Progress...but no cigar

Beautiful, refinished wood floors now in all of the kitchen. And today baseboards were added. But, cabinets are still in the garage. Family room and office hold pots, pans, dining room table, etc. and look like something out of those shows about hoarders... In other words, the excitement of figuring out how to cook a normal meal on a grill only is giving way to the annoyance of not having a sink. Thank goodness for a holiday weekend with nice weather!

How hard is it to assemble IKEA cabinets?

On Friday, 77 boxes arrived from IKEA. First though - well, at least all the boxes are here. Second thought - eaehmm. 77 boxes. 77 boxes. 77 BOXES!!! This will take for ever to assemble. We will never get our new kitchen. Well, thank goodness for impatient husbands. 3-4 hours later, all cabinets were assembled. Granted, it wasn't the first time we assembled IKEA furniture and you're basically assembling a square box a la Billy, but anyhow. I'm astounded. And proud of my hubby.

Grilling adventures continue. Yesterday, rosemary and garlic marinated pork tenderloin with couscous, salad with tomatoes, edamame beans, balsamic vinaigrette. Off-set by McDonald's tonight. We're raising the odds for the rest of the week. Tomorrow they will start working on the floor, which means that even the temporary kitchen set up in the living room is gone for now. More about that to come.

What a difference 3 days make!

What a differece a few days can make! Old 80's kitchen has gone bye-bye. Cabinets out. Appliances out. Floor out. New outlets in place, etc., etc. Our IKEA cabinets are scheduled to arrive on Friday. Appliances listed for sale on Craigs List. Everyone says that kitchen renovations take about five weeks, but at this point it seems unlikely it would take that long. Now watch me eat my words...

Talking about eating. I'm back home after some travel and now have to take charge of feeding the kids and hubbie who have been eating microwaved hot dogs and a lot of baby carrots for the last couple of days. I'm thinking some chicken skewers with some veggies would be good. Easy on the grill. Maybe with some couscous or ramen noodles on the grill side burner?

Demo discoveries and $85,000 kitchen?!

The demo has started, revealing the treasures of the past...80s wall paper!

Bang for Your Bucks on HGTV is showing $85,000 dollar kitchens. One kitchen looks just like the one we're planning - dark wood cabinets, white quartz tops, glass tile back splash, stainless steel appliances (OK, so they have Subzero and similar brands and not Whirlpool). So how come they spent so much more than we are spending?

Kitchen remodel and kids

After some serious thinking I've decided to use this blog to write about my kitchen. There are different aspects to my kitchen. First, my kitchen will soon be no more, to soon (I hope) thereafter be replaced by a brand spanking new IKEA kitchen. Second, my kitchen needs to serve not just my want for culinary excellence, but also the taste buds of my children. Easier said than done.

Will this work?

Uh-oh. My adventure exploring the world of social media continues. How come people in general are not more careful about what thoughts they share online? For everyone to be seen, forever. Typos and all.