Raspberryjam's Profile

I would totally live there.

You are going to think I'm crazy, but I love this:
http://www.thewestviewshop.com/Inventions-for-Market-One-Click-Stick-Butter-Cutter-with-Stainless-Steel-Blade_p_11815.html

That is a Leibherr fridge and NXR range. We have been happy with both. I will say, the freezer section is small; and the wine section is beautiful, but it takes up a lot of space that might be better served with freezer.
Leigh

I'm interested in panna cotta. My husband and I had it in Italy 20 years ago, and every time we've tried it since, it hasn't been the same. I think I read once that real panna cotta doesn't use gelatin, but I've never seen a recipe that hasn't used it. I did have some last week from Il Buco Alimentarie in New York and it was great. They had the recipe on a postcard, and I took it, but I haven't made it yet.

Faith,
You and I have the same taste. In fact, I used some of the same inspirational images that you did. We bought a 1970's era house with good bones, but the kitchen was dismal. One of my conditions of buying it was that the kitchen was getting redone asap! The original kitchen had just one window, horrible original appliances, pink tile floors, and wood grained cabinets. And worse, no exhaust meant that the cabinets were sticky from 30+ years of cooking. Here were my must haves:
-No upper cabinets
-Windows, especially overlooking our beautiful 6 acres
-Drawers, no doors
-Lots of work surface
-Big, single bowl sink
-Pantry/mudroom

Because we didn't have that many cabinets, we were able to splurge on inset fronts, and because the square footage is relatively small, we were also able to afford large slate tiles for our floor.

I will say that our very best decision was to get a great contractor. We already knew him from a project on our previous house. He was in demand so we had to wait a year before he could start, but that worked in our favor because we had that long to really plan out what we wanted. He is so good, it only took 6 weeks from beginning to finish!

I don't see how to attach photos to responses, so I will email them to you.

Leigh

We bought a Shifman mattress a few years ago when we bought a bed at Stickley. It is the arguably the best piece of furniture in the house! Stickley often offers specials, they also sell floor models. Very much worth the price!

Friday nights were always "our night." Whether we are with friends, or just us, we never make plans separately. Our standard is to share a beautiful steak, a nice salad, some cheese and a loaf of good wine. A cocktail after work, transitioning to a decent bottle of wine. When they were little we would wait until they were in bed, now they are 9 and 11 and love to join us.

I have the swivel straight, which works fine for the 11' trees we get. I slide the base into a large galvanized bucket which visually balances the top heaviness of the tree and also catches any overflow of water. I still wire the tree to the wall.

I can't believe I'm the first to suggest "I Am Trying to Break Your Heart;" about a band, Wilco, getting dumped from their record company over an album that became a critics' darling. Beautifully filmed in B&W, winner of awards, a must for music fans.

Those Govino glasses are glorious!!! I was at a music festival a few years ago where they used them in the wine tent. You could buy them for $1 (!) and then use them for all of your pours. So many people threw them away, I was pulling them out of the trash bins, took them back to the hotel room and washed them in the sink, then packed them in my suitcase and flew them home with me. That's how much I love them, I rummaged through the garbage for them. You would never think they are plastic by looking at them, they look like really delicate glass, and they are so comfortable to hold with the thumb dimple. I normally don't care for stemless glasses, but I LOVE these.