startcookin.com » Gun Barrel City

May 17, 2010

It’s a Kitchen!

Filed under: Dining, Uncategorized — Tags: Dee Nichols, Dunn's Floors, Gun Barrel City, Kitchen Remodel — Cynthia @ 9:05 am

Well, we’ve done it. LJ and I have completed a total remodel of our kitchen at the lake. We were lucky enough to be able to do this while we were living somewhere else. I can’t even imagine what hell it must be to try to live in your place while the kitchen is being completely gutted and put back together. At one point, our refrigerator, range, dishwasher and upper oven were all sitting in the middle of the living room.

That’s behind us now, and all we have left is the clean-up, which is no small feat. I won’t be able to start the major unpacking and cleaning up until this Friday and Saturday. But I’m happy. Before I do the official unveiling, let me show a couple of “before” shots.

Looking from the dining room back into the kitchenFrom the counter

That’s the ugly. When we tore out the old, we removed the back door from the side wall, and replaced the window facing the deck with French doors. Instead of the counter jutting out into the center of the room, we took it out and put in an island. It’s much more cook-friendly now. And there’s MUCH more storage. Here’s the new:

This island replaces the old counter

French doors replace back window to deck

It will be a really big job to put it all back together. The rest of the house is a huge mess with boxes stacked to the ceiling. I can’t wait to get it all put back together.

Well, here’s to many lovely meals and dinner parties at the lake.

Ya’ll come on over.

The transition from the kitchen to the hardwoods

By the way, the contractor was Dee Nichols at Dunn’s Floors and More in Gun Barrel City, Texas. I can’t recommend him highly enough!

Let’s have an appetizer and cocktails:

Marinated Olives with Feta

1 cup Kalamata olives

1 cup green olives

1 cup e-v olive oil

6 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

5 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

2 tablespoons chopped parsley

2 teaspoons lemon zest

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper

10 oz. feta, cut into ½ inch slices

Mix all olives, ¾ cup oil, 3 tablespoons lemon juice, garlic, parsley, lemon zest, ½ teaspoon oregano and red pepper in plastic bag. Marinate, refrigerated, over night.

Place feta on a platter, drizzle with remaining olive oil and lemon juice. Sprinkle with oregano and black pepper. Refrigerate overnight.

Serve both with pita bread.

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