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24
Apr

#Julia, eat your heart out…I’m cooking again!

  1. Cooking was NOT my mother’s thing so 
  2. …she taught my sister and I how to whip up a meal.
  3. Honestly, my sister was “the kitchen queen” but
  4. I did my best to reach her standard of excellence!
  5. This is a great photo I wanted to share…
  6. …love receiving cookbooks from my friend Kathy.
  7. Kathy continues to inspire me when I get in the “no cooking mood”.

 

  1. Finally the “dust has literally settled” in my house.
  2. Time to  search for some cookbooks to use in the coming weeks.

 

  1. Sunday brunch and I could not cook without
  2. “mother’s little helper”, Jerry.
  3. I have to be careful because yesterday he jumped on the induction unit
  4. ..while I was cooking!
  5. Scared the bejesus out of me.

 

 

 

 

22
Apr

#Kitchen 22 April 2023 FINI!

Paint Guy!

  1. Painters are very hard to come by  during Spring and Summer.
  2. Luckily “Patrick” had an opening for a 1,5 to put the finishing touches on the kitchen.
  3. Then it took me two days just to let this whole remodelling experience sink in.
  4. 29 March I mentioned in passing to my ‘toolman” I’d like to remodel this room.
  5. 9 work days + 1,5 hr painter later  and the job was done!! (20 April)
  6. There were moments of frustrations: cooking out doors and washing plates in a bucket.
  7. Easter weekend (we have 3 days) – Good Friday, Holy Saturday, 1e Easter Sunday and 2e Easter Monday.
  8. That was an extended wait….and no progress was made on the kitchen.
  9. I just ate about 50 mini choc Easter eggs as comfort food.

Before:

 

After:

Here are the photos of my new kitchen!

 

 

This is a ladder for the cats so they can sit on their special place and watch me cook!

 

 

  1. Many thanks to my  “toolman” Bert for all the hard work he has done.
  2. Dutch:    Mijn dank is verpletterend!
  3. We celebrated with coffee and cake!

 

 

19
Apr

#Kitchen 19 April 2023

TWO WEEKS AGO

 

Update:

  1. Well I did give it a chance!
  2. Appliances included  in my “kitchen deal” were not the BEST quality
  3. …but my toolman convinced me to at least try them.
  4. Fridge and dishwasher are just fine…no complex technical appliances.
  5. But my old oven (Siemens) is a real gem and I did not want to trade it in for an other brand.
  6. So we installed it straightaway and I gave the other oven to the toolman.
  7. Perhaps he knows somebody who can use it.

 

  1. My microwave …we moved it out of the kitchen (took up too much cabinet space.
  2. It is a very handy appliance that I wanted to keep….but where?
  3. We moved it into a washing machine facility area…and it works perfectly!

 

  1. Now the induction cooking top…..that is a whole other ball game.
  2. Firstly, advice: if you go “induction” do not skimp on quality! 
  3. I always say…”Go German”. Brands like Bosch and Siemens are top-of-the- line.
  4. The original induction included in “my kitchen deal” ….was defect! I was livid!
  5. I appears the kitchen showroom had installed this cooktop that DID NOT  work…
  6. ..and DID NOT tell me. They forgot to switch the cooktop with one that did work.
  7. Again…I was livid. This slowed the whole remodelling project for a week.
  8. I told the “sales person” he could keep his cooktop…never going to buy from him again.
  9. So, I jumped on the internet…ordered the PERFECT Bosch induction unit (..which I 
  10. originally wanted anyway)..it arrived 24 hours later…and the toolman had it installed in 10 minutes.
  11. Still exhausted…any kitchen remodelling in 2 weeks was an illusion
  12. …lesson learned.
  13. There are always SNAFU’s along the way.

 

Defect unit: – ALWAYS take pictures to prove that the unit is correctly installed. (…I’m still livid!)

 

New Bosch induction unit:

 

It works!

 

My old dependable microwave…love it!

 

Time to finish some paint work…

 

Beauty…black granite  Reginox sink!

 

Did you know you have to “seal” the black granite sink regularly to protect it from stains etc?

16
Apr

#Kitchen 16 April 2023

Update:

  1. This is my first “peaceful” breakfast in two weeks.
  2. I relished the thought of finally…..after 30 years
  3. …I got around to remodelling my kitchen.
  4. There was always something more important: refurbish bathrooms,
  5. double glazed windows, gardens, roof
  6. …rain gutters new floors. You name it.
  7. It all took precedent to my favourite place, the kitchen.
  8. Now it is almost finished.
  9. I will take a photo of  the NEW kitchen  soon!  There still is some paint work
  10. …to do and the induction cooking unit will be linked to the new electric cables tomorrow.
  11. Fingers crossed it will all goes well.
  12. Luckily induction ONLY works if a pan is  on it….not a cat!

Bad news:

  1. During the last two weeks I’ve survived on bread, jam,
  2. …cookies, soup and a few meals in the microwave.
  3. Not my idea of “haute cuisine”.
  4. No time for biking to burn of calories… daily serving the “tool men” coffee and cake
  5. …I must have gained 5 lbs in 14 days!
  6. I treated myself to a “egg cooker” (WMF) b/c I had no way to boil water.
  7. It works perfectly. I have perfect soft-boiled eggs cooked in 1 TB of water
  8. …instead of a pan with 1 litre water!

 

Good news:

  1. Having the house turned upside down
  2. …was the BEST trigger for Spring Cleaning!
  3. Yesterday I was out of control….cleaned EVERYTHING…even under the bed!
  4. 10 AM – 10 PM: floors,  windows, clean sheets on bed, two bathrooms sparkling clean,
  5. loads of laundry…groceries, test the new dishwasher.
  6. Toolman forgot to turn on water faucet leading to the machine.
  7. I didn’t hear the  washer “gurgle” with water so I quickly fixed the problem.
  8. My back was killing me last night and  had a…
  9. nasty cut on my thumb that is still pulsing as I type.
  10. I made an executive decision:
  11. I need a second vacuum cleaner
  12. …so I can leave one UPSTAIRS and one DOWNSTAIRS.
  13. Lugging that thing around the house was exhausting.
  14. UPDATE: Sunday, 4 PM…literally falling asleep in my reading
  15. …chair in front of TV.

 

Coffee:

  1. Time to get back to other things: watch a movie and …relax.
  2. I hear my coffee machine just
  3. …turned on automatically and is making me coffee!
  4. I finally figured out how to program it.
  5. I’ve finished the last 3 chapters in a book I started in March….and since then
  6. have not read a word.

 

Too tired to toss a salad together…now that is tired!

Dinner….

Have a good Sunday!

11
Apr

#Kitchen 11 April 2023

Update:

  1. It was a long…dreary Easter weekend.
  2. Sometimes you say: “I don’t feel like cooking dinner tonight…”
  3. I would say: “I WANT to cook breakfast, lunch and dinner but I can’t”.
  4. Living like this without a kitchen…doing dishes in a bucket
  5. …cooking potatoes in microwave that taste like rubber
  6. is depressing.
  7. But today we have made some progress.
  8. The new kitchen is sitting in my front room and I had to
  9. go upstairs all day while the tool man got to work.
  10. He promised I would have a kitchen by this Friday, maybe Thursday.
  11. Fingers crossed.

 

No room to sit anywhere!

This is the color!

Apothecary cabinet section

50% done….

 

Jerry’s new playground!

8
Apr

#Kitchen 08 April 2023

 

Update:

  1. This is not the kitchen I envisioned for Easter weekend.
  2. After 3 intense days of  remodeling, screeching sawing machines
  3. …the tool man has decided to install the new kitchen AFTER Easter.
  4. So when you get lemons…make lemonade.
  5. I did some grocery shopping yesterday and as an enthusiastic cook
  6. …I was forced to go to the “microwave” meals section.
  7. Desperate for some warm food I did manage to make scrambled eggs 
  8. …and steam some potatoes in the microwave. 
  9. So, Easter Sunday will be buttermilk pancakes
  10. …(have some in the freezer) with maple syrup 
  11. …and a large Salade Nicoise with tuna in a can,
  12. …some olives, cherry tomatoes and arugula + dressing.
  13. I did splurge on a 2 pound bag of chocolate easter eggs. 
  14. If I get depressed …then I just eat a few of them.
  15. Happy Easter…everybody, enjoy your
  16. …Bourbon Glazed Ham + steamed asparagus with lemon butter!
6
Apr

#Kitchen 06 April 2023

Update:

  1. Another exhausting day trying to keep 2 cats from escaping out the front door
  2. …while the tool man comes and goes.
  3. Today was the “prep”  day…making sure a good wooden wall is installed
  4. …to support the kitchen cabinets etc when they are installed.
  5. All the wires, electrical sockets and pipe installed for the extractor hood
  6. …above the induction cooking plate…done.
  7. Cooked meals in the microwave (baked potato, green beans, heated up meatballs)
  8. …but I am missing a kitchen so much. 
  9. I forgot to make a pan of soup to freeze in portions for meals. Lesson learned.
  10. Looks like this will be a “no cook” Easter weekend…but I will stock up 
  11. …on chocolate Easter eggs to comfort myself.
  12. Kitchen arrives tomorrow so my front room will be filled with cabinets and appliances.
  13. If all goes well installation will be on Monday…and hopefully Tuesday fully operational.
  14. Start – Finish = 1 week! Amazing.
  15. Here is a recap of progress made:

 

Day 1:

 

Day 2:

 

Day 3:

 

Day 4: 

 

Day 5:

 

Day 6:

 

 

4
Apr

#Kitchen 04 April 2023

Update:

  1. I was so exhausted after cleaning out the kitchen
  2. …that I pulled out my sleeping bag and feel literally asleep in my clothes!
  3. Exhausted!
  4. On nights like these the cats are jubilant b/c they can go an sleep anywhere.
  5. Unfortunaley Ben (cat) decided he wanted to play at 01:45 am.
  6. Toolman was right on time.  In just 6 hours he tore out the kitchen
  7. …put everything on his “builder’s trailer”
  8. …and prepared the electrical wires for all the new kitchen cooking equipment
  9. …and managed to find a person who would take the old fridge and dishwasher off my hands!
  10. So day 1 is done and tomorrow
  11. …the electrical sockets will be placed, water drainage for dishwasher and sink
  12. …and will probably have to adjust a cabinet to make room for my microwave.
  13. Luckily my microwave could be used tonight and was glad I had a portion of
  14. spaghetti and meatballs in the freezer for dinner.
  15. I needed something warm to eat.
  16. Now time to do the dishes in the backyard!

 

 

 

 

 

3
Apr

#Kitchen 03 April 2023

  1. Tomorrow is the big day….kitchen will be ripped out.
  2. One last breakfast before the toolman arrives at 08:30 AM.
  3. Who knew how much junk I had in these cabinets.
  4. The cats are all upset…they think we’re moving.
  5. UPDATE: It took me 8 hours to clean out all cabinets
  6. …sort out what I wanted to throw away…+ bring the 
  7. …rest packed in boxes upstairs.
  8. I’m exhausted.

1
Apr

#2023 April Reading List

Spring in The Netherlands

 

  1. Update: 01.04.2023
  2. Lowering my reading expectations in the coming weeks.
  3. I’ve only selected 10 books
  4. ….but have no illusions that I’ll read them all!
  5. On Monday my kitchen will be ripped out and the preparations
  6. …for a new kitchen will be  done.
  7. I’m switching from gas cooking to induction.
  8. An induction stove requires a dedicated 220-volt outlet protected by 40-50 amp breakers.
  9. So I need to  install high-capacity wiring in the kitchen.
  10. Once the remodelling is done….then I can relax and pick up a book.

 

 

  1. Do Not Disturb  – M. Wrong, 2021 (Rwanda) (NF)  – READ  – no review…just too busy at the moment!
  2. Floaters –  Martin Espada  – (Nat Book Award 2021) poetry 
  3. If Walls Could Speak – Moshe Safdie, 2022 – (NF)
  4. Diary of a Young Naturalist – Dara McAnulty England (#WorldFromMyArmchair)
  5. Solito: A Memoir – Javier Zamora (Mexico) – Kindle

 

 

  1. French Reading Challenge:
  2. Miroir de nos peines – Pierre Lemaitre, 2020 (novel)
  3.  Sovjetistan – Erika Fatland  Turkmenistan (#WorldFromMyArmchair)
  4. Les mains du miracle – Joseph Kessel, 1960 (nonfiction) – READING
  5. L’amant – Marguerite Duras (classic)
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