Happy 80th Mom!

Happy 80th Birthday Mom! Also greetings to my Dad! This amazing couple will also be celebrating their 55th wedding anniversary this summer. They set the standards high for us amateurs.

This photo was taken last summer, when Elizabeth got to go fishing for the first time.

Another project

Two cuties....

The puppy pile at three weeks old.
Waking up for supper!Room for one more???

The ten pups are currently three weeks old. We'll be picking a female out of this group. They are very light-colored yellow labs, almost white.

Mango Cream Pie

I'm enjoying having access to all the kitchen gadgets that I've accumulated.
Simple things, like a blender and a pie plate, and an oven.
Oddities that I may never use -- tins to make your own taco salad shells, cannoli or sandbakkel. Dividers to make a checkerboard cake. A square angel food cake pan. It goes on and on...
I'm actually cooking from recipes again, and it's fun!

I made this when my parents visited recently. I combined a few different recipes, and have noted changes at the end that I'd do if I make it again.

Mango Cream Pie

Crust:
10 lowfat graham crackers, crushed
2 T sugar
3 T butter, melted (substitute lowfat if you have it)
dash cinnamon
Place in 9-10" pie plate and press into a crust. Bake 375 for 7 minutes.

Filling:
1 c sugar
1/4 c cornstarch
1/4 t salt
2 1/2 c ripe mango (reserve 1/2 c) - I cut up three, and it was pretty close
3 egg yolks
8 oz "less fat" cream cheese
1/2 c reduced fat sour cream
1 T lime juice
lime zest

In blender or food processer, place 2 c mango, cream cheese, and sour cream. Blend until smooth.
In heavy saucepan, stir together sugar, cornstarch and salt. Stir in mango mixture.
Cook and stir over medium heat until thickened and bubbly. Then cook and stir 2 minutes more. Remove from heat.
Stir 1 cup of hot mixture into the egg yolk. Return to saucepan and bring mixture to a gentle boil, stirring constantly. Cook and stir for 2 minutes more. Remove from heat.
Stir in lime juice, lime zest, and 1/2 c reserved mango, chopped fine. Pour onto crust.

Cool on wire rack for 1 hour.
Cover and chill for at least 4 hours.
Garnish with fresh raspberries.

Notes
The recipe above is as I made it -- put together from several recipes I looked at. I mixed lime zest in at the same time as the lime juice. I wouldn't do this again. The green flecks were a little weird! I might use it as a garnish on top... maybe.
If I do it again, I'd probably stir in more chunky mango at the end for texture.

Garnish ideas:
If your family is into Cool Whip, you could easily top the whole pie with that.
Fresh blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, mango.

Shelves and sinks...

The garage has been converted to a finishing area. MANY shelves for the cabinets...

Waiting patiently for water and drain.

... and garbage chewage.

Always a comedian...

Always a comedian. She was all ready for school, including her shoes... then she stepped into Daddy's work boots and started clomping around the house.

Sneak peek...

The faucets aren't in yet, but they are scheduled for installation on Friday. So, here's a sneak peek!

One last "before" shot.
The slabs on the truck.
I think they did the "light" piece first.

Probably almost as much counterspace as my old kitchen had...
The stove had to come out so the corner piece could go in.

There are counters on both sides of the fridge now. Another huge improvement.

The project only has one seam.

More to come, AFTER the plumbing is in.

Cranky...

OK, tomorrow is one week since the countertops have been installed. I should be happy, right? The countertops are amazing, but we still have no kitchen plumbing.

Our faucet is on back-order, and the salesperson wasn't in today. We ordered these a LONG time ago, and found out about the back order a couple months ago. At that time, I found them online, cheaper, but we'd already ordered and they were figured into the plumber's portion of the bill.

So, no countertop photos until I have water that comes out of a tap in the kitchen and flows into a drain directly beneath it. It does not count that water comes out of the fridge and can be heaved out the patio door.

Good night.

Anticipation!

Tuesday is countertop day, so here's a last look around before the tops go on.

These boards are being used for shelving and drawer boxes. I hear they have a real attitude. Too bad we didn't design something with a curve?

More lighting!

Last week the electrician came back and finished up. He installed the under-cabinet lights...

...and added the outlets on the peninsula and for the dishwasher. On the riser section in the picture below, you can see slots cut for reinforcement for the "high" counter. We got word today that our countertops will be installed next Tuesday!

Since this post is mostly about lighting, I'll leave you with this picture Mick took from our front step. Happy Easter to all!

Measuring up...

The countertops were measured yesterday. That means countertops and sink soon!

The fabricator used thin plastic to make templates of all the counter areas. Mick got to make a lot of decisions about overhangs, corners, faucet placement and edging around the sink. So exciting...

Building a tower, too!

Mick took on a side project -- tower construction!

Elizabeth helped with the hole for the floor sweep vac-pan.
The vac pan is in. The toe-kick is walnut.

The last cabinet to be built is the tall one that faces the dining room.The face frame.Putting it all together.

Using a jig to set the drawer glides for a drawer stack.

Next up: Elegant Stone Products will be here tomorrow to do the final measurements for the countertops.


Edited to add: I missed this photo in a previous post. She's a ham, through and through.

One complicated cabinet!

The end panel of the peninsula is complicated! The top is on the left, bottom on the right.

The panel pieces are fitted, except for the walnut toe-kick board. The third row from the bottom has a notch out because the counter height changes from standard to a raised section to hide the counters from the dining room.
Clamps rule!

Detail shot for the how-to crew. This is the "inside" view of the panel, where the height changes.

Further complicated by the angled corner on the front!

Assembled view!

The second week of March...

The cabinet above the fridge has the boiled linseed oil applied. The one to the left does not. The oil really warms the color of the cabinets, but still keeps them natural looking.

Mick used a small cabinet that will go in the peninsula to help raise and hold the large upper cabinet to the right of the fridge. The right back edge of this one is exposed, so there was some scribing and fitting to get it fitted to the wall.

Here's the real bottom cabinet for that space, and a view looking down the entire west wall.

The west wall from the other end.

The first week of March...

Elizabeth and Andrea went to Grandma and Poppa's house and Mick got out the clamps to assemble this complicated cabinet.

Much better! It's not installed, but it's ready to go.

Meanwhile, back at the stair corner, this cabinet got a lot of reinforcement to hold the granite countertop in front and the large upper cabinet in back.

Here's the monster upper!

Our neighbor Mary has been teaching Elizabeth to ski. This is their second outing. I think she's catching on!