Here are a few pictures from my kitchen remodel. I’m refinishing the base cabinets to start with. You see in the picture from the last post that they were a caramel color. I am lucky that they are older oak cabinets. There’s a lot of wood to work with, which is good because removing the old finish took A LOT of sanding!

Here is what they look like partially sanded:

Once they were sanded, I stained them the darker color I wanted. The poor fellas at Sherwin-Williams took one of my freshly sanded practice boards and mixed up several samples for me. At one point we joked that they were going to sneak out and put a GPS tracker on my car so they would know when to hide and shut out the lights when I was headed their way! They were such good sports. I still haven’t figured out why my initial stain didn’t take as well as it should have. But we found the general color I wanted.

Here is the inside of one cabinet door:

After staining, I put two coats of sanding sealer on them. Next I will sand them lightly and finish them with a couple of coats of satin polyurethane. Then clean up the hardware, reinstall them, and they’re ready for dishes.

I’m pleased with how they look so far. I admit that I considered getting all new and sending them to the landfill. I’m so glad I went the cheapskate route.

I plan to paint the top cabinets a light yellow color. I’ll try to keep posting pictures along the way.

Here’s a funny one of me with all of my respirator and ear protection on:

My husband and I decided to buy a house! (It’s a long story.) House prices have only declined about 10-15% in our part of the country and I still think it’s overvalued. But a number of things made this the right time for us to become home owners once again.

Our “new” house was built in the 1970s and needs some updating and remodeling. So far we’ve built up the sunken living room floor, taken down walls, put up sheet rock, removed all common area flooring, and all kitchen appliances. And painted. Lots and lots of painting. I’ve been a busy girl!

Today I’m working on cleaning and painting the pantry. Next week I’m moving on to the lower kitchen cabinets.

Check it out. This checkerboard vinyl was under the floating floor my husband removed. Do you think we should leave it?

Happy New Year!

Lately I’ve been perusing the second hand magazine rack at our public library. They take old issues, combine them with donated issues, and sell them for a quarter each. I’ve been enjoying old issues of Sunset, Bon Appetit, This Old House, etc.

I came upon this recipe for Greek-Style Lemon Potatoes in the February 2007 issue of Sunset. I’m kind of on a Mediterranean kick lately. I guess the thought of warmer, sunnier locals is more appealing when it’s below freezing here!

I’m going to try it this week, served as a side with baked salmon (wild caught and cleaned by my cousin, Jodi, who lives in Alaska) and a light green salad. I’m looking forward to trying it. If you try it, email me and let me know what you think.

Greek-Style Lemon Potatoes
Margee Berry, Trout Lake, Washington
Makes 6 servings

4 large russet potatoes, scrubbed and sliced crosswise into 1/2 inch thick rounds
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 1/2 tablespoon oregano leaves, chopped
2 teaspoons lemon zest
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons salt (Kati’s note: I will only use 1 teaspoon, as the feta will have plenty of salt for our family’s tastes)
2/3 cup crumbled feta cheese

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees and butter a 9- by 13-inch baking dish. In a large bowl, toss potato slices with lemon juice, olive oil, oregano, lemon zest, garlic, and salt. Layer slices in baking dish.

2. Pour 1 cup boiling water over potatoes and bake, uncovered, until most of the water has evaporated and potatoes are tender, about 30 minutes. Top with feta and bake until golden, about 15 more minutes.

Enjoy!

I just posted the Tuscan Meatloaf link to the Recipe of the Month Club boards. Only $2.99 for the download until December 31st! And then it’s gone again until the next book comes out.

Tuscan Meatloaf
Take a bite out of those winter doldrums with a culinary adventure to the Mediterranean. This recipe only has 10 ingredients and is simple to make. Featured flavors are sun-dried tomatoes and Pecorino-Romano cheese.

This recipe makes 4 meatloaves, 4-5 servings each. The instructions direct you to freeze the meatloaves right in the loaf pan. This is great for cooking co-ops and meal swap clubs. But if you don’t have 4 loaf pans on hand, don’t want to tie them up in the freezer, or don’t care to purchase 4 foil pans, simply place the finished portions in individually labeled, one-gallon freezer bags. Then thaw and shape each meatloaf into your loaf pan before cooking. Easy!

Costco members, be sure to pick up your free Annual Cookbook, Home Cooking The Costco Way, the day after Thanksgiving (November 27th). The focus of the cookbook this year is maximizing your club card savings. Our Fix, Freeze, Feast method will be featured as one of those money-saving ideas. We feel so honored!

As you know, the Annual Cookbook highlights all-new recipes that use Costco products and ingredients. This year 7 of those recipes were developed by me. They’re fresh (not frozen) recipes which feature many different fruits and vegetables. How does Spiced Mango Galette, Balsamic Grilled Vegetables, or Pineapple Ham Roll-ups sound? Good, yes? Then don’t miss this cookbook!

Non-Costco members, you can view the cookbook online! Look for the 2009 Costco cookbook and recipes at www.CostcoConnection.com after Thanksgiving.