counter top, h20, ice cream, matzoh!

we have countertop!

:)

Ok, incase you haven’t realized I’ve not been very wordy these past few days I even preposted this with just the photo of the countertop in case I still felt too ill.

I’ve been fighting a cold for several weeks. The lure of Spring Break relaxation (excuse me while I fall off my chair laughing) combined with the Stress of the Markets on Monday made me collapse into sleep on Wednesday upon returning home from work; actually I had napped on Monday and Tuesday too, but not with the same intensity. After sleeping some 16 of the 18 hours I was home I pulled myself together enough on Thursday morning to welcome the verizon guy at 8:45a and the countertop guys two hours after. The smell of the epoxy they used drove me on a quest for parts to complete the fix that Verizon started and then sent me back to bed. I made it through megillah reading (coughing at the proper times), ate dinner with the inlaws and then collapsed home into a cough-filled sleep. I gave up at 4am and around 5:30 got up for good to let E sleep in an extra hour.

We then proceeded to do some errands which included procuring the most foul tasting cough syrup (I hate all cough syrups) and I slept much of the afternoon and when I wasn’t asleep I listened to pod-casts and knit.. that was about all I could do.

I slept most of shabbat, catching up on magazines and slowly eating the first food in some 24 hours.. some strawberry kosure jel-o that E made for me (educating me he has expanded his repertoire beyond rice and the microwave). All the while trying not to cough, not for the pain in my throat or chest, but because my abs are sore. This definitely hasn’t done well for my weight gain goals… but I hope I’ve strengthen those abs…

What else did E accomplish?

Water!!!Well, at one point on Friday I woke to the sound of running water of happy voices and E at the door with an delightful smile on his face. It wasn’t the dishwasher or bathroom sink which caused the beautiful sound. :)

And since we now have the kitchen coming back to sorts, various toys I’ve acquired over the years are coming out to play. We went to the supermarket tonight for more Jel-o, whole milk, and heavy cream. Ingredients we need to make treats in this. My throat still feels as if it is lined with popcorn kernel remains so I’m hesitant for anything too salty or crunchy. Eli’s disappointed that I’ve requested plain vanilla, but I’ve always been a plain “jane” kinda gal. The ice cream is currently in the machine and in about 25 minutes I’ll be enjoying home-made ice cream. [this paragraph was semi-edited at 11:05p for clarity and to add that:] The ice cream isn’t hard, so I think it’ll be breakfast! ;) It’s nice to be an adult.

But what really makes me happy tonight is this:

shemura oat gf matzoh

Please ask me privately if you are curious the price, I think they goofed and I’m really sad I didn’t buy 3-5 more boxes on the spot.

Have a good week. Stay healthy!!

meat!

I purchased, cooked, and ate red meat tonight. E woke from his shabbos nap and decided that he was Very Hungry. I was pretty indifferent but asked him what he wanted. He said something Big. So after shabbat we drove to the store, bought some ground beef, we took down the Forman, and I cooked it and served it with fries and a salad.

I must agree, it was very good. There are no photographs as we ate it pretty quickly.

We’re still slowly putting everything away and getting used to the new setup. For a while we had the plates in the center cabinet but when we plugged the dishwasher back in we realized that did not work well when emptying the dishwasher. So they were moved to the far left cabinet. We both keep opening the middle one looking for a glass.

I took The Flexitarian Table back out earlier this week and made the beet and goat cheese pasta, but highly modified it. As my prep space isn’t the best I used canned sliced beets (which I rinsed several times) and bagged baby spinach in lieu of the beet greens. I also didn’t have heavy cream so I made up a bizarre concoction of milk, butter, egg, and potato starch. It was very good and we both enjoyed it though my had was a little too heavy with the red pepper flakes for E’s taste.

This machine is my new really good friend.

I am pleased to introduce the machine which Frank, the counter top guy, brought over on Friday afternoon:

machine used to measure the new counter

This wonderful bit of technology measured the walls and will assist in our new countertop (2cm half bullnose beige olympio silestone) in fitting perfectly our very Very uneven kitchen walls. Frank didn’t believe me at first and when he measured the wall near the stove I heard him exclaim, and then take the measurement again. And then again. I’m impressed that he was quite diligent in measuring properly. He is also the first person to see the kitchen finished (at least to this point) and he was very impressed and I don’t think he was just saying it to make me feel good. He really did seem impressed.

They say the new counter top will arrive in two weeks. We are trying to be patient.

progress.. and gifts in photos

Since it’s 11pm and I’m just starting to draft this, I will be lazy and provide a photo-heavy post instead. If you are on dial-up (is anyone anymore) or a slow flakey wifi connection, I’m sorry. But first.

Thank you sara!!! (more on that at the end. I can’t wait until Monday)

Last weekend we spent a lot of time gathering the final parts to the new kitchen. Monday was a busy day ultimately finding us at Home Depot Expo choosing a countertop [Beige Olympo] and sink (the most expensive part!). I’ll skip our reaction to the process of this and just show you the pictures. The sink arrived Thursday (the box was big, but it is quite light) and the countertop “guys” made an appointment for this coming Friday afternoon (it’s my fault, I just couldn’t guarantee I’d be home any other day). It’s really starting to come together. In the corner upper cabinet are 3 lazy-susans which make a large difference. We’ll be adding one more shelf even though we’ll both need the step stool to reach it. We’re thinking of putting a fold down counter/table below the cook books. We’ll see. That shelf really is even, it’s the photostitch that makes it a little “odd” (it doesn’t help that our walls aren’t straight and the doorman-phone is crooked too).

sink & countertop choice sink & countertop choice
360 kitchen status
(click to go to flickr, they’re all slightly bigger there)

I’ve cooked a little this week. Without a countertop it’s a little difficult. I made pasta for shabbat and we had tacos tonight. On Thursday I used up some leftover brown rice and made this fried rice in the picture. It was a perfect lunch on the snowy Friday.

How did I make it?

leftover leftover fried riceLeftover Fried rice with soy^2 and mushrooms
You need: leftover (brown) rice, extra-firm tofu, edamame, shitake mushrooms, olive oil, sesame oil.
Do:
First slice the tofu and put it on a baking sheet and bake for a while at about 250° I can’t tell you exactly how long to bake it as I set a timer and then fell asleep and slept through it. I think it was in there for about 45 minutes.
Next start the water for your edamame and go clean your mushrooms. you can just run them under water, just don’t soak them for hours.
Heat some olive oil in a pan and when it’s warm throw in the mushrooms. When the water is ready cook the edamame. After the mushrooms seem to soften and shrink, add the tofu (i chopped my slices a little smaller at this point) and let them brown a bit. Drain the edamame and if it’s still in the pod, shell a few and throw them in the pan. When it seems that stuff is starting to brown top with the rice and sprinkle with sesame oil. Stir it every so often until browned to desired level. Enjoy!

Lastly, Sara sent me a box. I knew she sent it, but I had no idea what was in it beyond the felted spocks which we hoped fit me. The answer to that is a very loud YES! It’s as if she had knit them for me. I’m still in shock that they fit. You didn’t reknit them did you? She also sent many other goodies which have me in shock, as they include another pair of socks!!! These two pairs fit me better than all the socks I’ve knit myself. Sara, you are a master knitter and i’m inspiring to half a quarter of your talent one day.

spocks, from sara PG with the gifts

helloLastly, I don’t want it to seem that Britt‘s little penguin guy is being misplaced. PG has been talking with him a good deal and he is fitting in and feeling at home and really wants to come with me to the office tomorrow when we do a very long overdue upgrade and I hope that it goes smoothly. At the moment that is an unknown and I’m VERY nervous about it. So I think i’ll let him come. We could use the moral support and good happy vibes he brings.

avena sativa

kitchen in daylightThe kitchen is progressing nicely, a motzei shabbos run to Ikea, Target, and Lowes is assisting in that. We

it’s beautiful!

completed kitchen 20080213

The cabinet installation is complete and definitely to satisfaction. Posting will be light as I put things back together and we reclaim the main room and our lives (except with the Project I have no life, but that’s another discussion entirely). We are very impressed with the finished product and are happy with our choice. Now we need to find a sink, counter top (the tile on top next to the stove is a temporary arrangement), and ceiling light. I also need to figure out where I want to put everything. We have lots more space now and I think the arrangement is a little more logical. How will I ever sleep with the excitement?!

Images of the saga may be found at this flickr set.