House Updates 3

The afternoon light in here is fantastic.  I love my kitchen!  It really is the reason I said yes when G first loved this house.  And for all the madness and buyer's regret, this kitchen feels like home to me.  It's not completely uncluttered, there is always a loaf of bread on top of the fridge, spices on the counter, and I keep things out that many put away.  But it's a working kitchen, where things I need are on hand. 

This is the bookcase in front of my island.

Bookcase: thrifted

Wooden Bowls: thrifted

Carnival Glass Butter Dish: bought for my by my parents at an auction years ago (I used it in college!)

Teapot Warmer: thrifted

Brass Candlesticks: thrifted (we have a ton in our house)

Cookbooks: from everywhere

Recipe Box: Big one from Hallmark (gift), small one is vintage, belonged to my great grandmother

Vanilla:  TJMaxx

Candied Kumquats:  I made!

Bluebird Cookie Jar: thrifted

 Violet: Home Depot

Aloe Vera: Home Depot

Aloe Vera Pot: IKEA

Cake Stand: vintage, gifted from one of our middle school teacher's when I bought the cake that was on it at an auction.  She wished us a happy marriage and told us to keep the plate!

Dry Erase Board and Stand: DaySpring

Candle, TJMaxx

Candle Plate: Target

Moroccan Glass Tiled Vase: Tuesday Morning

French Press: Bodum, freecycle

Soap Dish: Antique, given to us by G's dad.

Dishsoap Bottle:  One of 3 from IKEA.  I love it!

Virgin Mary Art: thrifted

Spice Jars: vintage science equipment (see the rest of the science items HERE.)

Tea Kettle: Sur La Table (no longer being manufactured, we went on a wild chase of this one HERE.)

Cast Iron Coq Au Vin Dutch Oven: Staub, gift from parents

Crystal/Cut Glass Oil Cruet:  Antique, from grandmama

Salt Pig: Tuesday Morning

This is the island, where are the magic preparations happens!

Mr. Bluebird

Today I stepped into a local thrift store and fell in love with the guy right inside the door.  He's so cheerful and I was practically (no, I was) screaming the zippity-doo-da song all the way to base!  He will hold cookies for us for now, and if we're lucky to have a little girl later and decorate her room in trees and woodland creatures, well, he might take up residence on a shelf there. He's like a superhero, a very cheerful, un-angsty superhero.  He goes where he is needed, and right now I need him on my counter hiding treats from plain sight!

Cafe

If you've read my other blog, you know that I love china, crystal and silver.  In fact, we eat off of our nice china every day.  We bought some Corelle when we first got married in plain white, but never used it for anything other than take out pizza.  But I have been wanting some nice cafe-style china to use for brunches and such.  And I had been looking at the Brasserie sets from Williams-Sonoma.  I wanted the blue and white since it makes me happy, but thought maybe plain white would be best.  Then tonight, fate struck and it was decided for me!  


G and I were at a Thrift store looking for a piece I needed for a gift for my mother.  I'll explain after her birthday (on the 29th!), but for now I'm remaining vague because my maman has finally figured out how to access my blogs! (Hello Mom!).  While there I spotted some blue and white cups and saucers that I thought looked like the ones from Williams-Sonoma.  To my surprise they were the ones from there!  And for less than $5, with the store having a 1/3 off of that tonight and tomorrow I decided I needed them.  I couldn't remember how much they were online, but I knew it wasn't that cheap.  When I got home I looked it up, and was shocked....they're normally $54 for 4 of them!!!  I am guessing perhaps someone got them as a gift and didn't want them.  Craziness.

Aren't they pretty?  I'm hoping to be throwing a monthly brunch starting next year and these will be perfect on my table!

In The Kitchen

I have more food in my kitchen right now than I have in a long, long time.  And I figured that I might as well share what that means for my household.  The food is for this week, and a little into next, since I took some time to menu plan.

On a vintage glass cake stand that an old middle school teacher gave me while G and I were engaged (I bought a cake she made at a cake auction and she told me congrats and to keep the cake stand!) we have spaghetti squash, butternut squash, tomatoes, onions, acorn squash, garlic and elephant garlic!

My food cabinet in the kitchen.  Lots of tomatoes, oat meal (irish and quaker oats, and we have more on the counter), and chocolate!

On to the refrigerator:

Pellegrino, apple cider (for mulled apple cider) and a pot of butternut squash soup in the back.

I have 2 dozen brown eggs, planning on doing a lot of baking!

Our deli drawer holds some parmesan, fresh sage, goat's cheese and greek yogurt.

Chickpeas and portobello mushrooms (for soup this weekend).

Chicken, bone in, helps to make stock/broth for the soup.

My veggie drawer: carrots, celery, belgian endives, spinach, red leaf lettuce and green leaf lettuce. 

An orange for mulled wine, couple of pear, unwaxed organic lemons for water and chicken, red potatoes and golden delicious apples.

Prepared for baking!

Milk, clotted cream, and heavy and light cream.....ingredients enough for scones and quiche!

And the freezer:

A bag of frozen chopped onions on top, some pumpkin loafs (we froze them to keep from eating them all!), roasted butternut squash puree and a ton of flour!

Well, you either enjoyed this trip or were bored out of your mind, but I was so excited I had to share!  And yes, sadly I am that anal about where everything goes (all facing forward, lined up neatly).  It took G a little while to get the hang of it, since I also keep all of our glasses and dishes as precisely.  OCD anyone? 

B is for Baker

I love baking.  There is quite simply nothing better than the smell of warm bread in the oven----or the frustration wrought out by kneading and pounding dough!  So when I think of kitchen items I would really like, baking items are the first thing to really come to mind.  We already have a round pizza stone, which has proved incredibly valuable to have.  It's round, basic, and gets the job done (while looking horrible because I was young and didn't research the proper care of them).  However, it's size and shape have made using it as a bread stone difficult.  And because we never had a peel, warming it up in the oven was nearly impossible, so our pizza crust never turned out as crispy as we like.  


Well, those days are over!  One of the first things on our list to buy are a rectangular pizza/bread stone and a peel.  Williams-Sonoma has some, as does about every kitchen supply place around.  And from talking with friends and reading blogs I think we're going to save money and go with the cheaper ones at Bed, Bath, and Beyond:


Pizza Stone

Pizza Peel

My biggest problem with stones is that they get dirty, cannot be washed with soap, and that makes me gross out a little bit.  I tend to use baking soda for everything  and I found that it worked well in scrubbing things off of my pizza stone, and also making me feel like it was more clean.  Then the other day I stumbled across this on SurLaTable!

A pizza stone scraper!  Sign me up!  For 10 dollars, it would be worth every penny in my household.  Not a necessity, so it won't be one of the first things we buy, but it would be nice to have eventually.

The pizza stone and peel will be used for both pizza and bread.  But I am also considering getting a couple of these for when I make French bread.  I'm particular about getting the bread crisp and chewy on the outside and soft on the inside.  I've been eyeing these for over 3 years now, so I think perhaps it's time I gave them a whirl.

I also love to bake pies, tarts and quiche.  In fact, back in England I was known for it (and that's how you make friends with the neighbors and co-workers!).  I made do with what I had, glass pie plates, a white ceramic tart/quiche dish, and a rolling pin.  And while I'm excited to say I am getting my grandmother's worn smooth wooden rolling pin soon, there are a few items I would like as I continue my exploration is pie making:

Pie Weights

Pie Crust Shield (because my days of having to form aluminum foil around a hot pie are over!)

Tart Pans with Removable Bottoms

And finally, my long coveted Emile Henry Ruffled Pie Dish.  It comes in this beautiful red, a caramel color, and now even white.  I would like all 3, but for now I'll settle for a red that will get me from fall to summer!

Of course there are many, many other baking items I would love to have.  But for now, I would be satisfied to just have these.  Otherwise this post would take all day!

Do you have any baking items you cannot live without?  Some you've found useless?  Anything you are coveting for your kitchen?

Kitchen Products....and opinions wanted

Over on my original blog I began posting about kitchen items we're wanting for the new home.  I am always looking for advice from those who have these items, so please comment if you have an opinion!

Continuing the discussion, I must admit....if G and I had endless amounts of money we would have a professional kitchen with pretty much anything you could imagine, neatly stored of course.  Unfortunately we have a very modest budget (we just budget well for things we know we're going to want) and are no where near being close to having a professional style kitchen.  Someday.  

But we do want to have enough items to make our kitchen easy to work in.  Part of how we save money to be able to live the life we love is by having me (with sous chef G's help of course!) cook most of our meals at home.  For every nice dinner out we have to plan to compensate for that with good (and low cost) homecooked meals.  We also believe in slowly saving to afford top of the line equipment that will last a long time.  I would rather spend $100 on a cutting board that will last 5+ years, with me using it every week than buy a $30 board that will eventually splinter within 2 years.  

So, before we move on with the list of things we are saving for I also have a conundrum.  We're buying our first home, and the kitchen is part of what drew me in.  The nice new appliances will be handy dandy (although not so sure about the mounted microwave).  However, I have never used a gas stove.  Ever.  My parents had one when I was little, but I wasn't allowed to cook.  G's parents have only ever had a gas stove, but I didn't take my chance to cook on it this summer.  So I am a tiny bit intimidated.  My realtor assured me I will probably burn a few things then fall in love with it.  Still, any tips on how to work one of these things?  Do they still make things sticky like the old gas stoves did?

And secondly, granite counters.  Oh so pretty, right?  But I am worried about damaging them.  Researching them is on my list of things to do before closing.  I did hear that Method's granite cleaner is good.  

Anyone used this?  Like it?  Love it?  Think there's something better out there?  Have any other Method products you love?  We've never had easy access to these before, and we're trying to buy less chemical products and more natural ingredients cleaners.

I'll be posting more kitchen things today and tomorrow.  Come back and visit as I figure out what is going to be frugal in the long term, and what simply is just too much money or unnecessary.  

Can We Just Say Hello...

To the kitchen of the house we put an offer on today?

I don't want to jinx it by talking about it too much. But I cannot quite trying to figure out where I would put everything, and what I would change. I would want to add tile backsplash, and pick out hardware for the cabinets.

Oh, and the idea of a group of friends hanging out at the island eating hors d'oerves and drinking cocktails? Chatting while I whip up a yummy dinner? I swoon!