...cooking!

I think I said it before and I'll continue to say it - having a functional kitchen, albeit small, makes all the difference when it comes to my enjoyment in and practice of cooking. I am eating way more vegetables and way less processed food.

Today's adventure involved my new food processor (Cuisinart 7 Cup model) and a new recipe for Potato Leek Soup (courtesy of The Kitchn).

I read a post on the Kitchn about a simple recipe for Potato Leek soup. I like soup and I like easy. Coming off my success at making Lentil Brown Rice Soup,  I was game for a new recipe to add to my repertoire.

It basically consisted of frying bacon, cutting up potatoes and leeks, and giving it all a whirl in the food processor. It's good eats for lazy people - my fave.

Potatoes and leeks bubblin' away - check out that steam!

mmm...bacon. And my new toy.

I have neither an immersion blender, nor a potato masher (whole other topic)...so mutiple batches had to go into the food processor in order to make this a soup and not, well, hot potato water.

This could be a recipe for a disatrous mess.

Mess averted. Looks like pea soup.

I topped the soup off with some crumbled bacon and thyme. The thyme made a very tasty addition.

If you squint, you can see the sprig of thyme. 

Lessons learned for the next time: salt the water more (I never salt my water enough) and process less for a more chunky texture. 

Now my freezer will be full of literally three things: Lean Cuisines, soup, and fudge.

...picking out my new kitchen.

Now that The Wall is down, the kitchen renovations can begin in earnest. Or at least I can do lots of shopping and window browsing. Last weekend - er, I know, this is another tardy post. I've come to the conclusion if there's a picture from my camera involved, the post will be delayed in getting published. Moving on. - I went to Ikea and Home Depot to start looking at kitchen cabinet options. I came home with a buttload of pamphlets:

Pamphlets!

And the realization that I have VERY particular tastes. I want white cabinets. But I don't want that fake wood crap. I want real wood - just painted white. (Not that anyone but me will know the difference.) But it can't be that off-white color - actual white. And it can't be too country/traditional looking. I want something modern. But not stark modern. Contemporary modern. (Hmm...maybe this is why I'm single?)

Next up I'm going to hit up the warehouses, et. al. on Washington Ave. Maybe they'll have more of what I'm looking for.

I'm particular, but I have been planning this kitchen since I put the offer in on the house.

Ooh...Ikea Kitchen Planner. My idea of spare time fun.

This is the second floorplan configuration - I originally wanted to move the sink underneath the windows and then move the stove about 2 feet to the left. Then I realized my budget went to removing The Wall. It's okay, this new layout is still SO much better than what it is now:

Even though this looks like where country oak comes to die, the cabinets are really maple.

Kind of what the new kitchen will look like from same angle.

On the agenda:
 - Taking the ceiling up so I can put in 42" cabinets
 - Moving the sink over about one foot into the corner
 - Putting a pantry next to the fridge, as well as a cabinet above it
 - Installing the microwave above the stove
 - Putting in a 18" dishwasher
 - Additional recessed lighting and pendants above the breakfast bar

The storage possibilities are going to quadruple.  This is good news for two reasons: one, I hate clutter, and two, even though the current kitchen is less than ideal, it's still better than what I had - no counter/surface space and an oven that set off the smoke detector every time you turned it on - and that means I am cooking a LOT more now.

Just think of the gourmet treats I'll make when I get my new kitchen...mmmm.

...recipe fail.

I'm not a chef, but I think this recipe might be missing something important.

...the onset of rennovations and cleaning up the mess.

First off, if you know me, you know that I hate mess and disorganization more than anything. (Hmm..almost anything.)  I can't tell you how many times I've been mistaken for a sales clerk because I straighten up the shelves/racks when I go shopping. 

So with that being said, please appreciate how hard it was for me was when I had contractors come in and remove a six inch, load bearing brick wall.  Because it made my entire house was one giant, disorganized mess. Every square inch.

I tried my damndest to tarp everything off. I had tarps over the staircase, the cabinets, what little furniture is on my first floor. I sealed off doors with tape. I put my small appliances in the basement. I moved a bunch of kitchen stuff to my bedroom. I put cereal and snacks in the refrigerator. My once overly organized kitchen was in disarray. And covered in plastic.

When the dust literally setttled, I had a nice new open floorplan and about 1/4 inch of red dust EVERYWHERE. It took me two days and an arsenal of concentrated heavy duty cleaner, windex, a shop-vac, and the help of local take-out restaurants to make my house liveable again. I still haven't tackled the basement and I'm afraid to see how much dust wound up on my kitchenwares stored there.

The saving grace in all of that is that the kitchen rennovations have officially commenced! I hope that within the next 6-8 months, my kitchen will look like a combo of this:

and this:

Wish me luck, because holy crap, I will need it.

...when the walls come down!

Ahhh....the day is finally (almost) here. Today is the day that the wall between my dining room and kitchen came down. Woo!! Words can't express how much I loathed this wall and relish in its demise!

The workers got to my place around 9:30...by 9:45 they were already going to town and there was exposed brick. These guys did not mess around. By 4:30...the wall was GONE! Granted, they need to come back tomorrow and finish framing the out opening and plug up the gaping hole to my basement, but I am oh-so-happy with what's been done thus far.

Now, I expected to come home and find the bathroom pipes exposed  in the middle of the room, but lo and behold - a plumber magically appeared and moved them! (Okay, he didn't magically appear, but he was summoned by the contractors and made the problem disappear rather quickly.) However, I did come home to a big, fat mess. (Apparently they're coming with a shop-vac tomorrow.)

Can't wait for the rest to be done, although I expect to be doing a LOT of cleaning this weekend.