I'm happy with my Weber Summit Silver bought about 6 years ago. This model has 4 burners arranged left-to-right, by the way. Performance is good - my only gripe is that the separate side burner to the right of the grill isn't very adjustable (though I rarely need it for anything). While I could probably get choosey and find a more perfect grill, I would first look at Weber's higher-end because I'm thrilled with Weber's customer support. While performing way-overdue maintenance, I called them to order some replacement parts for items that had understandably worn out or corroded over time... They sent me replacements at no charge. No questions about warranty periods or anything like that. I called them intending to purchase parts, but it seemed they volunteered to replace them on the assumption that Weber products are designed to last forever. So I'm a loyal customer of Weber's. We live not far from the pacific ocean, the grill is outside, uncovered and facing the sea, and we use it 2-3 times a week year-round. No complaints.

We went to a couple of barbeque places today and ending up buying the extra large Big Green Egg, and I think we will be very happy with it. Kevin thinks it will be great for parties, and now it will be even easier for us to cook for a crowd. Since we now have three charcoal grills, we can use separate grills for separate dishes which will make it easier for us to make multiple dishes at once, even if they require different temperatures. We also have the electric smoker, and I have to say that we get a more intense smoke flavor from that than we do from the charcoal - or at least it permeates the meat more. For smoking chilies, only the charcoal will do the job the way I want it. The BGE that we bought also has a pizza stone and can be used for grilling pizza - something that I've been wanting to do since first visiting the pizza making forum. We bought some outdoor lights for our pergola, and I think they will provide way more light than we required, but at least we can lower the wattage when we want to. I haven't bought anything for lighting the fountain yet because I want to have that installed by an electrician on an exterior wall of the house. I'm hoping to light much of the back yard that way and have it on a dimmer. I don't really want underwater lights in my fountain at this point but will talk with the electrician about that. I'm thinking that I will get my yard lit in stages and start off with getting some outdoor outlets installed at strategic points so that lights could be hooked up later. We went out for dinner this evening because I wanted sushi! We haven't assembled the Big Green Egg yet. Lars

Whoo Hoo! Your first Weber! Play time ahead girl. You have got to do a chicken. Cheap easy and you will be amazed how easy. Here are some action shots of my grill... click the thumbnails for a big picture. Charcoal on the sides under the grate flaps. Later you can drop some wood or more charcoal. Probably won't need more charcoal! Bird in the middle. Stuff if you want but at least get the gizzard package out. Vents both bottom and top wide open! Go drink alcohol and party! *picture censured for indecent content* When you are drunk and partied out return for food. Note paper like skin. Eat it with your fingers while slugging on your beer. Relax... beer and chicken skin are calorie free when consumed together. Often best to work with kitchen gloves and tear the bird apart with your hands. Leftover skin, fat, and the bones should go in a pot for soup broth... a great lentil soup base because of the smokey flavor. There is a whole 'nuther bird stuck to the bones and you will be amazed at how meaty the soup is! After simmering for about an hour strain the broth to get the skin and bones back out. A wishbone in there!... remember those. Return any meat to the pot that you don't nibble away. In the picture I added coconut milk, curry paste, and cayenne pepper (flaming hot! and !!! hot) to the chicken broth and spooned it over lentils cooked in the microwave.... lentils cook in about 20 minutes when nuked! Being single I reserve the breast meat for sandwiches. Thighs have fat deposits that pick out with ease leaving nice lean meat. Wings and legs are prime snack parts... hand to husband and tell him to go lay down.. "good boy". I can still get a decent fryer bird for about $4. Leftover shredded chicken meat can be covered in bbq sauce and refried for a dandy sandwich filler... taco sauce for taco meat... soy sauce for fried rice... you get the ideas. Best spent 3-4 bucks in my whole grocery bill. Works fine with a whole turkey. Note the bird is so tender and well done that the legs pulled out to their sockets while rolling into the pan for transport to the kitchen. Works with every meat I've tried!... london broil, eye of round, bottom round, pork roast, and brisket. It even makes a meatloaf if you wrap the loaf in foil. Caution with foil wrapped stuff as there may be hot liquid to drain off... don't get splashed or drizzled on. It works in the winter and in the rain! No need to let a little rain stop the bbq. In fair weather you can use your Weber with the top off for traditional grilled steaks or whatever. Sometimes when smoking a chicken I'll slip a burger or steak over the coals. You may need extra charcoal if you lift the lid often... like an oven it cooks faster when left alone. Soak the wood but if you are lazy like me just drop a chunk on top the charcoal. A few peppercorns on the coals makes a pepper smoke... great flavor but don't get the smoke in your eyes. Now you need an injector kit! Inject those dry beef roasts with good stuffs for super juicy tasty experiments. Butter and cajun spice are a favorite. The grocery store probably has a dozen pre-made liquids for injecting. I'm currently eating on a beef brisket that I thusly smoked using charcoal, hickory wood, and black pepper. Last night pulled a chunk of cooked brisket from the fridge and covered it with vinegar, evoo, and rosemary before reheating in the microwave... a great main course in under 2 minutes! So good I'm having more for breakfast. I like to put an empty catfood can in the middle of the ash catcher to collect dripping grease... much of the fat will drip out the bottom. Your dog will probably eat it ashes and all before redepositing it on your livingroom carpet. : ) lyra

Thanks for all the help everyone! I will use this thread as a reference over the coming months as we work through our plans with the architect and builder. trail, I had put only 1.5 baths on my "critical needs" list, and 2 bathrooms on my "desirable wants" list. I'll switch the 2 bathroom to the need list. Counter space. I expect this may come down to - do I have an island (or peninsula or something) for extra counter space, or do we use the dining table as prep? Looking forward to hearing any more advice you think of! angela12345, we may rent the place out to friends or acquaintances once in a while, but primarily it is just for us. Great advice about noting the things we use frequently in our primary kitchen, I'll do that. Sleeps 26, holy cow!! Our place won't be nearly big enough for that, but I do want to be able to sleep 8 comfortably, and up to 10 or 12 on air mattresses or pull out couches. For the next few years the most likely over night guest scenario is one other couple and 2 to 3 additional kids (in addition to our two). We will need one bedroom big enough for a couple of bunks I think. I agree about small bedrooms otherwise. If DH and I do end up living there semi-permanently after the kids grow up we could consider merging two bedrooms to come up with a more spacious master bedroom (if needed). dilly - absolutely! :) Thanks again rainwood. Interesting that your LR is the smaller space. We frequently have 'girls' weekends at various cottages off season, usually spring or fall. That is when I find we need the bigger living space - usually there are a few of us playing games at the DR table, a few reading magazines in the LR, a couple napping, etc. Usually we are 8-10 women for these weekends. We will have a screened-in porch and will likely either be out on the lake or on the porch from May to September. But off season people seem to like gathering around the fireplace/stove and chatting/reading, etc. Hopefully our architect will be able to create multi-functional spaces for us, given the small(ish) overall size of the cottage. maire-cate, great space saver recommendations, thank you. Noted! kaismom: I think your recommendation is closest to what I had in mind - abundant comfortable seating, large communal tables open to the kitchen. Most kitchens I see with this sort of open/communal type setting are unfitted. I'd love an unfitted kitchen (like mtn is considering) but I assume I need at least one very efficient fitted run (galley like) given the small space we will likely be looking at. No doubt the architect can help with this, but I do want to give him some preliminary guidance. During summer (only about 4 months here) we will cook and spend almost all time outdoors. We'll use the bbq for cooking for about 7 or 8 months a year probably, but will likely eat indoors off season. Unless we put an outdoor fireplace in our screened-in porch and make it 3-season friendly ... but that is a big maybe and probably a few years off. The pantry is on my "critical needs" list for the architect. Rosie - "What I'd really want if I could have it, though, is a rectangular window seat with a fabulous view of the water and goings-on inside and out, like our friends. Everyone always wants to sit there, and it's the most valuable real estate in the house--cantilevered off its side." - sounds like a great area. You don't have a pic by any chance? It sounds very intriguing. Crockpots are a good idea. They just take up space though, but I can bring them up for the big cooking weekends (which will likely only be 2-3x per year). localeater - that is DH's only point on our "critical needs" list - an area for kids that is away from the main living area for those rainy days, esp. in spring or fall. I agree that open loft spaces aren't ideal given noise issues, so we are probably looking at space in a walk-out basement. Our site is sloped so a walk-out makes sense I guess (I didn't want one originally, but I'm coming around to accept it). Given our budget and the site, the basement makes sense.