Major changes

The kitchen isn't completed, but it is usable.
This is so big.
The lapse between posts was basically because nothing was going on for about 10 days while the counter tops were being prepared. But on Monday, stuff started happening. The appliances were delivered. An the new refrigerator was installed. Ice is being made (and will be dumped out, per manufacturer's suggestion). Soon, though we'll be able to use that ice.

Dan, if you have ice, doesn't that mean you have water? Yes. This is why the kitchen is now usable. The plumber came yesterday to install the sink, faucet, garbage disposal and the dishwasher. If it's not too late (meaning dark) I may actually cook something out on the grill. The gas stove gets installed on March 5. I could have grilled all along, but clean up would have been a hassle. I guess I am just too lazy to clean dishes in the bath tub. As it is, the guest bath is overrun with coffee cups and wine glasses. Those will all get cleaned tonight.

This morning I watched the instructional DVD that came with the dishwasher. It is smarter than I am. we went with KitchenAid appliances. This model can tell if it needs to wash the dishes longer or on a more powerful cycle by testing the water. Pretty cool. I can't wait to start it and then not hear it. Our old one roared and clanked. it made sure to let us know when it was on. With the kitchen being just off the family room, washing dishes right after dinner made watching TV and loud experience.

As you can see from the pictures, the counter tops are in and it really makes the kitchen look like a kitchen. Of course all my worries about the kitchen being too dark were a waste of time and energy. When will I learn to trust Judy's eye on these things? Dan cooks. Judy decorates. Learn your role, Macdonald!

I'll post again tomorrow as workers will be here today to do some more stuff.

I could use my old pal R.P. about now

Beach folk may remember R.P. McMurphy's on Third Street. It was located where the recently defunct Bob Marlin's now resides. Now that I am without a kitchen, I miss R.P.'s more than you can imagine.

When I was single, I pretty much lived at R.P.'s. It had everything a guy needed. Good food, cold beer, all the games but most of all a collection of fun people. During those days, when I was the paper's music critic, I didn't cook much at all. No need, I had R.P.'s. Granted most of my meals there were either wings or a burger — but unlike most sports bars it had a menu of fresh food that could rival most any other locally owned restaurant. There was a time, that locals would form a line outside the place on a Friday night.

Before I go too far, allow me to throw in the disclaimer that I worked there part-time for a few football and basketball seasons. (Without that job, I doubt I could have scraped together the money for Judy's engagement ring. Besides, why spend money watching football when I could tend bar and make money while watching the games?)

Now that I am without a kitchen, I have come to appreciate R.P.'s even more than before. I had a place where I could sit at the bar, drink a few beers and eat a pretty good meal. This week, Judy is out of town on business. I wish I had such a place today.

I'm a tavern guy. I love the fact that in most restaurants today, dining at the bar is an option. I like to believe that guys like me helped established this practice. A steak or broiled fish dinner tastes better to me when at the bar, enjoying a draft beer, watching a game or chatting with some person I've just met who happens to be sitting next to me.

Sure, we have sports bars all over this town. Unfortunately few show any imagination or skill in the kitchen. It's the same wings and pub grub. Can I get a fresh salad or a choice of vegetables (or any vegetable for that matter)? These days, I'm a regular at the downtown Mudville Grille. Good place. Good people. But the menu doesn't offer many surprises. But it's as close to R.P's as I've found.

The best bar food I've found is Ker's WingHouse in Tinseltown. Yeah, yeah the waitresses are pretty and that's part of the attraction. But for a sports bar, the food is good. While the menu is limited, I've found the mahi mahi sandwich and the blackened chicken sandwich both perfectly portioned and wonderfully prepared. The sandwiches are so good, I have only had the wings there once (just to see if they were any good — they are).

But I'm looking for a neighborhood place. Maybe it says something for the size of the Beach or my demented personality but I haven't lived more than five miles from the old R.P.'s since moving to the Beach.

R.P.'s was a special place and a special time. I guess now I'm looking for a local sports bar that just offers some interesting dinner specials.

Now it's starting to look like a kitchen

It's hard for me to explain the relief I am feeling today. The cabinets are in. It was a two-day job but the installer put them in and did a nice job.

I'll tell you when they delivered all the stuff I was wondering if they had made a mistake. Where were they going to put it all? This is a small kitchen and there looked to be enough wood and boxes to put on an addition to the house.

Besides the fact that it is now beginning to look like a kitchen, now that the wood is installed it has relieved my concern about the opening between the bar and the second pantry. I can walk thought there like a normal person. I won't have to turn sideways to avoid ramming my hip into the bar. A hip replacement won't be in my future after all. I can still count on getting my wrecked knees repaired first. (For some reason, basketball seemed very important to me in my youth.)

Now that we have some stuff in, I can explain the redesign a bit. The first picture are the book shelves that will wrap around the front of the bar. I'm proud to say that was my idea. Now I have a place in the kitchen for the cookbooks. It will also add some color to the family room that shares that same space. Judy has told me that only the "pretty" cookbooks can go there.

On the wall, there are the "twin towers" (hmmm, a basketball reference I hadn't thought about until now). Those are two pantries with sliding drawers (see second picture) I'll have no excuse for not finding anything in there now. The microwave will go inside the one closest to the bookshelves.

The oven will go in that blank space in the middle. Above it will be a exhaust fan and a decorative hood.

This morning, they'll template the counter tops for the sink and then we won't have anything going on for about 10 days. While there won't be any construction going on, there is plenty for us to do. More about that next time.

Lack of kitchen leaves a hole in my day

I've been in a fog all this week. I really think it is because I haven't got a kitchen. Why rush home after work? To do what — watch TV? Before, I'd need to get home to cook. Sure some nights I'd blow it off and get take out. Or, I'd just go through the motions. But many times, I found cooking was the best way to unwind from the work day. Now, I'm out of my rhythm.

I've got a theory that one of the reasons that New York has so many restaurants is because cooking at home is a hassle for most New Yorkers. The kitchens are small. Grocery shopping is a chore. Instead of rushing back to the over-priced and under-sized apartment, New Yorkers are more willing to extend the work day with a happy hour that spills over into a dinner out.

Without a kitchen, that's how I am feeling. Unfortunately, I'm in Jacksonville, not Manhattan, so my downtown dining options are much more limited.

I think that the real reason I'm in no hurry to go home is that I hate looking at that hole where my kitchen once was. Hopefully, when the cabinets are installed early next week and I can see what the new ones will actually look like, I'll feel better about this whole project. As it is now, I still have serious doubts about the design. While it will give us more storage room, I fear that the design will make a smallish kitchen even smaller. It will look pretty, but will it be practical? The space between the bar/bookshelves and the new pantry has me very concerned. I'm afraid the space it going to be too narrow. I just envision me bumping my hip into either structure every time I pass by. A hip replacement 10 years down the line wasn't mentioned as part of the bargain when I signed on to this deal.

This is the angst part I warned you about. Happier posts are to follow. I promise.

Oh, that's why the light was out

After the demolition was finished, we were happy to learn that we could keep the refrigerator in the kitchen for a while longer. But after the crew left, Judy wondered why the refrigerator light wouldn't come on. I told her it the light is finicky and not to worry.

Well, the light was out for a reason. Around 3:30 this morning I got up to get a drink of water and felt water on the floor in front of the refrigerator. The crew didn't turn the refrigerator back on at the circuit breaker when they finished. No biggie. The ice in the freezer was just melting. However, by the time I cleaned up the mess and dumped what was left of the ice bin out the back door, I was wide awake.

I knew I was going to lose sleep over this project.

Na-na-na-na. Na-na-na-na, Hey, hey, hey — Good-bye

Well, it's gone.

I'm officially a food editor without a kitchen. The demolition team arrived at 8 a.m. and by noon the kitchen I loved was dead, gone and toted out the door. All that remains is dry wall with a lot of pencil marks noting where cabinets go, where lights should align and how much my life will change in a about five weeks.

The crew arrived on time and were good guys. They worked efficiently and with little noise. They took appart cabinets (saving the ones were are going to install later in the laundry room) and even moving out the dishwasher and oven without me even knowing what was going on. I had sequestered myself in the home office to work on Am Stir and linger over the web.

Once the cabinets were removed the biggest part of the job left was to demolish the pantry. Judy couldn't resist. She asked the guys is she could have some whacks at the dry wall. She loved slamming the hammer into the wall. To me, the kitchen was a special place. For Judy it seemed like it was an obstacle to her inner-design desires.(Note to self: Don't make this woman mad. She wields a mean hammer.) She really let some aggression go.

Once the kitchen was demolished, we waited for the electrician to come by and plot out the lights. This is why I don't do home projects — too much measuring. I can handle cups and tablespoons. But ask me to add and subtract inches — especially when we are dealing with eighth-of-inches — and I am totally confused. Decisions had to be made. How may lights, where would they be put, would they be on one switch or three. We talked out the options and decided that half the lights would be on one switch and the others on another. Even though they are all on dimmers, I just didn't want the kitchen to be too hot if all the pot lights were on at once. (Just in case that was to become a problem).

A development that stunned Judy, after we had finished talking about everything, I asked the contractor if the telephone on the wall could be removed. Judy looked at me like I had burped in church. I explained that if we were doing this in part for "re-sale value" (although I have no intentions of moving) why leave a relic of the 1970's — a kitchen telephone socket — in the middle of the wall? In 10 years, land lines will be obsolete. Why redesign a kitchen and leave that large boil in the middle of a wall? We have two cell phones as well as a wireless phone that we can place near the kitchen. Do we need a phone on the wall? At first Judy protested but quickly yielded to my idea. It was as if she saw a twinkle of "acceptance of change" in my eye.

By 3:30 p.m. the kitchen had been removed and all the decisions had been made. I felt like a sailor on liberty. The tattoo was on, it was permanent, I might as well enjoy it.

Tomorrow the electrician puts in the lights and does some re-wiring.

Hey, hey good bye old kitchen. Hello new one.

The Last Supper

Saturday night was the last supper in the old kitchen. Amazingly enough, I didn't make a big deal about it. Instead, I opted to make one of my favorite dishes. It's one that I have made many times. I prepared Pork Tenderloin with Roasted Sweet Potato and Peppers with Satueed Green Beens.

This dish is also a favorite of Judy's and it is also what spurred the new kitchen project. The dish starts by searing the tenderloin in a hot pan. This process seals in the meat's juices and keeps it moist. However, it creates a lot of smoke. The exhaust fan over our stove is useless. Judy hates when I have to sear anything — especially if guests are coming over. For some reason, she thinks a screeching smoke alarm is a disruptive element to a dinner party.

Once seared, the meat is removed from the pan and white wine is added to deglaze the pan. Once the alcohol is burned off (it takes a minute or two) chicken broth is added to the pan. How much? I haven't measured lately. Basically I just want enough liquid for the meat to sit in. When the pork is returned to the pan, the liquid should come about halfway up its side. Then place the pan in a 350 degree oven for 15 to 20 minutes. Remove from the oven when the meat has an internal temperature of 160 degrees and let it rest for 5 minutes before slicing.

While the meat rests, make the sauce by bringing the liquid to a boil and adding a couple tablespoons of butter. Once that is melted, add an ounce or two of heavy cream or half and half.(The amount of cream and butter really depends on how thick you like the sauce). Once combined, reduce heat to low.

The meal was like any other. Judy and I didn't even break out a good bottle of wine to mark the occasion. We had a "cheapie" (as Judy calls $8-$12 bottles of wine) and enjoyed the meal while our nephew Matthew Labrato watched some Scooby-Doo cartoons in the other room. (He opted for pizza instead of his Uncle Dan's cooking. One day the boy will come around.)

Today is Super Bowl Sunday. The day will be spent clearing out the rest of the kitchen. We'll feast on a giant Italian spread prepared by neighbors Mary and John Othmer.The Super Bowl on Hi-Def with a ton of food and friends — can't get better than that. My pick — Colts 31-10.