Having It All

Considering how much time you spend in the kitchen it is the one room where having all the things you want to make life easier and fun just makes sense. Certainly that was the case for one Denver couple who loves to entertain but also wanted a central gathering place where their two young sons could hang out with the ease. For them having it all meant a beautiful, sophisticated backdrop with lots of hard working storage and a cozy banquette for informal family meals. A combination of kabi laminate and acrylic cabinets, and kabi custom features like spice drawers, sliding drawer storage for linens and serving pieces, a coffee station, and a place to hide the TV among other things gave them just that. Feel free to use their example to start a kitchen wish list of your own.

Marble on the center island provides a touch of elegance, and refrigerator panels create continuity. 

Drawers on either side of the stove include places for storing spices and other cooking essentials.

The built in buffet includes handy storage for utensils, linens and serving pieces.   The upper cabinets open to reveal a flat screen television.

The banquette is constructed from a kabi laminate that complements the surrounding wall.

A convenient computer nook provides a place for  paying bills or  looking up recipes.

Cups and other coffee making accoutrement are stashed in a drawer below the built in coffee maker.  When it's time for  that morning pick me up the shelf slides out to create a coffee making area, 

The Morning After

If your weekend involved boiling, dyeing, hiding and finding lots of eggs then you are undoubtedly wondering what to do with that surplus of brightly colored hard boiled eggs staring out at you from the fridge this morning. Good news is there are lots of delicious ways to recycle the by product of your family's creative Easter endeavors. If the eggs were colored using dye, just remember to peel them carefully. 

Curried Egg salad Sandwiches

Ingredients

• 
  8 large eggs
• 1/3 cup mayonnaise
• 1 teaspoon curry powder
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh chives
• kosher salt and black pepper
• 4 slices pumpernickel bread
• 4 large leaves of bibb lettuce

Pressed Summer Sandwich With Eggs and Anchovies

Ingredients

• 
  1 12-ounce round crusty bread, sliced in half horizontally
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 4 teaspoons capers
• 1/4 cup fresh parsley leaves, loosely packed
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 
• 3 anchovies or 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 medium orange bell pepper, thinly sliced
• 1/2 pint cherry tomatoes, halved 
• 1/2 small red onion, thinly sliced
• 2/3 cup black olives, pitted and quartered 
• 6 hard-cooked eggs, sliced in half lengthwise
• 
  
• Hollow out the bread by removing most of the inside crumb. Reserve 1/2 cup of the crumb for the filling. Place the olive oil, capers,parsley, garlic, pepper, and anchovies (or salt) in a food processor. Process until the garlic is finely chopped, 1 to 2 minutes. Transfer the mixture to a large bowl. Add the bell pepper,tomatoes, onion, olives, and the reserved bread filling. Toss to combine.Layer half the mixture in the bottom half of the hollowed-out bread. Top with the hard-cooked eggs and the remaining mixture. Replace the top of the loaf. Wrap the filled loaf with plastic wrap. Weigh it down with a heavy object, such as a cast-iron skillet filled with cans. Place it in the refrigerator. Let sit at least 10 hours or overnight. Before serving, cut the loaf into 6 wedges with a sharp bread knife.

Classic Deviled Eggs

Ingredients
12 hard boiled eggs
4 tablespoons mayonnaise
2 teaspoons yellow mustard
2 teaspoons sweet relish
Salt
Pepper
Paprika, for dusting
Directions


Separate egg yolks and place into a bowl. Place whites on a separate plate. Add mayo, mustard, relish and salt and pepper, to taste, to yolks and mash together with a fork until creamy and smooth. Using a large star tip and resealable plastic bag, pipe the yolk mixture back into each egg, enough to fill yolk holes completely. Dust tops with paprika. Refrigerate. Serve cold.

Or for a twist, try making these with spinach and parmesan cheese.

Ingredients:
Yield: 24
5 ounces packages frozen chopped spinach, cooked,cooled,drained and squeezed dry,finely chopped
12 hardboiled egg, peeled and cut in half
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup mayonnaise
pepper, to suit taste
Directions:
1.  Remove yolks from the eggs and mash, Combine with the finely chopped spinach, cheese, nutmeg,dash of pepper Stir in the milk& mayo, mix well.

2.  Spoon a well rounded tbsp of the mixture into each half egg, cover& chill until serving (up to 24 hours).

Spring Fling

Okay, so maybe you're not on some great spring break vacation in Mexico or Hawaii. That doesn't mean you can't bring a little of that springtime excitement into your own home.  Certainly there's nothing like a huge bouquet of tulips or daffodils on the kitchen table to make you hopeful that summer is on the way.  But we think bathrooms are the perfect place to try out color and be a little daring. Maybe something like a hot pink chandelier over the tub in the master suite or painting one wall a sunny yellow and adding in some bright accessories to match.

At the kabi showroom we just introduced this new eye catching vanity that's guaranteed to add pizzazz to any bath setting and bring a smile in any season.  If turquoise isn't your thing, these drawer and door fronts are available in an array of colors and finishes to complement any style or setting.

The Wearing of the Green

Where did 2013 go?  We were just embracing Emerald Green, Pantone's Color of Last Year, when along comes 2014 and Radiant Orchid starts grabbing all the attention. But with St. Patrick’s Day just around the corner we’ve decided to pay homage to the past and hang onto our affection for the lush, lively green tone a bit longer.  Regardless of the time of year we think these items add a fun punch of color to any kitchen.

The perfect pot for making corned beef and cabbage, a dutch oven is a handy pot to have in your kitchen; it goes from stove top to oven without any worry. Find it on Amazon.

Great for mixing cake batter or whipping up fresh cream, a hand mixer is a budget conscious and space saving investment. Find it on Amazon.

Most measuring cups come in the basic white or black, but that seems boring for an item that many people use everyday. Available at Pier 1.

Colcannon (Mashed Potatoes and Cabbage)

This traditional Irish favorite tastes great any time of year.

Ingredients 

Original recipe makes 8 servings

• 3 lbs potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
• 1/4 cup milk
• 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter
• 4 slices bacon, chopped
• 1 onion, diced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1/2 head cabbage, sliced into thin strips
• 1/2 cup water
• salt and ground pepper to taste
• 2 cups fully cooked ham, cut into bite sized pieces

1. Place potatoes into a large pot and cover with salted water. Bring to a boil, set heat to medium-low, and simmer until tender, about 20 minutes. Drain potatoes and transfer to a large mixing bowl.
2. Stir milk, mayonnaise, and butter into potatoes. Mash with a potato masher until smooth.
3. Cook and stir bacon in a large skillet over medium heat until fat is rendered, 3 to 5 minutes.
4. Stir onion, garlic, and cayenne pepper into bacon and drippings and cook, stirring often, until onions are translucent, about 5 minutes.
5. Stir cabbage and water into onion mixture until cabbage is wilted, about 5 more minutes. Season with salt and black pepper.
6. Fold cabbage mixture into mashed potatoes.
7. Cook and stir ham pieces in the same skillet used for cabbage mixture until lightly browned, 3 to 5 minutes.
8. Stir cooked ham into mashed potato and cabbage mixture until combined.

Seeing Red

It's Valentine's Day and "a young man's (and young woman's) thoughts of fancy lightly turn to love. " For some people that means hearts and red roses but at kabi we have visions of red acrylic dancing in our heads.  Who needs flowers when you can come home to this bright, cheery kitchen with glossy red cabinets?