The Hub of our home

The kitchen is the hub of our home. It is where most of the family activities inside the home take place, where we entertain close friends and family members. It is where most of the action takes place.

We've equipped our kitchen with 2 ovens, 3 if you count the microwave oven :). Gone are the problems we had of trying to schedule which ones to cook first because there was only one oven to cook in. This Christmas, while the turkey will be cooking, I can take my merry time whipping up my dessert 'cause I can have my oven anytime.

And speaking of ovens, I was so happy the holes below the wall ovens were finally replaced with 2 sets of drawers. After 5 months, the ugly holes are gone. Phew! One item being crossed out in the to-do list.

It goes without saying that we don't want anyone going hungry or thirsty. Not in our kitchen. Most importantly, household members can pretty much take comfort in the fact that they are free to be themselves, learn things, make mistakes, and have fun. Well, it’s pretty much how we run the entire household.

The kitchen is probably the part of the home that we’ve put most of the things that we really want. I wanted a white kitchen, MDH was kind enough to consent to this.

I think overall, a white kitchen will never go dated. And it looks divine whatever fruit you put on the island. The colours pop, don't you think?

And yes, this time we have a bigger island compared to the previous home. It's 4 ft by 5.5 ft. I wanted a different wood colour for the island but decided to go with white (chalk white, to be specific) as our furniture pieces are dark. And so is the floor.

Overall, I like the contrast.






I picked most of the fixtures - Moen faucets, Kindred sinks. The faucets were all installed by MDH. No leaks so far. Yay to that!

And in case you  want to know, the countertops are Kashmir White granite and the backsplash is honed Carrara marble in mosaic rectangular strips.

Share the Care

My share for this year's Cancer Awareness Month

Be Aware. Be Proactive.
Quit smoking.
Eat well.
Be active.
Get screened.


Fast Facts:

• About 1.2 million cases of breast cancer will be diagnosed this year worldwide, according to the World Health Organization.

• About 75% of breast cancers are found in women over age 50.

• The chance of having breast cancer for a woman in her fifties is about 1 in 50.

• The chance of having breast cancer for a woman in her nineties is about 1 in 9.

• About 80% of women diagnosed with breast cancer have no family history of breast cancer.

• Men also get breast cancer, however, men account for less than one percent of all breast cancer cases - breast cancer statistics.

For the Loft of Music

This is what you'll find in our loft - MDK's drum kit and some.

One of the things we share as a family is our love for music. And naturally, when we planned for things that we'd like to put in the new home, we made sure that music will become an integral part of it. The long term plan is to put a music/entertainment room in the basement. As of today, the basement is still unfinished. No work has been done in it and it has become one big storage area for our things that we brought with us from our previous home and we still couldn't find spots for them in the new home.

But...but...we asked a dear friend who is quite a very good architect to draw up a floor plan for our future basement. I am not a big fan of basements but as soon as I saw the floor plan that he came up for us, I fell in love with it and I couldn't help but get excited. I am hoping that next year, we'll be able to start some work for the basement.

For now, we're using part of the loft as the music area. It can be pretty noisy especially when either of my boys (MDH and MDK) start banging the drums but I really don't mind. MDK is into creating music as well. He has a mixer midi pad control unit in his bedroom which eventually will be placed in the basement. MDK has created some pretty cool stuff with it. One time, I was pretty amazed at how he came up with the reggae version of Tracy Chapman's Fast Car after listening to it. And it didn't take him very long to create it.

We will put shelves and a desk as MDK's work area in the loft. But before we'll install them, we will paint the 2 walls. I'm hoping this week, we'll be able to pick the right colour and start painting the walls. We are looking at red-orange colours, all by Benjamin Moore.

Here are the colour samples up close, with a close-up bonus shot of MDK's drum. I think either one of the paint colours will go well with the colour of his drums hahaha.

Stay tuned for some updates of our kitchen. One major item in the to-do list in our kitchen was crossed out this week. I'm one happy camper this weekend!

For guests only

We have the barest guest bathroom but I love it.

Cabinets in Espresso
White Marble countertop
Huge rectangular vessel sink
And the paint is Balboa Mist by Benjamin Moore

And here it is one more time -

I hope our guests will love this bathroom. We do.

Today is a four-cookie day

MDK helped made these cookies

It's a thanksgiving weekend here in Canada. Officially, thanksgiving day is tomorrow, Monday. But some families celebrate it on Sundays. We do.


Aside from being a "turkey-day" today, it is a "cookie-day" as well. I am grateful. Not just for cookie/turkey days like this but any other day.

Some days are cookie/turkey days. Many are not. Sometimes our plate has nothing but vegetables. It can be a week of carrots, celery, broccoli, etc. Oh some even are bitter-melon days. Some days we have a bit of everything. Some vegetables may be hard to swallow, some are not. They can be healthy but dull. But we all know we can't live on just cookies and turkeys. Ooh those cookies, "they do little for our nutrition, but a lot for our attitude."

Reminder to self: the next time my plate has more broccoli than cinnamon rolls, I will remember who prepared the meal and be thankful. And the next time my plate has some portions that are hard to swallow, I'll talk to Him. He listens but most of all, He knows what's best for me.

For now, I'm telling Him how grateful I am for these four cookies on my plate.

Comfort Food

Today, I pulled out an all-time favourite recipe from our recipe collection. It's one of the first recipes I learned from watching different cooking shows on TV, when I was left on my own, while MDH was in grad school. It was our first year as married couple. It was also the beginning of the many trials and errors I did in the kitchen. It helped that I have a very supportive, encouraging housemate a.k.a. MDH. I was never afraid to try things in the kitchen 'cause everything I prepared was always well appreciated. It still is up to now btw.

I can't exactly remember which show did I learn the recipe. It was an Italian cooking show, sometime in the mid-90's. I'm sure it wasn't Caprial's Cafe 'cause I think she only did cakes and pastries in her show.

Tonight, over meatloaf and mashed potatoes (and apple juice :)), we reminisced our first year in Ottawa, in the first apartment that we rented, in the first kitchen where I learned to cook for the 2 most important boys in my life. The apartment was MDK's first home btw.

So here's the recipe. Hope the wafting smell of the meatloaf will bring comfort in your kitchen same way it does in ours.

Ingredients

* 2 pounds lean ground beef (I sometimes use a mix of ground pork and beef or ground veal)
* 1 cup milk
* 2 eggs
* 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
* 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
* 1 medium onion, chopped
* 1 celery, sliced into small pieces
* 1 medium bell pepper, sliced into small pieces
* 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
* 1 cup bread crumbs

* 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
* 1/2 cup ketchup

* bacon strips


Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a rectangular pan. (I used an 8 X 12 pan)
2. Saute the onions, celery, and bell pepper.
3. In a mixing bowl, mix thoroughly the sauted veggies and the other remaining ingredients, except for the brown sugar, ketchup and bacon strips. Shape the mixture into a loaf on the rectangular pan.
4. Arrange the bacon strips on top of the loaf.
5. In a separate bowl, mix the ketchup and brown sugar. Spread on top of the loaf.
6. Bake in preheated oven for 1 hour or until juices are clear.