A Second Opinion

Living in The Littlest Kitchen can sometimes feel like a vacuum, existing on its own with minimal input. Aside from my architect extraordinaire, I wanted to get a second opinion from another aesthetic tastemaking friend with an architecture background, about some decisions that were going to veer from my architect’s.

His concern, like mine, was access to electrical plugs. He thinks that they should just be moved, ideally one inside the cabinet for the microwave, and one outside at countertop level for other appliances. It really shouldn’t cost more than $100. He agrees that the cabinet should be smaller than the current fridge depth, but if the goal is to put my microwave inside, maybe consider a smaller microwave, since mine at 16″ may be a little too wide.

In regards to the broom closet outlets, it didn’t make sense to him to have the outlet and light switch covered by a cabinet. Either did having four doors instead of two, as he didn’t have issue with warping.

I asked him about the placement of the fridge, and he thinks that the fridge should be on the right, so that it it doesn’t block access to the oven, in case I need to access both at the same time. He says that there’s enough clearance not to block entry into the kitchen, so I shouldn’t worry about that.

Finally, since he was over, I put him to work to see if he could take out the paper towel holder. He tried with all his might, acknowledging the struggle since with its upside down placement, one can’t get the right amount of torque. The nail heads were stripped and stuck in there. I tried to destroy it with a hammer, but only flakes of paint came off. Stubborn bugger, I might be stuck with it!

Home Depot Sucks

As part of GC homework, I went to Home Depot to check out a few things, only to be sorely disappointed. For such an embarrassment of riches, there is nothing there.

-tiles - the small tiles that I like are $6.50/sq. ft. and until March 26, they’ll measure for free. The catch? The tiles are only available in cobalt blue. Not bad, but not what I want. I mean, wouldn’t basic black be a given? Bergen Tile gave me a quote of $78 for a 30 sq. ft. box of black tiles. I like the blue fine, I’ll have to see if I like the black for twice as much.

-sinks - from the few basic undermount sinks, the Elkay has the same dimensions as the sink I have now, and comes at 10″ deep. Could be the winner.

-sanders - I am so sick of Rock Miracle, I thought I’d look into sanders, and save my hands. After waiting in the tool department for a while, I finally read on a sign, “$14 for 4 hours”. All I needed to know, but I always like a human touch.

-wood finishers - I wanted to look into the variety of wood waxes and finishing oils before I decide on what to use. There’s barely anything here, only some Watco Oil. My local hardware store has a better selection.

-Rock Miracle - none in sight.

So promising in size and quantity, so LAME.

Damage Done

I did it. I ordered my appliances and I am now $3303.85 poorer. But, I will be the proud owner of a 24″ cooktop, a 24″ oven, and a set of undercounter fridge and freezer, all in a month’s time. Luckily, I found it all in one place at AM Royal after searching both in stores and on the web. AM Royal is based in New Jersey, so there isn’t any sales tax, saving me $272.57, although the shipping will be $70. I’ve asked them to hold everything until the end of March; I only have to call them three business days in advance to schedule the delivery.

I have to decide on the placement of the freezer and fridge, as it determines the hinging of the doors. I want to be able to open the doors like a set of curtains from the inside out. Or does this really matter? And which should go on which side? I’ll dig into the fridge more, so should it be closer to the wall, or the entrance? My guess is to the wall so that it opens towards the entrance and doesn’t block the entrance as it would on the other side. Another question for my architect.

The Kitchen Sink

Searching for a sink is, well, just not that interesting. All I want is a simple, stainless steel undermounted sink that is maybe slightly smaller than the sink that I have right now. Not porcelain, not copper, not “hammered”. Not double or triple bowled. Not kidney-shaped. Just plain and innocuous. My cabinet maker suggested going to a restaurant supply store and having one custom made, but the quote ended up being $895. A generic sink might be the way to go.

The current sink is approximately 21″ x 16″ x 7″ deep. I don’t mind the sink size as it currently stands, as it is workable. Kohler and Moen Lancelot make this standard size at half the price of the custom sink. Since the stove is going to be slightly larger, the idea is that the sink go slightly smaller, something that would be nice proportionately, but not necessary. Moen Lancelot makes a version that is 18″ x 14″ x 8″ deep, and I wonder if this is too small. This is a question for my architect.

Sad Little Mangoes

As a good will gesture to my friend from whom I borrowed the skinny screwdrivers, I brought over brunch from Whole Foods. Bagels, fruit salad, and Siggi’s Icelandic yogurt made for a nice, light meal. I deemed the fruit necessary to balance the starchy bagel, but it might as well have been wax. Wincingly tart raspberries, flavorless blueberries and potato-like mangoes - my friend gave them back to me. Thanks, but no thanks.

The berries were acceptable cloaked in yogurt, but what to do with the tuber mangoes? Hard and bland, they barely met the description of fruit. One way to make it better is to grill them. I love grilled fruit - grilled peaches over ice cream, grilled apples in salads, why not grill mangoes? The searing heat will bring out the juiciness and carmelize the inherent sugars. For a little more flavor, I add some ground ginger, cinnamon, and sugar. A little ice cream wouldn’t hurt either.

The Littlest Kitchen happens to have a George Foreman grill from the larger kitchen of previous inhabitance. I don’t mind it’s simplicity - it doesn’t even have an on/off switch - but it’s merely okay for grilling, and can’t be compared with a real barbecue. Most of the time, I prefer a frying pan since it’s easier to clean, unless I really want those grill marks. For grilled mangoes, I really want those grill marks.

Grilled fruit - serves two

-slice 1/2 cup fruit (mangoes, peaches, apples, etc.)
-toss with 1/2t oil and 1/4t sugar, ground ginger, and cinnamon
-lay on a George Foreman grill in a single layer, cook for about 4 minutes until grill marks appear on the bottom
-flip fruit with tongs, cook another 2 minutes for the other side

The truth is grilling these sad little mangoes made them better and more palatable, but they did not meet my expectations for grilled fruit. They became more tender, but not juicy. Slightly more flavorful, but not sweet. These were just crappy mangoes.

Kitchen Catch-Up

I didn’t deal much with the kitchen last week because, relief of reliefs, my super agreed to do the floors. Once I asked him for a recommendation for another person, he wanted to do it. Just like a man.

Now that the players are in place, I can move forward with a schedule:

3/3-17: buy appliances and have them held at the warehouse
research cabinet finishing techniques and products
email final decisions to architect
price out tiles
research sinks (still!)
confirm schedule with cabinet maker (remeasure?)
weekends, finish sanding and waxing cabinet frame (rent power sander?)

3/17-24: demolition to remove old sink cabinet and stove
move refrigerator and kitchen stuff to living room
floors
buy sink and faucet
paint
appliance delivery

3/24-31: install cabinets and new fridges
get rid of old fridge
call marble guys to measure for templates

3/31: install marble

I’m a little uneasy about not being done with the cabinet yet. The underside has been a son of a bitch and I’m not done yet. Surprisingly having scraped off all the white paint, it reflects so much less light underneath. Actually, the whole cabinet which used to be a giant reflector that bounced light back into the dark Littlest Kitchen, now just sucks up the light.

One obstacle has been the paper towel holder. It is screwed into the underside - TIGHT. Not only is it difficult to get to, practically in a supine position, I had to borrow skinnier screwdrivers to steer course of the tube holder in the way. Needless to say my two attempts did not work, what I need is brute strength. I need a man.