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?

Cabinets and Canines

At kabi we take two things very seriously:  cabinets and canines. And because so many people feed their pups in our favorite room of the house we think there’s no reason why you can't have a beautiful kitchen with a dog bowl to match.  So if you’re one of those dog lovers who buy gifts for your pets consider giving your Fido or Sadie or Rex a place to chow down that’s worthy of your dog and your kitchen.

kabi owner Steve Johnson with Jack

Visit www.etsy.com to view their wide assortment of LuckyPups Personalized Bowls. Unique in style and design each bowl is permanently etched with your dog’s name in fun fonts to match your pup’s personality. An ideal blend of style and functionality the non-tip bowls come with removable rubber rings that can reduce sliding, undesirable noise, and damage to the floor. Available in eight colors:  stainless steel, metallic blue, metallic purple, metallic charcoal, metallic magenta, baby pink, baby blue, and lavender. They come in small, medium, large, and x-large for your pet’s convenience.

Personalized Bowls from LuckyPups

For those who love the bold colors of Fiestaware china there are pet bowls to match. Available in peacock, scarlet, shamrock and sunflower there’s a hue to complement every dog and every kitchen. www.fiestafactorydirect.com

Finally, on a more practical note consider making your dog a happy camper or contented traveler with a Yummy Pet Travel Dog Bowl. A 3-in-1 solution for storing, transporting, and serving pet food and water simultaneously, a spill resistant water bowl serves as the base, while the food bowl fits neatly into the water bowl for a leak-free top. A lid seals it all up tight, or becomes an extra bowl when flipped over allowing dry food, wet food, and water to be served in separate bowls.  Made by Brookstone. Available at www.amazon.com

For the traveling pooch

Gobble Gobble

Pretty much everyone loves Thanksgiving. What's not to love about friends and family coming together to give thanks for the good things in our lives and then sharing a scrumptious meal. But before the bird gets stuffed and the sweet potato pie gets baked there's the all important ritual of setting the table.  A beautiful tablescape not only sets the tone for the meal to come it tells your guests how much they mean to you. Here are four suggestions for making your holiday table a little more special and a whole lot more fun.

1.  Platter Chatter. So what if you only use it once a year, think of a turkey platter as an heirloom piece that will hold turkey memories for Thanksgivings yet to come.  If you can't find one to suit your design style consider heading for a ceramic shop where you (and the kids) can make your own. And be sure to check ebay for one-of-a-kind ideas.

Go Traditional

Do It Yourself

It doesn't have to have a turkey on it.

2.  Salt and Pepper Style.  A simple way to spice up your table.

3.  The Name Game.  Rather than everyone standing around asking, "where should I sit?" place cards make getting started so much easier.  For an extra treat tuck a lottery ticket behind each card and have your guests try their luck before dessert is served. Might end up with something extra to be grateful for!

Woodland creature make perfect place card holders. Tuck a lottery ticket behind each card to add to the holiday fun.

4.  Cranberry Crisp:  Side Dish or Dessert??  Whenever you decide to serve this tasty dish you can't go wrong. It makes a nice change from the usual jellied canned variety or a tasty alternative to apple pie. If you go with the latter, a dollop of whipped cream or vanilla ice cream is a must.

Cranberry Crisp Recipe

4 med apples (use Granny Smith for a slightly tarter crisp)
1 can whole cranberries
1 tsp cinnamon
1 cup uncooked oats
1/2 c flour
1 c brown sugar firmly packed
1/2 cup butter melted

Peel apples, slice thin and arrange in a glass baking dish.

Sprinkle with cinnamon.

Spoon cranberry sauce over apples.
Mix oats, flour, and brown sugar, add melted butter and mix until somewhat crumbly. Spread over cranberry layer.
Bake in 350 oven about 40 minutes until top is brown.
Serve at room temperature.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!!

Sophisticated Ghoul

Selecting black kitchen cabinets because they’d look cool with orange accents on Halloween is the wrong reason for going that design direction.  The right reason is because black cabinets are sophisticated and elegant, and make a fabulous centerpiece in a contemporary setting.  Just like a classic black cocktail dress shines with the right accessories, black cabinets are easily enhanced with a fun backsplash and they really know how to wear stainless steel accents and appliances. 

kabi's black sculpted laminate cabinets made a strong contemporary statement.
Our infinity pull helps continue the clean lines.

And if your taste leans towards the clean, sleek lines of an ebony kitchen (or an all white one) come Halloween you might prefer a more artful approach to your holiday treats. Forget those mainstream candy corn topped cupcakes and go with a tray of these Jackson Pollack Candied Apples.

Jackson Pollack Candied Apples

Ingredients

         6 Granny Smith apples

         3 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped

         2 1/2 ounces premium white baking chocolate (such as Baker's), coarsely chopped

Preparation

Wash and dry apples; remove stems. Insert a wooden stick into the stem end of each apple.

Place bittersweet chocolate in a glass bowl; microwave at HIGH 1 minute or until melted, stirring every 20 seconds until smooth. Working with 1 apple at a time, hold apple over bowl. Using a spoon, drizzle apple with about 2 teaspoons bittersweet chocolate. Place apple, stick side up, on a baking sheet covered with wax paper. Repeat procedure with remaining apples.

Place white chocolate in a glass bowl; microwave at HIGH 1 minute or until melted, stirring every 15 seconds until smooth. Working with 1 apple at a time, hold apple over bowl. Using a spoon, drizzle apple with about 1 1/2 teaspoons white chocolate. Place apple, stick side up, on baking sheet covered with wax paper. Repeat procedure with remaining apples. Chill apples until ready to serve.

Mid-century Modern and Grasshopper Pie

Is American Graffiti one of your favorite movies?  Do you wax nostalgic for June, Ward, Wally and the Beav?  What about Donna Reed vacuuming with her pearls on?  If you answered yes to any of those questions you likely have affection for mid-century architecture as well. 

Popular in the post World War II era mid century modern homes like ranches were inexpensive to build and served the needs of returning service men and their families well.  The split-level versions were called California ranches. To see some primes examples of that architectural period take a drive through Arapahoe Acres (wwwarapahoeacres.org) in Englewood where you’ll get to see Sears Kit homes featured in Better Homes and Gardens in the 1960s and other iconic residences. Current homeowners have made great strides to preserve the architectural integrity of a time gone by.

Classic 1952 ranch by architect Edward Hawkins in Arapahoe Acres

But even if your home’s architecture isn’t true to that era, you can still have a kitchen reminiscent of the 1950s and 60s. Start by channeling your inner June and Ward and embrace the bold colors and unique designs of a time when the American dream was just emerging.

At kabi the sky's the limit when it comes to color combinations for your MOD kitchen design.

Accessories Galore

Decorating a MOD style kitchen is almost as much fun as designing one. The retro clock and spoon stool are both available at www.modlivin.com

Grasshopper Pie

Even if your MOD kitchen is percolating on the back burner for now, you can still introduce your friends and family to a mouth watering taste of nostalgia with this delightfully, delicious green grasshopper pie. And don’t skip the food dye; half the fun is eating something green.

Grasshopper Pie Recipe

INGREDIENTS

     20   Oreo cookies (40 halves), fillings discarded, cookies crushed

5 Tbsp butter, melted

           3/4 cup hot milk

    24 large marshmallows

    1/4 cup creme de menthe liqueur

    2 tablespoons white creme de cacao

    1 cup whipping cream, whipped

    Optional A drop or two of green food dye.

METHOD


1 Preheat oven to 425°F. In a bowl, mix crushed Oreo cookie halves and butter. Pat into bottom and sides of 10-inch pie dish. Bake in oven for 5 to 10 minutes; remove from oven and cool completely. Once cooled, place in freezer to chill.

2 In saucepan, melt marshmallows in milk over medium heat. Remove from heat and cool. Add creme de menthe and creme de cacao, and mix well. Add a drop or two of green food dye if desired. Fold in whipped cream. Pour into chilled pie shell. Freeze for 3 or 4 hours.

Serve with a dollop of whipped cream.

Meeting with a Design Pro and Apple Crumble Pie

Last week we discussed the reasons why you should work with a design professional. This week we take a look at how to prepare for a meeting with a designer.

Getting Ready

• Do Your Homework.  Arrive with a general idea of the look, flow and equipment you want. Bring a floor plan of your current kitchen, a wish list for cabinets and appliances, and any magazine photos you’ve gathered that indicate your style preferences.

• Establish a Budget.  If you can afford pro grade appliances and high end finishes your designer needs to know that from the start so they can integrate those ideas into the design.  On the flip side, be honest about your financial constraints. Good designers will have the know-how to stretch your dollars as far as they can go.

• Questions to Think About.  A good designer will want to know lots of things about what we call your personal kitchen style.  Questions will include: Who’s in your family?  Who uses the kitchen? What’s your cooking style?  (solo, just the two of you, lots of helpers). Do you want a computer center? Will kids do homework there?  Are there ergonomic and accessibility issues?

 

This elegant kabi kitchen was the result of homeowners knowing what they wanted and relying on professional advice to make it happen.

• Questions to Ask.  Request photos of actual projects the designer has worked on—not brochures from manufacturers.  Ask if they have done any project similar in size and scope to yours and what it cost. You should also request information regarding payment schedules, contracts, and timelines. Ask for references and be sure to call them before you sign anything.

• Go with Your Gut.  Of course you want to hire someone whose work you like but beyond that the ideal designer-client relationship is based on honesty, trust, communication, respect, and a sense of teamwork.  Remember whoever you chose is going to be in your home and disrupt your lives for as long as it takes to get the job done. Trusting and liking the person you hire will go along way toward making the design or remodel of your kitchen a positive experience.

Apple Crumble Pie

Part pie, part crisp and totally delicious.

1 (9 inch) pie crust, unbaked

FILLING

2 teaspoons lemon juice

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

5 cups apples, cored and sliced (about 5 small, Granny Smith apples work well)

1/2 cup raisins (optional)

TOPPING

3/4 cup flour

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/3 cup butter

DIRECTIONS

1.   Preheat oven to 425 degrees and set butter out so it will be at room temperature.

2.    Line 9" pie pan with unbaked crust.

3.    Core and slice apples.

4.    Sprinkle the apples with the lemon juice.

5.    Mix in the sugar & cinnamon.

6.    Fill pie shell with apple mixture.

7.    In a small bowl, mix the topping's flour, sugar and cinnamon.

8.    Rub the topping ingredients and butter together with your fingers until the mixture is crumbly.

9.    Sprinkle topping over pie.

10.   Bake 10 minutes at 425 degrees then reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees and bake until crumb topping is browned and apples are soft, approximately 50 minutes.  Serve with vanilla ice cream of desired.