dogboy, i did as you describe, not turning the food until it was brown (i was stir frying tofu, of all things...). Some of it stuck anyway, and i felt like i was using more oil than i'd usually like, and i don't usually cook in nonstick pans, just my seasoned cast iron or a wok. I wondered if i had the pan too hot b/c i'm not used to the whole tri-ply thing, and the oil seemed to cook off really fast. What stuck to the sides was the oil that didn't have any food on it, i guess i swirled the oil in the pan when i added it to spread it around, and some of it went up the sides. That's what was hard to clean off; the bottom was no problem at all. Anyway, i'll try a lower flame next time, maybe?

A couple years ago I worked on a maintenance crew in a chicken processing plant and all the fixtures in the plant were made of stainless steel. Occassionally we had to weld carbon steel bearing or motor mounts to the stainless equipment. When doing so we used a TIG welder with SS rod, but I am not sure is you can do it with a MIG welder.

Thank you, all, once again! Diy crazed, we are living with two Ikea "Udden" units flanking the range right now. They are topped with stainless counters and one has a small integral sink. They've been surprisingly functional and it was the convenience of being able to set hot heavy pans right on them and not having to worry about stains that first made us consider the stainless. The look, especially in winter, leaves me a little cold. One of my favorite kitchens in my files has ivory cabinets and zinc counters. We were so keen for zinc in the early days (zinc counters paired with a patterned encaustic tile floor a la french bistro--at least as reimagined by Thomas Keller--if you can believe it). In the end we decided to try be truer to the Victorian provenance of our house, but with quite a bit of allowance for contemporary conveniences and eclecticism. I'm having a difficult time visualizing the soapstone though. Thank you for your read of our kitchen. We may be too close to evalutate. Malhgold, those are my concerns exactly. The marble reference in the drawing is from an earlier iteration. We've made the decision for perimeter counters to be all one material. But I do know what you mean about the soapstone changing the tone. Next to black, lighter colours often read as white and texture fades. The other surfaces are not white because we were going for a kind of neutrals plus texture look. One of the considered options we will still have is to put a different patina on the bricks, or even paint them in the future. I installed them myself, to match the existing brick and concrete pillar. We're also having our cabinets hand painted on site, so one thing we've been contemplating is painting the island much darker. The entrance to the kitchen is through a small library (not yet installed) with dark stained, possibly black bookshelves and a white oak herringbone floor that our neighbour, a master woodworker, is going to be installing for us in the spring. Anyway, all this is to say that we've tried to build allowances for change into our plans and although the overall light look was our favourite for some time, we're starting to feel the need for some anchoring. Kitchendetective, unoiled soapstone is definitely something I'll consider. It looks almost like zinc unoiled and I think that softer colour will pick up some of the more subtle veining in the marble. I'm just concerned that it will darken regardless.--but the evolution of its surface is also appealing. Finally after my long winded response, Vtkitchengirl. My pendants are called "Franklin pendant". Their finish is antique silver (and they do tarnish!). I bought mine at Ginger's in Toronto, but if you google the name, I think you'll find other distributors in the US.

Clarification on Stainless steel toe kicks, the product by Doors2Me.com is toe kick cover that originally was designed for refacing applications - http://doors2me.com/toe-kick-covers/ you CAN cut it with regular utility knife and you DO NOT need to use any glue, it is peel and stick (comes self adhesive). However, you do need to make sure that the surface where you apply it is clean of dust, dirt, particles and etc. The best thing to use for cleaning is just regular alcohol. Doors2me has been selling the product for over 10 years and its made in Austria so its top quality product that is user friendly and made to last. Also you can apply it to curvy surfaces. If you need actual toe kick 3/4" thick in stainless steel finish then easiest way is to cut some melamine panels and apply ss toe kick covers over it.