Countertops...ask (for a discount) and you shall receive

I just want to throw it out there that:

1. We went to the stone yard yesterday to see the Super White Quartzite and it is FABULOUS
2. The stone is expensive (lame, right)
3. I asked the fabricator (the guy who will turn the slabs into counters) for a discount
4. He agreed

The moral of this story, it never hurts to ask!

Onward to kitchen completion, my friends! 

Kitchen Remodel...the shopping

We moved into our house 8 months ago, and I have been chomping at the bit to take down some walls in the kitchen, to create a more functional space.  My friends, that time is upon us!!!  WHAT!!!

I will post pictures of the original kitchen at a later date, but for now, I will share some of the lovely things that are going to come together and make the new space amazing. 

Pendant lighting, for over what will be my main work

surface.  A peninsula between the kitchen and dining

room.  (buh bye wall that once separated the two rooms).

 

I shared these slabs in my last post, but I am so excited to actually

get a real life visual on them, when they arrive in Denver next week.

 

This is the stain of the cabinets, on maple wood, that with are going with. 

Just not this style. Instead we are going with shaker style cabinets and flat panel drawers.

 

We love this hardware so much, we are using it again.  This picture

is the storage unit we had built in our new mudroom.  I promise I will blog

the cuteness of the mudroom, as soon as my house isn't such a hot mess

(i.e. I don't want to blog it without the ridiculous upholstered cushion my

 mother-in-law made for the mudroom bench, but don't dare put said cushion

in the space, until all the work in the kitchen is complete).

 

We went with GE Monogram appliances. 

We already know that my middle name should be switched from

'Beth' to 'Bargain' but this appliance search really set the need for that

change, in stone.  I searched, called and brokered some deals to get all of our

appliances at cost.  Seriously.  That little bit of leg work saved us thousands! 

 

The gas line was hooked up today. 

Ahhhh, this is basically a day to celebrate, in my book. 

 

While searching for carpet to run up our stairs (side project)

I found some wonderful options with the brand Milliken.  In my research

I found that the brand also creates amazeballs rugs.  I think this rug needs to

be plopped on the wood floors, in the main work area of the kitchen, for cozy feet

and a ridiculous splash of pattern.  Borderline obSESSED.



The Hunt for the Elusive Countertops...

Who the hellz would have known that a simple search for slabs of stone, that some dude would fashion into counter tops, would turn into the biggest game of cloak and daggar on this side of the pond.

I am barely being dramatic!  For reals, I feel like I know all the stoners (a fun play on words when you live in a place where marajuana is legal) know me and probably are considering blocking my calls.

The simple search for a natural stone that looks like a gorgeous carrara marble, but doesn't wear like said marble (have you researched that stone...holy toledo...you can't make much, other than a reservation, on that stone...it will stain, etch, probably crack if you look at it wrong!).  I digress.  My point (yes, I have a point) is that I have been searching for 4 months for stone and am nearing tears.  I know, I shouldn't get my undies in a bundle over something as inconsequential as stone counters...but please, this is important!!! 

I covet my friend Maggie's counters.  They are lovely, natural stone...totally fooled me into thinking they were marble, but they are quartzite.  Super White Quartzite, to be exact.  I love love love them...just cannot find this stone anywhere!  This stone is one hot potato.  Here's a looksy at Maggie's glorious counters (I stole these images off of instagram, so use your imagination to really see what the whole counter would look like, or just trust me and start drooling right away):



Or...start drooling because Mag's is amazeballs in the kitchen,

 I dream of the things she whips up.  I aspire to be just like her,  when I grow up

(wait, she is younger than me by a few...dammit.)

Well, I have all my fingers and toes crossed that finally the stone of my dreams is coming into Denver next week.  I have had these slabs on hold for over a month, with just the little email picture to go off of.  I really didn't think when I put the hold on them in April I would still be stone-less 5 weeks later, but I am so thankful for my forward thinking of a back up plan.  As the back up plan is officially THE PLAN!

I mean...



Here's a little tidbit I learned in this stone slab search, that I wasn't otherwise aware of:  find a fabricator (the company/individual who will turn the slabs into the work surface) and then start making calls to local stone yards (some have other locations, and will sometimes ship between locations without additional charges).  The reason you want to have a fabricator on hand is that the stone yards do not deal with the public directly on pricing.  Slab prices will be give to the fabricator (annoying yes, but that is how it works).  If, for example, you are searching for a 'super white quartzite' (which I am sure you will, after reading this blog), look at the websites of all the local stone yards and view their inventory online.  If they have some slabs posted, call straight away and ask to put a hold on them (if you have my stone-search-luck the posted slabs will already be on hold for others...over and over and over), but just get as many holds as you can before going out to look at them. This might be more pertinent for people like me, who will be dragging little kids around. 

I will keep you posted as this unfolds.  Ahhhhh, so excited!

Today

Today was perfect.  A perfect Sunday of this holiday weekend, spent with most of my family, in Minnesota.

I flew home to Minnesota a couple weeks ago, and am so thankful we still have a full week left to soak up every bit of home.  Why yes, I have lived away from home (my mom's home, on the river, in central Minnesota) for nearly 10 years (14 if I count my college years in Northern Minnesota) but I still call it 'home'. 

This trip home is such a mixed bag of emotions as my mom is preparing to sell the house I grew up in (the house she built, on a year sabbatical from the college she taught at, at that time, when I was little) and move the house she planned on 'snow birding' to in Arizona.  This makes me sad, as home continues to be my favorite place.  The backyard, more than anything.  Through the years whenever I have been asked about the place I go to in my mind (whether it be for the visualization of peace, safety or happiness) it is usually the plush grass of the backyard that I have played in, danced in, slept in, ran in and even got married in.  Wow.  I am sad.  It isn't tragic, but at times the realization that 'coming home' will never be the same is just to much to think about. 

Today there was a chill in the air all day (which I am always game for) and we spent the greater chunk of it running around outside.  chasing, kicking the soccer ball (until my niece, Avree, accidentally drop kicked it into the river), grilling out and picking lilacs, which are blooming late this season (I personally like to think they waited for my arrival).  I will miss this place so.  I am going to soak up every minute of all my favorite nooks throughout the house and spend as much time as possible out back listening to the river and taking it all in.

I will do a proper 'home' blog, when I return to Colorado and can put together some pics...but for now I will just enjoy every bit of my favorite place, and squeeze in some new memories with my littles. 

Preschool Class Photos. Are you ready to giggle???

 A mom from preschool called me the other day to ask if I had logged on to see the preschool photos, that had been taken the week before.  I hadn't.  She told me that Logan's picture was very funny.  How right she was, I can't stop smiling when I look at this picture of my sweet little 3 year old.  This is her, in a nutshell (Superman t-shirt and all)!

 Logan Elizabeth, age 3 

She is hilarious.  She asks a lot of questions.

She is so very sweet to her baby brother, Benny.

She loves to run, jump, play catch, kick the

soccer ball, read books and watch 'toonies'.

 She can also be kind of serious.  And by serious I mean 'girl can
seriously strike a JC Penney's photo studio pose like non other'!

 I love that the class photos were actually taken outside, verses the
drop screen 'outside scene' we are all too familiar with
(cue the painted fall foliage scene...that kills me!)

These are the days I treasure (although I have said that since the day

she was born), I just love my little sweets.  She gives me a run for

my money, most days, but I wouldn't have it any other way!

Logan and Benny make today what it is, a wonderful and blessed

Mother's Day!

Is it just me, or does Ellen need the top photo for a segment?

Chicken Marsala Parcels

I really wanted to make Chicken Marsala, but didn't want to make it the way I always 

make it: with pasta or smashed potatoes...so I looked to my favzy box of frozen pastry 

and decided it would be the perfect addition to the wine drenched chicken breasts.

First, butterfly and pound chicken breasts, between 2 sheets of plastic wrap.

You will need 2 pounded chicken breasts, for this recipe.

Remove the pounded chicken breasts from plastic wrap and dredge in:

1/3 c. flour

1 tsp dried basil

1/2 tsp sea salt

1/4 tsp cracked black pepper

heat 2 T oil in a saute pan, over medium heat

brown the dredged chicken breasts, remove from pan once cooked through 

(a few minutes on each side)

After you finish browning all of the chicken breasts (add a splash of oil to the pan

between each browning process, if needed), add the following to the pan, leaving

all the brown bits from the chicken in the pan:

1 T. butter

1/2 cup finely chopped white onion

Cook the onions for a couple minutes.

To the onions add 1 cup chopped portobello mushrooms.  Continue

cooking cook until the onions are translucent and the mushrooms are tender.

to the pan add:

1 cup Marsala wine and 1 cup chicken stock, heat until simmering then add:

roux (in a cup mix 1 T. flour with 2 T. chicken stock, use a fork to 

combined into a chunk-free slurry which will thicken the sauce)

1 T. brown sugar

4 T butter

sea salt and cracked pepper to taste

Continue to simmer the wine sauce, allowing the flavors to meld and sauce to thicken. 

 Then return the chicken, cut up into bite size chunks, to the pan. 

 Remove the chicken and sauce from heat and allow to cool completely, before 

wrapping in the puff pastries (this can be done the night before...chill in
the refrigerator, and pull out when you are ready to assemble the parcels)

 Puff Pastry.  Find it in the freezer section at the market.  Remove the 

puff pastry from the freezer the night before, place in the refrigerator. Pull out
of the refrigerator about 1/2 hour before assembling the marsala parcels

Use a rolling pin to lightly roll out each rectangle of pastry 

(2 rectangles of pastry, per box).

Then, have completely cooled chicken and sauce, 

along with shredded mozzarella ready to go.

Use a pizza wheel to cut the pastry into 2" by 3" sections. Place

a scoop of chicken and sauce in the middle of the pastry, and top

with a sprinkle of shredded mozzarella.  Keep the edges of the

pastry free of chicken and sauce.

 Top with another piece of pastry, 2" by 3" (this does not have to

be exact, at all) and press edges from top and bottom pastry together,

using the pad of your finger (or use the prongs of a fork).

Continue making parcels, until you run out of pastry.  Then gently

brush the top of each parcel with an egg wash (1 egg white, 2 T. water)

and if desired, crack black pepper and sea salt the tops.

Bake at 400 degrees for 20-25 minutes, until pastry is golden brown.

Yum!!!

last minute I decided the parcels needed a sauce on top...so in a saucepan I heated to boil:

1 cup Marsala wine

1 cup chicken stock

Roux (mix 2 T. butter & 1 T flour together into paste, before adding to

 the heated wine/stock, this will thicken the sauce- I used butter this time
to add a little richness to the sauce)

2 T. brown sugar

sea salt and cracked pepper to taste 

(why yes, this is the same thing the chicken, onions and mushrooms are 

soaking in, it needed to happen!)

Once the sauce boils for a couple of minutes, allowing the roux to fully cook through, 

reduce heat to simmer for a couple more minutes and it will be thick and delish.

I served the parcels with a loaded green salad and wild rice.

Cozy Baby Blanket and Burp Cloths

If you have to walk around with a burp cloth on your shoulder (hello, motherhood)...it might as well look fantastic.  

Cue, these adorbsFest chevron cloths.  They are scrumptious.  

Soft and absorbent to boot.  Could you ask for more, in this department?  

I think not. 

The cloths are backed with cuddle fleece 

(which I like to refer to as the hobnail of fabrics...looooove)!

I love chevron.  I appears to be wicked on point right now, as I feel like I see it everywhere!  But, I think chevron/zig zag is a classic pattern that will always mix with what you are working.  Yes, I even think of this stuff, when picking out fabrics for something simple like a colorful stack of burp cloths.  Cannot help it. 

I am pairing the burp cloths with a cozy blanket, coated in a pattern of vintage style bicycles.  

 The blanket is also backed the the cuddle fleece.  Perfect for snuggling.

The littles and I are leaving on a jet plane in a few days, so Logan can be present at her best friend's birthday party (I will do all in my power to never miss this party!).  While we are there, we will pop in and see another friend, who is going to have her second baby...any day now!  I just know she will love these, as much as I do.