From the kitchen - health and happiness.

I think there may be times when you can have too many cooks in the kitchen, but that is not the case in our Cooking Club.  We have our own work zones, and we are busy talking, cooking, and by afternoon, sipping wine in the kitchen.

On our menu this week was Mediterranean Tuna Salad Wraps and Coconut  and Meatloaf.  The Meatloaf and Tuna recipes are from the Wheat Belly Cookbook which is a good cookbook for anyone interested in a gluten-free diet or would like to introduce flours into their diet other than wheat.  The tart recipe is from the January edition of First for Woman magazine.

The tuna salad was really wonderful and we used leaves of romaine lettuce from the garden which made the meal even healthier.  We like to cook healthy in our club so buying the right tuna makes a difference.

I once majored in nutrition in college and while I never got into the profession  I've always been interested in the processing of food. Years ago I researched tuna when I went to the grocery store and saw all these different cans of tuna.  At the time I couldn't say which brand was better than the other.  All I knew was that oil-packed was out and too much swishing in the can meant too little tuna to me.

I've since done some homework.  My advice on buying tuna is to buy one of two kinds: American or Wild Planet.  The tuna taste like tuna to me while with the other brands the tuna is too bland. Some advantages these products may have over their competition is that they are smaller companies and hand pack their cans.  Their method of catching fish is different and they catch smaller albacore which is not as dry meaning it has more of the omega-3 essential fatty acid. I think American Tuna is a San Diego company which would be local for some of my readers.  Local is usually always better. These brands  will cost more so if cost is the driver than Starkist Select, Bumble Bee or Chicken of the Sea  in water will work for you.  Those commercial companies capture larger albacore which is a dryer fish so you may need to use more mayo in your tuna salad.   The Whole Foods 365 tuna is from Vietnam and is kind of salty to me, plus there's a whole lot of swishing going on in the can so I tend to think there's too much water. 

Mediterranan Tuna Salad:  

2 Tbl mayo
2 Tbl olive oil
1Tbl lemon juice
1tsp Diijon mustard
2 cans of tuna
1 tomato -  chopped
2 Tbl kalamata olives - chopped
2 scallions - thinkly sliced
8 large leaves of lettuce


As much as we enjoyed the tuna, the real hit of the day was the Coconut Apricot Ganache Tart.  It was soooo good. 

Coconut-Apricot Ganache Tart:                                                  

2 c shredded unsweetened coconut
1/4 c almond flour
1/4 c xylitol (we used splenda)
1/4 c coconut oil - melted

1/2 diced unsweetened apricots or more if you love them
1 can (15oz) coconut milk
12 oz dark chocolate chopped
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

In a bowl combine the first 4 ingredients
Press mixture into a greased 9" tart pan
Bake at 300 degrees for 15 min.
When baked sprinkle crust with dried apricots.

Meanwhile in a pot over medium heat, bring coconut milk to a simmer
Remove from heat, stir in chocolate and vanilla.

Pour chocolate mixture into crust.  Then chill for one hour in refrigerator.

Garnish with dried apricots.


Enjoy!

 

A Touch of Class with Glass

Today glass has a wide range of usage in home decor.  In the kitchen area it looks stunning when used as glass tiles placed strategically into a backsplash.  It is also beautiful as a countertop especially if it is designed as an accent countertop with granite or another solid surface being the main countertop.   Of course, glass tables have been common in the American household for years.   Glass tables have certainly come along way though.  Take a look at these beauties created by Gravity Glas.   These are custom tables  and there's  a variety of colored glass to choose from as well as the type of edging available  to complete the design..  

Here is an idea that would be great for a wine bar area.  You can create an atmosphere where it changes color or just keep a specific color to complement the room it's in.





The bathroom has the added option of a glass sink.  It can be a fabulous vessel sink or it can make a stunning pedestal sink.  Designed mirrors can also add great appeal in the bathroom.

If you interested in exploring the best way to design with glass in your remodel projects just give me a call.  Just a touch of this material in a room can add spark and interest and bring the room to life.

Peninsula Gets a MakeOver

 Once the homeowners decided they wanted to give their kitchen a new look,  it was necessary to narrow in on exactly what that new look would entail.  At our first meeting the homeowners told me they liked to entertain, needed allot of storage and weren't sure if they should stay with white cabinets. 

 The G-shape of this spacious kitchen already provided an open area that was great for entertaining which meant that the peninsula would stay but just needed to be enhanced to make it more of a statement. The scope of the project involved new cabinetry, new appliances, and renovating the lighting, but the footprint stayed the same so the 16" tiles on the floor would not  be changed. We just needed a few more of them.

Deciding on the color of the cabinetry took some time.  Several door colors and styles were brought into the space during the design process to help the homeowners visualize and feel the effect of different colors in the kitchen.  It is often hard for clients to visualize any color but white when they have lived in an all white kitchen for many years.  Picking the door style is one of the first things to do but there are endless details when remodeling a kitchen.  And it takes time to select all the various components from appliances to cabinet hardware.  In the end it is always worth it.

Configuring the island was the biggest challenge in the kitchen.  As you can see from the above picture the dishwasher is too close to the corner.  It needed more room and the clients also wanted to better utilize their cabinet space. 

In the new design the peninsula became a focal point  in the room.  The middle base cabinet is a greater depth than the end cabinets to provide greater support for a rounded countertop.  There are steel rods implanted in the wood to support the granite so that corbels would not be  necessary on the underneath area of the countertop.  Corbels tend to get in the way of leg space and tend to be more traditional than the look the homeowners wanted. 
  
After much deliberation my clients chose a raised panel, full overlay classic door style from  Kraftmaid in cherry wood  with a dark stain.  This classic look added a sophistication to the space .  A further note of luxury is added with the built-in appliances.  Note the handles on the refrigerator door.  They match the handles on the cabinets rather than the typical handles that can be purchased with the appliance.  This built-in French Door refrigerator is stunning.

A G-shape kitchen usually has allot of storage.  In this remodel there are more drawer base cabinets than you typically see in a kitchen which greatly  increases the storage capacity.  In a few of the other cabinets there are pull outs and there are several specialty cabinets like a tray cabinet and a garage cabinet that also address the storage requirement.  This is a highly functional kitchen as well as a beautiful one..

The kitchen turned out so amazing that I had to put in on my business card and as the header for my blog.  Notice the fabulous Rohl farmhouse sink in this photo.  For details on the sink installation just check out: The Fabulous Shaw Fireclay Sink.

 If you are thinking of remodeling your kitchen please give me a call or email me though my contact page.  I can guide you through the whole process helping you to make the best choices possible to meet your needs and  your lifestyle.  

 

   

No More Peninsula

Small kitchens have numerous challenges for the homeowner and the designer.  Kitchens must be functional.  You must be able to move around them as easily as possible and in today's world they often need to be multi-purpose and multi-generational.  That's allot to ask of a small galley kitchen.  For this kitchen the homeowner just wanted an updated kitchen look initially.  She was tired of the oak cabinets and the pale green ceramic tile used on the wall and as the countertop.


The picture to the right shows the refrigerator side of the kitchen.  This is also the side where the TV was within a shelf. In this  picture you can barely see the TV but you can see it better in the picture below.  You can see how it is angled so they can watch it from the table.  As you can see farther down the picture  is a floor to ceiling cabinet where they stored glasses and small dishes. At night this area was too dark for them.

Here are a few of the challenges with this kitchen:
*Not enough counter space
*TV was hard to view
*Not enough light by the eating table


On my first visit to this home we talked about what the homeowner liked and didn't like about the kitchen.  The oak cabinets, the countertop and the crowded feeling were her main concerns. 

Because of the size and shape of this kitchen, the peninsula is not a very good fit.  It divides the kitchen and limit access to walking between the eating area and the cooking area.  But I couldn't just remove it without providing counterspace somewhere else.  In the initial conversation the TV never came up.  On my second visit I asked how often they used it and discovered it was used everyday.  Two people lived in the house and one was often at home during the day and enjoyed watching TV in the kitchen.  As soon as she said that, providing a better spot for that TV became a mission for me.

My client never came into the showroom.  Upon my first visit I brought out cabinet brochures so she and I  could discuss door style and color.  We talked about the budget and what door style would best fit within that budget.  It's important to talk about the budget as soon as possible because it saves time.  Sometimes a client will fall in love with a door style or a finish that can just blow the budget to smithereens.  You need to talk about the budget if it needs to guide the process.  If budget is not a big deal than you don't need to worry about it.  After the initial interview I created and initial design that would be beneficial for our next meeting.  

 The oak cabinets are gone.  The cabinet the homeowner chose was  the Sedona shaker door style in a dark Kaffe finish on cherry wood.  It's one of best priced cabinets that Kraftmaid offers. And that pale green ceramic tile has been replaced with Caesar stone as the countertop and noche tile as the backspash with a decorative 1"tile design above the sink.

The picture to the right is the remodeled version of the kitchen without that  peninsula.  If you follow the soffit you can see where it ends we now have a 15" deep cabinet.  When we removed the peninsula I came out into the room just enough to give us a 24" cabinets upper and base. Before I could remove the peninsula from the kitchen I had to make sure the homeowner had more kitchen floor tile or if she wanted to include a new floor in the remodel.  This is a budget consideration.  Changing the footprint of a kitchen often requires additional tile.  So, if the homeowner doesn't have extra tile some decisions need to be made to insure the floor looks good.

Another significant item in this area  is the microwave above the counter.  I designed it to be part of the upper cabinet. This gives her space below so she can safely take something out of the microwave and place  it down on the counter.  One occupant  in the house is an elderly woman who frequently uses the microwave.  In order to determine if this would be beneficial for her I stacked several books on the counter to see if lifting dishes a certain height would be an issue for her.  As long as she was comfortable with this we could do it.  Rule number one in kitchen design is that it must be functional as well as meet the code requirements.

The refrigerator side of the galley kitchen also went through some changes.  No TV in the area  anymore. The cabinet above the refrigerator was brought out so that it can be used.  Beside the refrigerator is an 18" wide utility cabinet with pull out shelves for ease of  item retrieval.  On the left of the refrigerator is some counter space so that when you take something out of the fridge you can have some place to put it down.  There is more counterspace to the left of the range. 

To the right shows the replacement idea for that floor to ceiling oak cabinet.  I gave them some additional counterspace and a place for the TV so they could view it without straining their neck and eyes. I also put glass in the upper cabinets and devised a hinged cabinet area about where a light could be installed.  They are very happy with this arrangement, which is the main goal of the whole process.

Top o' The Mornin' to Ya

Top o' the mornin' to all my Irish family and friends.   'Tis the wearing of the green .  Leprechauns and other faerie folk may be very active today as well, so beware.    A freshly baked scone sits  on my kitchen table, amidst growing Shamrocks and my Mother's last Irish penny that accompanied her to Ellis Island in 1925.  Scone on St. Paddy's Day is a tradition, it's like turkey on Thanksgiving  or presents at Christmas. There are few comfort foods I cherish more than irish scone.   And to cap off the night we'll have a few irish coffees.  Slainte .

Happy St. Patrick's Day.


   

Modular Rug Designs

 Would you like to design your own rug?  This material  is made of 100% recycled nylon. It's available through Flor Carpet and allows you to create your own design using square carpet tiles.   Basically your rug will start with a 20"  square that is easily connected through a FlorDot adhesive to another square  tile.  You can make the rug whatever size your  space requires.  You can do runners and wall-to-wall rugs as well as custom rugs..  You can mix and match patterns and color or just use one tile interchanging between vertical and  horizontal in the design until you have the right number of squares to make up the rug size. 

 Flor Carpet has a showroom located in the Scottsdale Quarter in Scottsdale Az.  They have sample rugs throughout the showroom, just keep in mine that Flor Carpet recommends their usage only on the floor. 

The World is Going Gray

I have several clients who have all decided that this year is the year to paint their interior spaces.  And so far gray is the number one color of choice.  It appears that the color gray has finally become mainstream.  The attributes of gray or grey, if you prefer that spelling, make it a great neutral color. 

A basic gray is a combination of black and white, but there are lots of ways to create this neutral color.  That's what makes the color gray so fascinating.  It can be created through a combination of any of the complementary colors or  a combination of the primary colors: red, yellow and blue.  And depending on that combination it can be a cool gray having blue, green or purple undertones  or it can be warm gray meaning it has beige undertones. Regardless of its category, all shades of gray can be used as a background color to add depth and definition a room. 

As a kitchen designer I've used lots of gray in the color palette of my kitchens.  A cool gray creates an elegant statement in a kitchen that has stainless steel appliances, brushed nickle hardware and a carrara countertop.  The one situation where I don't tend to use this neutral on walls or backsplashes is if the floor or the cabinets are slate in color. Too much of the color could make the room appear  dull and maybe dreary.  Gray needs other colors.  It will support the other colors. It will be influenced by the other colors.  It needs splashes of red, orange, blue, green to enhance its effect.

A cool gray will always appear to lighten the room.  It will never create a heavy feeling in the space.  Recently one of my clients expressed surprise when I put Dunn Edward's Smokey Mountain paint on her living room wall.  "Oh, it still feels lite in here."   Yes, cool gray does that, even when you are painting over a white wall.

A warm taupy gray has a much different effect.  This neutral goes well in a room where you want a comfortable atmosphere for conversation. A warm gray which is also referred to as a French Gray has the red, orange  and yellow undertones and creates a feeling of warmth in the room.

It takes hours to choose paint colors so don't get frustrated with the process.  I don't meet my clients at the paint store, instead I carry my 5 x 7 paint samples to the clients house to help narrow down the colors.  Dunn Edward's Paints are specifically made for the southwest environment and I am comfortable recommending their colors to my clients because  they are eco-friendly and provide a superior quality paint.  At the first meeting I always bring the Cool Neutrals and the Warm Neutrals samples with me.  After we are comfortable with the choices made I'll buy the sample size and paint splotches on  various walls so that my client can experience the color through the day and night light cycles.  It's a process that takes awhile especially if you are doing the whole house. 

Some of Dunn Edward's most popular gray paints:
Smokey Mountain  DE6386
Dangerous Robot DE6387
Porpoise DE6373
Covered in Platinum DE6367
 

The Two-Person Office - installed

I love the difference it makes in someone's life when you take an empty space and covert into a space useful in their life.  Below are pictures of our latest custom project.  Construction of this desk can be viewed on my post: In the Woodworker Shop - the 2 person office.


From This

 

To This

The top of the desk is cherry wood with a walnut stain.  The crown molding is also cherry with the walnut stain. Shelves and cabinets are maple wood with the walnut stain. 

The Two Island Kitchen

Nestled in the high desert on an acre of land, this new construction home needed a large kitchen that could serve as a gathering place for friends and family and also provide a view to the beautiful desert landscaping outside. Before the roof was on, I was at the house measuring and helping to guide where the electrical and the plumbing needed to be placed.

As you can see from the floor plan to your right, this is a big kitchen. The homeowners wanted two islands if possible. Islands are sometimes hard to fit in a kitchen because they need a certain amount of space around the island - 42" for one cook or  48" for a two cook kitchen.  A walkway should be at least 36".

The bigger island follows the path of the coffered ceiling above it. It is a part of the clean up zone meaning it has the main sink, dishwasher and a trash compactor as well as a cutting board in the drawer base cabinet. There is a 9"overhang on the ponywall of the island. The purpose of the overhang is for dishes when they have parties, they did not want seating at that counter. My clients are tall so the height of this counter is 45" rather than the normal 42" counter height. Again, it's all about meeting the needs of the homeowner.

The smaller island is part of the prep area. It has a small sink since it is closest to the refrigerator. It also has a bookcase and a cabinet for cookie sheets and muffin pans. The tray base cabinet is closest to the double ovens.

There is plenty of storage space in this kitchen. There is a utility cabinet beside the refrigerator, There are deep pot and pan drawers below the cooktop and there is a lazy susan cabinet in both the upper and lower corner cabinets.

Appliances are a critical component of every kitchen. They must be purchased before hand so the designer knows how to fit the cabinets around them. In this kitchen we have a 36" French Door Refrigerator with cabinets built in around it. A special oven cabinet had to be ordered for the 30"GE Profile and a 36" cabinet base was ordered for the 36"GE Profile cooktop. The cabinets are Kraftmaid in Hickory wood with a Honey Spice finish.

The kitchen turned out beautifully and my clients are very happy.

Finishing Touches in the Bathroom

 There was once a time when people remodeled so there could sell their house faster but that attitude has been replaced with "let's remodel so we can enjoy it before we have to sell it". This mindset has led to an increase in bathroom remodeling using luxury components. In other words, people are splurging on their bathrooms.

In the previous decade, bathroom renovations came second to kitchen remodeling. If the homeowner was planning on doing the kitchen then they would include the bathroom as well. Now, there's is a good chance that the homeowner will do the bathroom first because it is a room used everyday so they have the benefit of using those fabulous products everyday. Homeowners are investing in TOTO toilets with an apron or tankless toilets that hang on the wall for ease of cleaning, intricate tile designs on the walls and shower flooring, oversized shower niches as well as luxuriously styled tubs and faucet fixtures. Sometimes even the smallest of details can make a statement in a renovation which is where the drain comes in.    

Years ago deciding on a drain in the shower was a very minor decision because there weren't allot of choices.  Today, in our design-conscious world  the number of choices can make your head spin.  The simplest choice is to insert a drain that is the same finish as the finish on your fixtures in the shower or wet room.  Another option is to create a tiled space  over the drain that allows for water to drains and eliminates other particles like hair from going down the drain.

 

More complicated decisions usually involved more complicated installation considerations.  The Infinity Drain is a beautiful addition to any shower area.  To the left is a picture that depicts how it is installed.  To the right is a completed installation. The drain comes in various sizes so it depends on the size of the  shower as to what size you will need.

 

Another great accessory that you once saw only in luxury  hotel bathrooms is the heated towel rack. This is almost a necessity in a cold climate.  The primary reason for a towel warmer is to dry towels, but in doing so it will often warm the room which is a wonderful benefit at 7AM when you are getting ready for work.  The best way to fold a towel on the rack so that it is fluffy and warm when you next need it is to fold it in 3rds and then drape it over the rail. The layers will hold in the heat more than just a single layer.  Most towel racks comes out  from the wall about 4 or 4 1/2".

A towel rack can be a real eye catcher in a bathroom.The heated towel rack on the right is a Hydrotherm product which would look stunning in the right bathroom.  The size of your space will determine what size of towel rack you can incorporate in the space.  Hydrotherm produces a wide range of sizes and finishes like the one shown here that can be viewed on their site and they will also create a custom rack if the bathroom design requires it.

 

Accessorizing the bathroom is usually a fun project.  It can take many forms such as selecting special towels, soaps, decorative and functional lights, light switches-it's endless, really.  But there are some accessories that are just wow factors like a sleek looking floor to ceiling  towel rack.

Recipes from lunch with Chef Linda Martin

Chef Linda Martin pampered the attendees with some fabulous treats at  the Lunch and Learn  Dacor seminar hosted by the Westar Kitchen and Bath Showroom recently. 

Chef Linda is a well known chef in the Valley   She is the owner of Dinner Designs, a small event consulting and catering service and teaches culinary classes at the Sweet Basic Gourmetware and Cooking School in Scottsdale. I have taken several classes from her and aside from the great food and the sharing of secrets she always gives out copies of her

recipes.  Below is a recipe for her skewered shrimp with sun-dried tomato pesto and  her Almond-Lemon flourless cake recipe.  Everything was so delicious. 

 

Recipes courtesy of Chef Linda Martin

Linda's Dinner Designs

from

Westar and Dacor

Lunch and Learn Event 2/20/2013

 

 

Skewered Shrimp with Sun-Dried Tomato Pesto         Serves 6

 

 

For the pesto:

 

1 c sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil

2 garlic cloves peeled and quartered

1 c packed fresh basil leaves

Olive oil

1/2 c grated Parmesan

Kosher salt

Freshly ground black pepper

 

For the shrimp:

 

 

2 lbs (about 24) uncooked shrimp peeled, deveined tail intact

2 tbl olive oil

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 tbl chopped fresh parsley

3 tbl lemon juice

4 spring fresh rosemary, coarsely chopped

6 bamboo skewers, soaked in water for 1 hour

 

To make pesto: Blend sun-dried tomatoes, garlic cloves and basil leaves in a food processor, adding olive oil as need to puree.  stir in Parmesan and add salt and pepper to taste.  Set aside

 

To make shrimp:

Heat BBQ grill to high 

Sprinkle shrimp with salt and coat

Whisk oil, garlic, parsley in a medium bowl to blend.  Add shrimp and toss to  coat.  Let stand at   room temperature 15 min

Thread 4 shrimp on each skewer.  Grill just until opaque, about 2 minutes on each side.

to serve: arrange grilled shrimp skewers on a platter. Sprinkle with lemon juice.  Spoon pesto over shrimp  and serve.

 

 

 

Almond-Lemon Cake with Fresh Berries-

 

1 1/3 c blanched slivered almonds

8 tbl sugar

4 large eggs, separated

5 tsp lemon grated peel

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

pinch of salt

1 c fresh seasonal berries for garnish

 

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease  a 9" diameter cake pan with 1 1/2" sides.  Line bottom of pan with parchment paper.

 

Finely grind almonds with 2 tbl sugar in food processor.  Combine egg yokes, 2 tbl of sugar, lemon peel, cinnamon and salt in medium bowl. Using an electric mixer, beat until thick and smooth, about 2 min.  Stir in almond mixture.

 

Beat egg whites in a large bowl until soft peaks form. Gradually add 4 tbl of sugar, beating until stiff but not dry. Fold a large spoonful of whites into almond mixture.  Gently fold in remaining whites.  Transfer batter to prepared pan. Bake until tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool in pan on rack.

 

To Serve: Turn cooled cake out onto the server platter.  Remove parchment paper. Dust with powdered sugar and serve  with fresh berries.