I’m beginning to think we should rename this blog: ‘Wish I Weren’t Remodeling.’ Kitchens = Headaches
Not really headaches, per se, but mental gymnastics as we think of what can go wrong (everything) what we might do incorrectly (most things) and how much it’s going to cost (all we’ve got, plus). It’s something that’s causing us some oddly restless nights, and bizarre appliances dreams.
But, we soldier on.
Of course, we want to be environmentally conscious in the kitchen, so we’re doing a bit of research to make sure we do this remodel thing correctly. According to the EnergyStar people, when planning a new kitchen, one should be careful not to put the refrigerator next to any other appliances. Apparently, appliances need buffers around them so they operate correctly and efficiently.
Oh.
Let’s translate that into Wee Little House terms: SPACE is not what our kitchen has. THIS is not going to work in our kitchen.
(Maybe.)
In all of our remodeling schemes, we’ve never even thought of moving the fridge anywhere. I wonder why that is. In reality, we could put the fridge into a sort of built-in cubby hole, where the built-in microwave is now. A step saver between the sink and the fridge, one would only need to pivot to get what was needed, and then that entire corner would be open for …cabinets. And a hanging microwave. Open shelves. Cook books. A small screen TV. Hmm.
This morning’s Ponder du Jour included realizing that we have NOTHING gas related except in our garage and on the second floor for the water heater. Ah, the 70’s, when the Wee Little House was shiny and gadgety and new, and all this electrical crap was ultra-modern. Now we long for gas, and have… electric everything. Do we go ahead and punch through the kitchen floor to run gas into the room? Will it be that easy? Do we have to punch more holes in the house to get the kitchen we want?
At some point, do we acknowledge that this isn’t our Dream House or our Dream Kitchen, and make it the best it can be as it is?
Sigh.
Our stove search is centering on an electric stove. Consumer Reports this month says that the Kenmore 964 is the best for the electric smooth top models, but in researching glass-topped stoves, we’ve had some questions… A.) I’m not world’s best housekeeper; the other cook in the house is… um, worse. You have to clean glass top stoves immediately or else the stains are permanent; acidic and sugary boil-overs become part of the stove. B.) We don’t want to replace all of our pots, and though flat-bottomed is the only real requirement we’ve come across, but some folks were advised NOT to use glass pots on them, without an explanation given. In any case, the main issue is canning ware… do people can on glass-topped stoves? Yes, BUT, boil-overs can pit the glass, a heavy pot or cast iron being set down too hard can shatter it, as can anything falling on it. If the elements are painted on (which I don’t think anyone does on new stoves anymore), it can be scratched off within the first week.
I think a glasstop stove sounds like too much trouble for people who really cook, shake pans to sauteé, use cast iron, and forever have a kettle on the hob. One is supposed to use ceramic pots for glass top. Well, I don’t have any of those, so sorry. “Oh, but they’re so much easier to clean!” Um, well, that’s as may be. But if you keep a brand-new stove reasonably clean… it won’t turn into the gunky horror that came with this house. It’s that simple. It’s all about maintenance… something millions of people are apt to do very poorly.
Stay tuned as we debate whether chrome is really worth an additional $200, if black or shows fingerprints worse, if bisque is an actual color, and if the color of the floor really plays at all into the color of the appliances… or if we’ll go with bamboo all over, or with tile in the kitchen, or what we’re doing at all…
After all this talk, STILL, nothing whatsoever to do with baking, darn it.
So, I’m thinking of doing an Aran pattern for this sweater, and have been researching stitches. I’ve found a site with descriptions of what some of the stitches mean, and another site which debunks the myth of Arans being used to identify families (or claims to). I’m particularly attracted to the Honeycomb Stitch (to the left) and to the Horseshoe Cable (to the right). We’ll see what ends up happening, though, as it appears that the company I started with (Red Heart) has discontinued the color I’ve been using … so I’m having to switch mid-way. 
That’s OK, I suppose, as I’ve not really been following any particular pattern, but just going intuitively. I did figure out how big around I wanted it, and how long, and have been sticking to that, but I’ve started with a varied series of stitches in a long panel for the back, and have been knitting back-and-forth joining the back panel together for the round.
about our makrut lime tree. Probably any tree of which you actively consume the leaves, one should worry over… We worry mostly that… we’ll kill it. There are really good sauces to be made from makrut or Thai lime leaves. We made a simple sauce with pulverized leaves, garlic, shallots, curry paste, Peppers of Death Sauce (made with chile d’arbol and far too little water and corn starch as a stabilizer), a little oil, and vinegar. Others typically used include fish sauce (nuoc main or nam pla). Cilantro and ginger add their own special verve. We’re halfway through our second batch of sauce, and we have 