I like the Cafe unit and haven't had many complaints at all from my customers. It adds the second oven/warming drawer. Five burners, griddle, self-cleaning oven racks, and the look of a pro range. You could buy a Viking 30" all gas (VGCC5304BSS) on special. We're selling it for $3999 plus a $750 mail-in rebate plus another $150 facebook rebate from Viking, making it $3099 after rebates. The burners are all solid brass and all go to 15K and simmer very well. I also like the Capital GCR305 for $3899 less $500 mail-in rebate. Five burners, four of them at 19K and the 5th center burner at 25K with a reversible wok grate. All burners simmer at 140 degrees. The Viking and Capital are pro-style ranges, are all-gas, do not have self-cleaning, and don't have warming drawers. Gas ovens are more moist but are not quite as precise as electric convection ovens. I have a Bosch gas convection range and a Dacor electric convection oven at home. The Dacor does do a better job - but it's not night and day. Just slight differences. The Bosch slide-in range is dual-fuel, has the warming drawer. The grates are a little tall because of the gas-on-glass design, but overall a solid unit. The Bertazzoni is very nice, but the all-gas model will be pushing out heat between the control panel and top of oven door. You can hear the fan as well. The oven temp goes no lower than 275 degrees, so no warming feature. But for $3000 to $3500 a good unit. In my opinion, the Capital and Viking units on special are better units for the same money. The Dacor ER30G is the only gas range with new electronic technology controlling the temp inside it's gas oven. It performs as well as an electric convection oven. It can be purchased in free-standing or slide-in for $3599. The "Love you back" promo will get you a free 7-piece pots and pans set. 18K max burner. Have you considered an Induction range? It will perform just as well as gas with less heat and better distribution of the heat to your pan. The GE PHB925 runs around $2200 and has a warming drawer and convection oven. The Zephyr hood is nice, and so is the Kobe. I also like Vent-A-Hood. We have more service issues with Electrolux than other brands, but they have nice options. The BlueStar and Capital culinarian are nice choices for around $4000. Both with the open burners 22K or 23K distributing power more evenly and great for wok cooking.

The fix for weepy meringue: Spread the meringue onto HOT filling. The reason it becomes slippery on top of lemon pie filling is because it doesn't have time to cook when you're browning the top of the meringue in the oven. Therefore, the bottom becomes watery. If the filling is hot, it cooks the bottom part of the meringue.

LOL! I don't know, I just found these pictures that day, looking for something else. I'm glad you like them, though :) Sorry for the confusion...I was thinking about two different house plan layouts, not just kitchen layouts. One had the formal dining room, with kitchen in back (with small eating table/banquette) and that one had a bigger island and nice view...but no room for the wood stove or seating area. This plan just seems more 'us' out on the farm, since we don't really need a formal dining area (as nice as one is, in theory) and I just really liked that little seating area, with the wood stove. Since we now have the dining and seating areas, I feel like my back is only facing one area at a time, but I can still turn my head and talk to the other area. Plus, when I'm baking (my favorite thing to do in the kitchen) the island is going to be perfect! This plan also reflects the house, as it is now, much more than my other idea. The corner windows in the seating area are already there and the dining area is currently, the old porch. The living room fireplace is beautiful brick, but off center (5' on one side, 3' on the other) and I think the corner seating area in the kitchen, kind of mimics that 'informal' style. My other favorite thing...the dining table can be huge, when we do have people over. That room is 16' long and a table with a couple of leaves would work. I should be able to seat 8-10 people, no problem. I've always wanted to be able to do that, whether it's for the holidays or just people stopping by and having a snack, in the summer. How is your planning going? You have such a great, open layout...it's going to look amazing, when you're all done. What side does the back face? Was it west? Anyway, just wondered if you're adding any arbors or anything for shade or to grow plants on...I just love flowers blooming, outside the windows. We have deer (who love to nibble on my roses) so I've been okay with shrubs that I can hide behind lavender and other herbs, but not much space for climbing roses. I'm hoping we can fence in a little courtyard area, off the dining room and greenhouse...and actually have climbing pink roses, around the dining room window (behind the banquette). There's a beautiful one (John Davis?) that is hardy to zone 3...and that should work, even with our cold winters! That would be so cottage-y and maybe some wisteria on the big pergola, with the swing. Right now, I use a lot of clematis, which is also pretty, but the deer do not eat it! LOL Sorry to digress into gardening, but I've been planning gardens (for next spring) the last few days. We had someone hit our house with their car last Saturday night (scary) and completely take out our front porch and part of our living room bay window. He also hit both our vehicles (hit one into the other) and of course, he's uninsured. We currently live in a manufactured home, next to the farmhouse, we plan to remodel...and for once, I'm SO glad that it is a manufactured home, because a stick built home would have had much more damage. Not only is the main part of the house up a big higher (about 3' off the ground) but it can take a good shake, without walls cracking (they do travel down the higway to get to the building site). Luckily, we have great insurance, so it should be okay...but all this mess has a little silver lining...a new porch means I can move the stairs over a few feet and make room for another bed against the front of the house. The south side would be perfect for growing tomatoes (which do terribly here) and that would be wonderful!

newbieremodeler -- I think I should have your screen name! Definitely describes me, too. I love my Bosch dishwasher, Evolution 800 series. It has tons of flexibility, with fold-down and height-adjustable racks, short/light cycles, etc. The "quiet" factor was also an issue for me, and Bosch dishwashers are great for quiet functioning. You can't even tell it's on when you're in the same room! Some GW members have complained about loading a Bosch -- but the model I chose had the max flexibility. It wasn't as "pretty" as some of the others, but a great appliance overall. Some models that look nice don't have the adjustable racks. I also posted this on the appliance forum & got a good response, with lots to think about -- you might check it out, if you haven't already. Here is a link that might be useful: Bosch dishwasher