Food Should Taste Good, Dammit!

Most of us eat healthy food to stay in shape and ward off the evils of diabetes, heart disease etc. If you’re lucky you end up cultivating a taste for what’s good for us. I certainly have, although I still love my unhealthy favorites, think pizza (yum) and my favorite junk food, CHIPS! Recently I was approached by the folks at Food Should Taste Good.  They were begging to send me a big box full of chips so I could share my thoughts with you!  Well I don’t have to tell you that offers like that don’t come along everyday so I said, “bring it”.Here’s what they sent:  an array of tasty looking chips, a lovely bamboo chip/dip tray and a variety of interesting spread type things.

 

Like me, FSTG founder, Pete Lescoe loves food.  Back in 2006 Lescoe set out to create a snack with healthy wholesome ingredients and great taste.  All chip varieties are gluten free, cholesterol free, have zero grams trans fats. They are also certified Kosher.  Plus, many varieties are certified vegan.  Products include a huge variety of tortilla chips as well as  what they call kettle cooked and Sea Salt Brown Rice Crackers.

As for the taste test, I must confess I was already a fan of their basic Multigrain tortilla chip which can be found at your local grocers as well as at Costco. The flavor is, well, like a tortilla  chip but with a nice nutty flavor with just the right amount of salt.The White Cheddar version was a hit with my 15 year old stepson who has an extremely limited palate, to say the least.  His friend also gave this version a thumbs up, even more so, as he was astonished to find out it’s classified as healthy!My teen-aged daughter thought the Kettle Corn chips were the best of the best because she likes a little sweet with her salt.  My coworker found the Sweet Potato Chips to be her favorite. All in all I guess you could say there is something for everyone. I can say I enjoyed them all except Kettle Corn which I never did get to sample. Another version which they did not send is Blue Corn Tortilla which I spied on the bottom shelf at Publix.  I have sneaky feeling it’s going to be my favorite.

As for those spreads, this was the best damn peanut butter type spread EVER.  Just check out these ingredients.  Don’t know the details about all the spreads but I guess they just wanted to include something to go with the chips.  So if you’re looking for something to go with those up-coming turkey sandwiches I think chips by Food Should Taste Good would be a great choice.

One Bachelor's Kitchen Makeover

So you need a new kitchen. Let the dreams commence! We read all about the ubiquitous “dream kitchen”. The gorgeous kitchen above may be found on Houzz.com and features cabinets by Holiday Kitchens. Sorry if you thought it was the after shot. Sadly, it is not but I think you'll agree that we made a huge improvement. To be sure the heart of the home is the most expensive room in the house to remodel so how much do you need to do? Do you need to reinvent the wheel to be happy? I say no.

Take a look at this typical example.  This kitchen is in a classic Florida ranch style, 3 bedroom 2 bath abode circa 1978.  Do you think it needed a new kitchen?  Here’s the scenario:  The owner is a bachelor with a teen-aged daughter who lives with him part-time.  It’s a small kitchen.  We’re not changing the flooring and you don't have to.  Just remember to make sure that new cabinets will cover the old "foot print" of the kitchen.  Your installer should shim cabinets, as needed, so everything's nice and level.  Basically this client was due for fresh new cabinets, tops and appliances.  He actually likes to cook and his favorite appliance is his GE Advantium Speedcook Microwave Oven, so much so he wants two!  Oh, and he wants a cabinet that is easy to access from the porch because he grills a lot.  We used Holiday Kitchens for the cabinetry (same resource used for the gorgeousness at the top of the page).  You may know Holiday Kitchens for their higher end custom cabinets but they also offer a really good quality cabinet in a middle-of-the-road price point.  Laminate tops were replaced with durable granite by Stone Palace and we fit that extra microwave in a tall cabinet with pantry storage above and below. Nothing crazy just nice and new.Next up: Can healthy chips taste good? We had fun finding out!

Talkin Turkey and Combi-Steam Ovens

Sometimes my job comes with perks. I cannot lie. This week I had the pleasure of attending the annual Thanksgiving “lunch and learn” hosted by Florida Builder Appliances, the dynamic go-to resource for all types of appliances from GE to the uber high end including Subzero-Wolf, Miele and even La Cornue. This little gathering for us peeps in the business is quickly becoming an annual ritual we look forward to.

  We get to experience the amazing Chef Rachelle Boucher in action.   She has cooked for the rich and famous including Catherine Zeta-Jones and George Lucas among others.

 We enjoy the traditional Thanksgiving fare including turkey, stuffing and cranberry relish, served each year with a new culinary twist.  In addition we learn all kinds of interesting expert tips.

Chef Rachelle recommends the “butterfly method”  where she actually spreads the turkey, breast down for cooking.  This is so that the white meat retains moisture.Perhaps the most impressive take away this year was learning about the combi-steam oven.   You know I tout the induction cooktop as the future of cooking, now you can pair that with the combi-steam oven.  This gem combines steam cooking with a convection browning/roasting function.Everyone knows you can steam vegetables to retain flavor, nutrients and moistness but you can also reheat pizza in this bad boy!! Yes, and you will enjoy a crispy perfectly browned crust.  The 14lb turkey at the top of this post was cooked entirely in a Thermador Combi-Steam Oven.  It was steamed for one hour and 15 minutes followed by 30 minutes on browning mode (no basting needed) and voila'!Commercial combi ovens have been used for years in the restaurant industry.  Now the same technology is available for your kitchen.  In addition to Thermador, you can get your combi oven from Miele or Wolf.  Bosch makes one too but it's not available in the US :(If you're eager to sample the benefits of steam convection cooking but don't have the space or funds to invest in the high end brands, you're in luck.  Williams- Sonoma sells a smaller counter top model for around $300.  It looks small but can hold a whole 5lb chicken or 12" pizza. Next up:  Is your kitchen tired, decrepit and outdated?  You can refresh, renew and update without reinventing the wheel.

Royalty, New Beginnings and What's Going on in the Kitchen?

It’s Monday and a  little diversion is in order.  How about a bit of fun with the Royal Family? Little Prince Georgie isn’t the only new thing in the lives of Kate and Will.  They've just moved into new digs as well, Apartment 1A Kensington Palace to be exact. According to our friends at US Weekly, Kate’s been working on a massive renovation for the last 18 months or so, to the tune of one million pounds paid by taxpayers with another 500K, or so,  paid for by Will and Kate.    The update is said to include his and her baths as well as three state of the art kitchens! Kate gets to peruse the antiques in the Royal Collection for her new home.  According to British news source The Daily Mail, Kate’s design selections are quintessentially English in sophisticated neutral shades but with a modern twist. Interesting to note that Kate has not availed herself of the services of a design professional and is overseeing the entire project (with the aid of her “small” staff) herself.Kitchens for Living wonders what exactly you might find The Royals doing in the kitchen.  Well I don’t know what "the palace" will be like but whilst in their last cozy house in Anglesey, Wales they were known to make lots of tea and toast.  Apparently Kate does know her way around the heart of the home and prepares an awesome roast chicken as well.  She’s also fond of preparing her own jams. If you’re English and nothing but the best will do for your new kitchen head over to the area in and around Wigmore St. located in the exclusive West End London area.  It is here that  you will find the finest of British bespoke (custom) cabinetry including Roundhouse, Neville Johnson, Boffi  Bulthaup and more.  If you're in sunny South Florida like me you can still get your English on at Brendan Donovan Furniture & Cabinet Co. (Ok I know he's Irish but he does English really well!)Let us help you with your own bespoke cabinetry... 

Five Kitchen Myth Busters!

It’s recently occurred to me that many of my clients come to me with certain beliefs that aren’t actually true, or perhaps are only partially correct.  We’ve put our heads together here at Brendan Donovan Furniture & Cabinet Co. to set the record straight.

1)      MANUFACTURED CABINETS ARE ALWAYS CHEAPER THAN CUSTOMAgain this is frequently true but here’s the thing to consider, manufactured cabinets are made on an assembly line that is set up for speed and efficiency.  Once you specify a custom size or detail you slow down and complicate the whole process.  Companies charge more for that, sometimes a lot more, and that is only if they are able to accommodate what you want.  So the rule of thumb is, the more custom your needs, the more cost effective custom cabinets become.  The kitchen above had so much custom sizing and detail it was actually a better deal for the homeowner to have us make it in the shop.  A custom cabinet maker should not nickel and dime you for small tweaks and if a painted finish is your choice you can pretty much pick whatever you like with no custom color charge. 2)      REFACING IS A QUICK FIX THAT COSTS LESS THAN REPLACING YOUR EXISTING CABINETSThis may not necessarily be true!  The question I always ask is, are you replacing your counter tops too?  If you are, I’m willing to bet you can replace  your cabinets  for very close to the same price it would cost you to reface them.  In a reface you typically would get new cabinet doors with hinges and drawer fronts.  The drawers themselves do not get replaced and you will remain with the exact same layout you started with.  Another thing to consider is whether your cabinets currently have frames around them or do the doors cover  the entire cabinet?  If you’ve got frames, things get a little more complex and labor intensive.  Bottom line is there are so many decent all wood cabinets available today you may be able to score a better plan with new everything for close to the same price.  All things considered, a reface for the laundry room above (before) and below (after) ended up being slightly cheaper because they would have needed custom sizing to replace. 3)      DRAWERS MUST BE DOVETAILED!Dovetailed drawers are great, don’t get me wrong, but what you may not know is that a glue dadoed joint will more than do the trick and is as strong as any kitchen drawer needs to be.  What you should be looking for is good quality slides.  It’s the moving parts that will get all the wear and tear over time.  It has pretty much become an industry standard, in all price points, for drawers to be full extension with a soft close feature. 4)      SIZE MATTERSWe’re talking cabinet sizes.  If you go from a 36” wide cabinet to a 30” you are not going to save more than a few dollars.  The way to get the price down is to decrease the number of cabinet boxes.  You may think you have a small kitchen but if you have 20 boxes when you could have 12 larger boxes instead you’ll  be spending a lot more. In this case perhaps 50%.  Bear in mind that the price of installation is usually based on the amount of cabinet boxes.  Last but not least, drawers and rollouts will up your price so plan wisely. 5)      HGTV IS A GOOD BASIS FOR CALCULATING MY BUDGETWRONG! I love HGTV as much as the next person but they are so off in their pricing.   Having worked with This Old House, I do know that suppliers extend deep discounts when their products are being shown on TV.  Another thing to remember is that pricing can vary for certain items in different parts of the country and a lot of the shows we see on HGTV are filmed in Canada.     Granite is typically cheaper for us in Florida than say Michigan because we are so close to the port of entry we save on shipping costs.  So watch for inspiration not cost calculation!Ok, pros, weigh in.  What myths do you encounter and do you agree with these?

Kitchen Case Study: Update and Integrate

  One of the perks (not twerks) of my job is that I get to work in lovely homes on the beach.  If I'm having a "design panic moment" all I have to do is look out the window at the ocean and all is well.  This townhouse project came to me as a referral and is actually a winter home on the ocean in Delray Beach.  This homeowner is a potter with a keen eye for design and finishes.The kitchen was outdated and not very  functional.  My client enjoys cooking and entertaining and was seeking  to integrate her open kitchen with the stylish and artful adjacent dining and living room.My first thought was that even though we would lose cabinets, the soffit structure had to go.  We could make up that loss of storage by going higher with the cabinets and by adding a tall cabinet to the left of the refrigerator. I wanted to open up the space yet ensure that it was integrated with adjoining areas.  The ceiling is so high we were able to increase the height of the cabinets without having to go all the way up which would have disrupted the existing crown molding.   We also gained storage by adding the two end cabinets on either side of the seating area.  The cabinet to the counter is also great storage and the open shelving to the right was included to showcase some of my client's pottery pieces.  Scroll down to see the solution.

 We used a warm stained bamboo with a subtle blue-green tint for the cabinetry.  The back wall is aqua glass tiles to reflect the ocean.  There is a pantry with touch latches to the left of the built-in refrigerator.  An appliance garage conceals toaster oven to the right of the sink and open shelves feature my clients beautiful pottery creations.

My design was custom built by Brendan Donovan Furniture & Cabinet Co.  Cabinet  hardware is Top Knobs Sanctuary Collection in German Bronze. Refrigerator is Subzero with flush installation.  The rest of the appliances are by Jenn Air.  For this project we selected the Blanco Quatrus medium single sink  because it fit the space as well as the styling of the kitchen so well.  The faucet is Blanco Kontrole.  Again this stylish Blanco faucet provided the look and pull out functionality we needed. In addition,  the scale was appropriate for the space.  Counter tops are  grey granite from Cavastone fabricated by Stone Palace.  They feature a contemporary "waterfall" detail at the end of the peninsula.All in all I would say mission accomplish and my clients agree!