Tag: Kitchen

Taco Tuesday is Great and All, But…

This post is sponsored by Blue Apron. If you’d like to give it a try, you can get your own first box with 3 free meals when you sign up here!

Brandon does the cooking for us just about every night. He also does the grocery shopping. And he’s great at it!

Alas, I am no help at all when it comes to meal planning.

I wish I was someone who knew how to take some garlic, tomatoes, and whatever else and turn it into something new and inventive, but I’m not. Neither of us are. It’s easy to put things on autopilot when we’re busy and we cook the same meals over and over.

We love Blue Apron because it gets us out of our dinner rut, especially during busy times like the holiday season. Everything can be made in 40 minutes or less, each menu is between 500-800 calories per person, and you get all the fresh ingredients you need in exactly the right proportions. If you don’t need a week, skip it. (You can skip or cancel at any time.)

And ahem… New Year’s resolutions, anyone? More cooking at home. Healthier meals. Check and check.

Sometimes the recipes are for meals that are completely new to us, and sometimes they’re reminders to make something we’ve had before that sort of fell out of the rotation. Like a couple of weeks ago, one of our dinners was pork chops and yellow tomato sauce, with roasted potatoes and broccoli.

Broccoli is one of my favorites, but we had gotten into the habit of either eating it raw with a dip or steaming it. Why had we not been roasting our broccoli lately? It’s so easy to make, but so good!

The broccoli and potatoes were both supporting players to the main dish, the pork chops. Tasty! I think the tomatoes that went on top would be equally good on chicken (look at me, sort of experimenting). It was a new dish for our family, but nothing so out there that the kids would balk.

Speaking of the kids… We’re a family of 5, and we’ve gone with both types of plans (2-Person or Family Plan). I’m sure my kids’ appetites will increase as they get bigger, but for now we can get away with the 2-Person plan if Brandon and I each share a little of our portions, or the Family Plan which usually leaves us with leftovers.

You can see what’s coming up weeks in advance. Blue Apron is always adding new dishes to the menu every week, and you can choose any combination of recipes for each delivery. Instead of the old standby ‘Taco Tuesday’ (great but predictable), we might look forward to ‘spicy honey-lime chicken tostadas‘ or ‘mushroom & potato tacos with avocado & cara cara orange salad.’

See? We wouldn’t think to plan those dinners, but we would all sure want to eat them! Yum. The variety of recipes is what I love about Blue Apron the most.

p.s. Yes, the first 50 readers to take advantage of this offer will get 3 meals free in their first Blue Apron order! Just click here to visit Blue Apron.

December 5, 2017
Retro Refrigerators and Mini Fridges

There are a whole lot of fridges on the market right now if you’re into the mid-century modern look for appliances. I was at a housewares trade show over the weekend and there’s a cute new model coming out soon by Daewoo, and one from Nostalgia that looks like a Smeg at half the price (but without a freezer compartment). Keep an eye out for those to hit the market in months to come.

There are more brands and options in Europe and elsewhere, but America tends to like our fridges BIG, so there aren’t as many cute refrigerators here on the small side. I did round up what’s readily available though, below!

Each of these comes in other colors, but red was a constant across all brands. There are itty bitty models that hold a few drinks, like the ones by Uber Appliance, Igloo, and Tectron. There’s the slightly larger cube-shaped countertop model by Igloo that also comes in a pretty coral color (er, ahem, Millennial Pink), and options from Smeg, Daewoo, Danby, and Nostalgia. And if you’re looking for a larger refrigerator, look to Smeg, Big Chill, and Elmira Stove Work’s Northstar (at least until those other models mentioned above hit stores).

March 21, 2017
Getting Rid of Things

Guys, what do I do with this metal cabinet? It’s really not in good shape. The doors don’t close properly and the area below the sink is super gross. I’m inclined to put it in the alley in hopes that a scrapper will take it (which is likely).

I’m working away on the rest of the space, coming up with a plan, turning it into a bigger project than I originally intended. You know. As one does. And I’m making progress with all of the stuff, though I didn’t get as far as I’d hoped.

I should list some of it on eBay, but I’m hesitant. I’m thinking specifically of my Gocco machine with screens, bulbs, and tons of ink. Or the three button-making machines and assorted button and magnet supplies. I sold or gave away a ton of paper, envelopes, and cello sleeves when we moved, but I kept a lot of the equipment. In part, it’s because I remember how expensive it all was (who’s going to buy this thing?), and in part because my shop was a huge part of my life. So I hold on to them.

But those shelves? Those can go once they’re cleared off. Eff those things.

July 5, 2016
Thoughts on Replacing our Antique Stove
Thank you for all of your opinions and feedback. I had been pursuing more general sponsored opportunities lately, which is where my budget for the kitchen is coming from (plus I can’t pay my mortgage in fridges and faucets). Responses to last week’s post varied, as I knew they would, but I was surprised by the overall support in favor of integrating sponsored product.

I was going to hold off on introducing the kitchen redo until plans were more firmly in place, but it could be interesting to take you along for the full ride, yes? I have a tendency to waffle (um, not that you’ve noticed I’m sure) and so I was going to try to hold off on talking about all of this until I was further past the wishy-washy making up my mind stage. But let’s dive in!

First, some context.

We redid the kitchen in our last house for $11,000. That was in 2007, so prices would be a little higher today ($12,660 according to an inflation calculator), but that total covered IKEA cabinets ($1700), quartz counters ($2300), a 30″ stove ($2000) and a 36″ fridge ($1200), a dishwasher ($700), sink (free with the countertop), faucet ($700), lighting ($350), tile ($100), hardware, paint, fabric, and the labor we had to hire for electrical work. People sometimes see a price tag, like $700 alone on a faucet, and get scared off but the overall price for the kitchen was completely reasonable. I remember seeing a $44K makeover on HGTV and feeling pretty good about having pulled off a very similar design for 1/4 the cost.

Five years later, I painted the walls and trim white for an updated look and I fell for the kitchen all over again.

And then we get here, and hello, antique stove! It was a little intimidating, and it took a lot of getting used to. The pilot light is always on, half of it is unusable because it is wood-burning and not vented, there are four gas burners in a 17″ wide space, and the oven is a tiny 18″ wide by 11″ tall with an open flame at the bottom, a hot-to-the-touch oven door, and no temperature regulation. It’s not something I would have ever chosen. But it’s almost a hundred years old, it works the way it’s supposed to and it is definitely unique.

Our 1918 Cast Iron Wood-Burning and Gas Stove from Nicole Balch on Vimeo.

Now that I’ve totally sold you on the wonders of this beauty, who wants to buy it? Anyone? ;)

Yeah. I had wanted a colorful appliance for years — it just worked out a little differently than I thought it would. And I’m the one that has been holding out on replacing it! The stove’s quirk charmed me, but Brandon was down to get rid of the stove from day one. He likes to cook, I like to bake. We can’t do either with the ease we were used to, and simple tasks like boiling water take forever. Eleanor is showing a lot of interest in baking lately, and I would love to be able to do that with her — safely and reliably — in something from this century. Replacing it with a stove like the one we put in our old house (which we were happy with) would seem out of place here, but it is time to find something that will work for us.

We did our last kitchen for $11,000, and there are ranges out there that would eat up that entire budget. We should have at least $10K for this kitchen, maybe as much as $15K, but we need to finish up the electrical work in the house and see where our budget is at. I’ll also be looking to partner with brands on certain aspects of the kitchen, but I’m not sure if the range will be one of them or not. Because of the blog, I have been offered full suites of appliances in the past from more than one brand, but they either came at a time when I wasn’t ready to work on the kitchen, or they weren’t a good fit, like the 50s-inspired line that was very cute but not right for this house. (I wanted to give them away and work them into a kitchen for someone else, but they were only available in exchange for placement in my own home.) So I’m looking at the decision here assuming we are paying for appliances, and if that changes then we’ll have more room in the budget to put toward other things.

Some thoughts on what we are (and are not) looking for…
- Probably 36-44″ wide. This automatically puts it at a higher price point, but we aren’t changing the layout of the kitchen, and that is the space we’re working with. A smaller range would be out of proportion. There is another option, which would be choosing a standard 30″ stove and then replacing the 32″ fridge with a wider model or adding a very narrow cabinet or cart, but do we want to do that? I don’t think so, but I can’t say with 100% certainty yet. We’re not in love with the fridge and replacing it is tempting, but the focus and pressing need here is on the stove.
- Old stoves by Chambers or O’Keefe and Merritt are fabulous workhorses that can still be found relatively affordably. They cook well and look great. After two years on an antique stove though, I’m not looking for something vintage.
- I’m not looking for a reproduction antique or vintage style either, but I am drawn to European ranges. Aga, La Cornue and CornuFé, Lacanche, Bertazonni Heritage, Ilve, Molteni… they’re all beautiful. Some are completely out of reach, but not all of them. I also like that they often come in 40-44″ widths (our antique stove is 44″ wide), and have multiple ovens. I complain about the size of ours, but if we had more than one it wouldn’t be such an issue.
- A professional-style range could be great too though! Stainless steel, modern commercial looks with a big oven and big, beefy knobs (red or otherwise), and powerful burners. Old kitchens with new ranges are appealing, and I hear they come with fancy features like a light in the oven and a self-cleaning mode. Imagine that! Modern times, friends.
- Gas burners or an induction cooktop. No strong preference on the oven. Given the choice, I’d go with electric, but in the past we have had gas, electric, and convection and been fine with all of them.
- Five or six burners, including one that does not take 30 minutes to bring a pot of water to boil (which sadly, is what we’re dealing with). Should be fairly easy to find in the widths we’re looking at.
- Not from 1918.
August 4, 2015
Finding the Balance Between Sponsored and Not

I had something else planned to share today, but in light of recent comments (which were polite and respectful, thank you), I want to let you in on my thought process with a big upcoming project. And I would love your feedback.

Our home had more pressing issues to tend to before we got to the kitchen. We addressed the heating system, remodeled the second floor and turned a superfluous kitchen into a bedroom (Calvin’s nursery), consolidated the multiple gas lines and accounts into one and did the same with our electrical service (in addition to rewiring everything).

There is a room off the back of the kitchen, a former sleeping porch, that would be wonderful to open up and incorporate. Direct access to the yard! Breakfast for the kids in an eat-in kitchen! The ability to not have our stove right next to the fridge! It requires opening a load-bearing wall though, and new flooring, new cabinetry, the works. It’s a maybe someday type of project, and it’s not something that we’re looking to do right now. The kitchen works well for us overall as it is — we have plenty of storage, the cabinets have some quirks but they’re fine, and we do at least have the modern convenience of a dishwasher.

That antique gas/wood-burning stove, though! I’ve been hesitant to get rid of the it because I have a love/hate thing going on, but it’s time. We’re a family of five now, we cook dinner every night, and the stove makes it harder than it needs to be. We’ll be selling it eventually and I’m sure it will have many more useful years ahead of it, but we’re ready for something else.

We’ve also had some electrical problems that are driving a redo. There is a sconce, a ceiling fan, and three pendant lights in the kitchen. The light above the stove sparked and burned a light bulb in Brandon’s hand as he was changing it out one day, which was more than a little scary. In an unrelated event (I think), we mysteriously lost power to a portion of the second floor. While our electricians were fixing that problem, they found active knob and tube that was missed during our initial house inspection, and thus began the rewiring of the entire place. The bulk of the job is done now, but it was suggested that we wait to finish the rest when we didn’t have a newborn. We agreed and then we were waiting until after we hosted my sister’s bridal shower in the house (which I will share next week), and now we’ll be able to get back to it as soon as we can get back on the electricians’ schedule. A ceiling is coming down, walls are being opened, and the house is going to be in a state of chaos for a while, but I’m looking forward to getting this work done because it has been holding other projects back.

In the meantime, we had the faulty kitchen pendant rewired and thought all was well, but then I was changing a bulb recently in the pendant above the sink and the same thing happened. The sparks were pretty spectacular! So now we aren’t sure if the problem lies in the house’s wiring (the kitchen has not been done yet), the vintage lighting fixtures, or both. The problem will be investigated, and I’m hoping it can be fixed without destroying the tin ceiling.

So. New stove. Rewiring or replacing the lights. While we’re at it, I would also like to put in new counters, swap out the sink and faucet, remove the wallpaper, paint or put up new paper, and add ventilation with a range hood. Maybe paint the cabinets, bring in some tile, and revamp or replace the kitchen island too. I’m in the early stages of planning everything right now, but the crazy thing is that (to be perfectly honest) the blog puts me in a position to do much of the room for free.

The business of blogging is always changing and those of us that have been doing this for a long time are always adapting, and I’ve addressed the topic of sponsorship before. I teach, I write elsewhere, and I cobble together a living from other opportunities, but the primary source of my income is sponsor-driven and has been for many years. I’m not sure what our budget for the kitchen will be yet, but let’s say I can set aside $10,000. We will likely hire someone to put in the ventilation and there will be some repairs needed after the electricians do their thing (the extent of which will determine whether we DIY or hire out), so those costs are somewhat fixed. With the rest of our budget, I could buy a mid-priced range, save money by painting instead of adding tile or wallpaper, rewire and keep our existing lighting (assuming it can be deemed safe), reuse the sink and faucet that we took out from the kitchen on the second floor, and watch our pennies with all the rest.

Bloggers hold influence, and therefore companies are often eager to get product into our hands in exchange for coverage. Any goods that I accept, either those that have been proactively offered or that I seek out with proposals, would effectively increase our overall budget and allow us to allocate our cash differently. It could mean the difference in my design between a standard 30″ stove and a higher-end 36″ range (the added six inches comes with a huge price jump), or it could mean more beautiful lighting and a new sink. I wouldn’t accept something just because the (free) price is right, but if it was something I would have purchased anyway, I simply look at it as another form of income — one that allows us to accomplish more than we would have been able to do otherwise.

There are a couple of remodels going on in the blog world right now that will be incorporating gifted items, some of which have been more clearly disclosed than others. The ongoing One Room Challenge series, is fun to follow, provides a ton of inspiration, and it is made possible in large part by sponsorships. Knowing this doesn’t diminish my interest as a reader, but perhaps my perception is different because I am on both sides of the issue.

Accepting sponsorships or free goods allows me to create a more beautiful finished product (I’m happy), offers coverage for the brands I partner with (they’re happy), and produces more original content for the blog (I want you to be happy, too). I get that it’s not easy to relate to a kitchen done entirely with free goods, but I think there is a balance to be struck and I can’t make the call in a vacuum or an echo-chamber. I can discuss these things with friends, family, and fellow bloggers, but then sometimes I’ll make a decision and it prompts a completely unexpected reaction. So let’s talk. Would you prefer to see a modest kitchen redone without the help of free goods? Or a more involved design with higher-end finishes and details that were made possible (either in part or entirely) by seeking out partnerships? Do you draw a distinction between accepting individual components (appliances, tile, etc.) or an overall sponsorship (brought to you by _____)?

I’ve always aimed to be transparent in these matters, so you tell me. What would you (ideally) like to see? I’m listening.

July 30, 2015
Cut the Cord(s)

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of DuPont™ Corian®.

All opinions are 100% mine.

NeoCon is a huge annual show for the commercial interiors industry held at The Merchandise Mart, here in Chicago. I attended the show last week for the debut of the new wireless Corian^® Charging Surface, and you guys. We are living in the future.

You probably already know Corian^®. It’s a solid-surface material that comes in 110 colors and patterns that can be custom-cut and fabricated with near seamless installation. It’s durable, stain-resistant, and easy to clean, so while most people are familiar with as a countertop for the kitchen or bathroom, it’s often used for commercial and hospitality applications too.

The Corian^® Charging Surface is a transmitter that can be installed below the surface of a counter to wirelessly charge smart devices, stopping automatically when the battery is full. Zodiaq^® quartz counters work with the technology too and there’s no difference in appearance with it installed (unless you want to add an identifying mark), so you get this secret little charging spot that doesn’t change the design of your room! We usually have a phone or tablet (or both) charging in our kitchen, and the tangle of cords drives me nuts. I’m forever gathering everything up to squirrel it all away in a drawer, so to be able to charge everything without wires would be awesome.

Samsung is already offering phones that can be charged wirelessly, but you can adapt other phones with a special case or Powermat^® wireless charging ring. Powermat^® is also making the technology work for commercial spaces (coffee shops, restaurants, airports, etc.) with multiple charging spots and remote cloud-based management. Both the residential and commercial transmitters’ firmware can be updated and are PMA and Qi compatible to support upcoming technology.

I liked the new Corian^® design at the show that looked like marble (without marble’s tendency to stain and etch), and it would work in almost any kitchen or bath. I was into some of the darker options though — almost black, but with enough interest to keep them from looking flat. A dark counter with painted cabinetry in a beautiful color and an integrated Corian^® Charging Surface would be fantastic. Adding one to a piece of furniture in an entryway or mudroom would be smart too. And wouldn’t it be amazing for the technology to take off on a large enough scale so that you could head out with your phone, sans-cords and cables, confident that there would be a spot where you could set your phone down to charge wirelessly? Hello, future.

You can follow Corian^® on Facebook and Corian^® Twitter to keep up with them and their latest innovations.

June 22, 2015