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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

This island replaces the old counter

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.

It has been a few months since I’ve posted on this blog, and lots has happened.  Most importantly, I have retired.  The freedom to do what I want when I want to each day is the most exhilarating thing that’s ever happened to me.  I’ve been exercising every day, running errands usually saved for Saturdays, and reading like mad.

LJ is planning on retiring sometime toward the end of the year.  In preparation for that, we put our city house on the market at the end of February expecting, in this economic market, it to sell in 3 or 4 months.  Instead, it sold in one day!  We closed March 31st without a single glitch.  So for interim living, we have rented a wonderful little urban apartment.  We’ve never lived in a downtown before, and we are finding it really fun.  I love doing so much walking.  There are shops and pubs and restauarants right down the street from us.  The only slight drawback is moving from a 4 bedroom house with a gourmet kitchen to a 700 square foot apartment with a postage stamp kitchen.  It’s a challenge.

When LJ retires, we will move permanently to the lake house.  We’ve planned on doing this all along, and we also planned on remodeling the lake house kitchen before moving there, so we are doing that now.  It is so exciting!  I’ve redone counter tops and replaced appliances in kitchens before, but I’ve never totally gutted one and started over from scratch.  It’s been great, but I can’t tell you how happy I am that we are not living in the house while it is being done.  It is impossible to do anything in my living room with my stove, dishwasher, and refrigerator all sitting in the middle of it waiting to be re-installed in the remodeled kitchen. 

At this time, the walls have been textured and painted, the new French doors installed in place of a window, and the chandelier is hung.  The custom cabinets and counters and the island are in, and the undercounter lighting is installed.  Now I’m waiting for the tile backsplash and floors to be installed and the final painting will be done on the baseboards and French door facings.  Then the appliances will be installed and I’ll be back in!  Here are some progress photos.

I expect we’ll be all through with the remodel in the next 2 weeks.

We’ve also bought a pop-up camper to do some camping in when we retire.  We’ll be taking it out for it’s maiden camping trip next weekend.  I’ll post our adventures and some pictures when we get back.

Tiny kitchen recipe:

Roasted Cod with Dijonaisse (Serves 2)

2 tablespoons mayonnaise

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

1 tablespoon capers, chopped

juice of one lemon

salt and pepper

2 tablespoons panko crumbs

1 tablespoon chopped parsely

1 teaspoon olive oil

2 cod filets (or halibut or other firm fish filet)

Place fish on a baking pan that has been sprayed with vegetable spray.  Mix together mayo, mustard, capers, lemon juice, salt and pepper and spread evenly over fish.  Place on prepared pan.  Mix together panko crumbs, parsley, and olive oil.  Sprinkle evenly over fish.  Place in a 400 degree oven for 18 to 20 minutes.