stephle's Profile

Not that most of you would need this tip but if you ever find yourself in the kitchen wearing heels, don't use your gel mat...it'll leave permanent indentations in it. I found this out the hard way when I ran to the kitchen to make something on my way out the door :(

I just replaced a bathroom faucet last week and have done many replacements before (lots of older houses with yucky outdated fixtures) and agree this is one of the most worthwhile projects for the effort. As a matter of fact, I have faucets still in boxes on my kitchen table that just arrived last week waiting for me to install sometime in the next couple of weeks (husband isn't plumbing friendly so this stuff has always been my domain).

Here are my best tips:

Number #1 hint I can give you is first to have a basin wrench. This will be the best <$10 you'll spend for plumbing projects.

While you're at the hardware store, buy some 3/4" plumbers tape to put around the threaded ends of connections before you screw everything back together - helps prevent random leaks. When using it always roll it around the pipe clockwise (and you need less than you think - roll tape about 2 times around the end).

Also before heading out to hardware store, measure your trap (that big u shaped drain pipe connected to the sink) - good idea to buy a spare while you're already at the hardware store in case you can't get the old one back together easily (but only if it's if it's black/pvc plastic - if soldered metal then likely not a diy replacement), sometimes its easier to replace the whole thing (and you can return it if you don't use it so keep the receipt).

Before unscrewing anything, have a supply of old rags/towels and a small bucket to use to catch/mop up water that will come out of hoses - there'll probably be more than you think, even when the water's turned off.

Put an old thick bath towel on the edge of the cabinet door (where you'll be lying) to pad your working area - your back will thank you the next morning by not having bruises from rolling back and forth on the edge.

If at all possible, the easiest way to do this is to disconnect the sink from the trap and hoses underneath, unscrew the little plates that are holding the sink in place (usually 2-4 of them with 1 screw each screwed to the wooden underlayment under the sink top), remove the sink and then put on all the plumbing fixtures onto the sink while it's out. Once the new faucet's onboard and screwed on tight, drop sink back in, tighten screws and 99% of the work is done. If you have a small cabinet/bathroom with little clearance for wrenches hands, this can be a good option.

This is also a great chance to redo the caulking around the sink if yours is looking ratty (don't forget to buy silicone caulk if you do this - not painters caulking).

I made the cookie cutters myself. The cookies turned out really cute even if my piping wasn't so great.

We just ate frozen Chicken Pot pies for dinner (comfort food from my childhood). A good excuse to have a not so healthy dinner for a change. Multi-tasked the oven with Thanksgiving app prep (Thomas Keller salmon cornets).

Tomorrow's dinner is a quickie pizza thrown together with pre-made pizza dough. As the counter will already be full of flour for the potato roll prep and the oven will be hot from pies, it's a good easy solution to dinner.

Raising hand as Thanksgiving Control Freak #1. I have a 4 page Word document with menu, shopping list and day by day blow of what to do starting on Sunday. The schedule moves to hour by hour on Thanksgiving and I find myself updating it at least 3-4x a day. I already have pie crusts, gravy and 1st batch of rolls in the freezer.

If only I ran the rest of my life so well.

love love love Rosle - this would be a serious holiday treat :)

BTW, I made that Epicurious Jerk Chicken recipe this last Monday. If you make it, be careful about the heat. I used 1/2 of a habandero and it was HOT HOT HOT (and I can usually take a lot of heat). I also found it a little heavy handed on the allspice for my taste.

My favorite knife is the one my husband, who I thought never listens to me, very thoughtfully bought me after I happened to mention it about 8 months prior - a Kasumi 6" utility knife. Sharp as all get out, the workhorse in my kitchen. I now rarely use anything else and it makes me smile when I think of how I came to own it :)