you can see detail hopefully!)
(Above the wine & beer fridge)
(Left side of the buffet)
(Right side of buffet)
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