Counter Samples

My sister keeps throwing words out there like, obsessing.  Over-thinking.  Crazy-kitchen-remodel lady.  Okay, maybe not that last one, but she thinks I'm taking my decision making to the next level.  I say, I'm trying to make the right decision, based on the choices I have.

So here's the thing, I love, love, love marble counters.  In fantasy world, I'd walk into a stone yard and pick out my slab.  This is the real world and our budget will include laminate counters.  Period, the end.  So I've been obsessively strategically searching online for photos of faux marble counters.  I'm not really liking the limited results I'm coming up with.  The products are fairly new, so there aren't a whole lot of examples of them in real life kitchens yet.

Just for the sake of getting you on the same page as the picture I have in my head, there are numerous examples of my dream kitchen on my Kitchen Pinterest Board.  I was going to put a few photos of them in this post, but apparently I'm an idiot.  I can't for the life of me figure out how to embed a Pinterest pin into a post since they've changed the format.  What am I doing wrong???!!!

Anywho, I ordered laminate samples from both Wilsonart and Formica.  The majority of them are marble look-alikes, but there are a couple other "stone" ones thrown in for good measure.

Your job is to vote on your favorite.  I keep going back to the same one, but I don't want to sway your decision, so I won't tell you which one it is.  There's another one that's a runner-up, but I think I'll order another sample of it, because the pictures of it installed that I've seen online look quite a bit different.

Okay, enough blabbing, here's the samples:

She's crying 'cause I wouldn't let her play with them while I took pictures.

I know, mean mommy. 

So these four are the marble ones (there are actually five marble ones total, but for whatever reason I forgot to put it up on the sill - or maybe Baby knocked it on the floor - you'll see it further down).

From left to right we have, Formica Bianca Luna, Wilsonart White Carrara, Wilsonart Calcutta Marble, and Formica Calacatta Marble.

Here's the Callacatta and Bianca Luna again with Travertine Silver in the middle.

Some of them have an etchings finish like this one, and others are smooth.

 

These are both the White Carrara, smooth matte finish.

Calcutta has a smooth shiny finish.

Roman Limestone has a textured finish that's both matte and shiny.

 

Carrara Santorini is also textured with the matte/shiny combo.

 This one is Flint Crystall in both a smooth matte finish and an etched shiny finish.

 

Here's another angle of all of them.

So whadya think?

Are ya diggin' the fake marble or should I just say no to faux?

Am I living up to my sister's accusations of obsessive, over-thinking, crazy-kitchen-remodel lady?

Brown Butter Hiking Cake

I've had this recipe in my to-make pile for longer than I can remember.  I guess I was looking for a good excuse to use three sticks of butter.  I finally made it to take with us to the Rock Farm last weekend.  It's dessert, but we ate it with breakfast.  You can call it coffee cake if it makes you feel better.  It's got cinnamon, pecans, and apples, so that sounds like breakfast to me.

The recipe calls for a whole vanilla bean, which I just happened to have, but I don't think it's necessary if you don't have one in the cupboard.  Just throw some extract in when you're mixing up the batter.  No one will know the difference.

Here's the recipe (which came out of our newspaper) with my notes:

Brown Butter Hiking Cake
Printable Recipe

Ingredients:

3 C all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp kosher salt
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 1/2 C butter, cubed (3 sticks)
1 vanilla bean
2 C granulated sugar
3 eggs
2 C peeled and thinly sliced apples (recipe noted that pears are good, too)
1 C chopped toasted pecans, divided
1 C sifted powdered sugar
2 Tbsp milk
1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350.  Generously spray a tube pan with nonstick cooking spray.  Set aside.

Sift together flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon.  Set aside.

Place butter in a cast-iron skillet or shallow, heavy bottomed pot.  Split the vanilla bean and scrape the seeds out.  Place the seeds and bean in the skillet with the butter.  Melt over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until browned and fragrant, about 5 to 8 minutes.  (I don't know if my pan was too small or what, but mine took more like 30 minutes.)  Pour into a large mixing bowl and set aside to cool for 15 minutes at room temperature.

Pick the vanilla bean out of the butter.  Whisk in the sugar, followed by the eggs.  Using a stiff wooden spoon or rubber spatula, fold in the flour mixture.  The batter will be thick and stiff.  (REALLY thick and stiff.)  Fold in the apples and 1/2 C of the toasted pecans.

Scrape the batter into the tube pan and bake for 50 minutes, or until a wooden skewer inserted close to the tube opening of the pan comes out clean.

Let the cake rest in the pan for 30 minutes.  Then turn it out onto a cooling rack and let cool completely.

Whisk the powdered sugar, milk and vanilla together until smooth.  When the cake is cool, drizzle the cake with the glaze and sprinkle with the remaining 1/2 C of pecans.

Slice, eat, repeat.

Here it is, ready to load up for the weekend, at my house:

It definitely didn't suck.

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A Step Back

I frequently get comments questioning the size of our property, or suggesting we must live on a large piece of land.  We do not.  We live on a standard 50 by 100 city lot.  The yard shrunk quite a bit when we put an addition on the back of the house in 2007, when I was pregnant with The Girl.  But I've also removed almost every piece of sod over the last 12 years, including the parking strip, in order to make room for more plants.

I do a lot of close up plant pictures 'cause I'm constantly feeling like something needs to be done in the yard, or some corner isn't quite picture perfect yet.  But today I'm gonna take a step back and show you the whole picture.  A lawn that needs to be mowed, the compost bin in the corner, kid toys laying around, and all.  I didn't get every part of the yard, but it's a start, for those of you who have asked.

First up, the front yard.

The south side that I talk about all the time.

Look close at what The Girl is holding.

I'm creating a monster.

This is looking toward the front gate, that was pictured above, from the backyard.

At the end of the pathway, in the backyard, is the shed and the kid corner.

Here it is from another angle.

Not a lot of color goin' on yet.

Unless you count the flamingo.
 

From the kid corner looking north, toward the rest of the yard

The back bed, which is the east end of the lot.

East bed, looking north.

Looking west, from the back bed, toward the back of the house.

The north side and the fire pit area.

Border between the fire pit area and the deck.

Looking south, toward the kid corner, from the deck.

The deck from the patio.

The patio is a nightmare right now, so I'll give you a shelf picture.  :o)

So there ya go.

The yard in a nutshell.

I'll try to do better about showing the whole picture.

You're trying to figure out where in the heck I put 96 impatiens, aren't you?
Once the annuals start fillin' in, I'll get some pictures of the areas I missed.
Now, I'm attempting to round things up for a long weekend.
I'll be unplugged for three days, so see ya'll on Monday.
 

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