Well, my first "adventure with meat" was pretty discouraging. I went to the farm market and did not see ANY lamb OR turkey OR fish, and even the all beef sausages were $5.49/lb. One stall had about 15 different kinds of sausages, but they were all expensive and also they all sounded like they were pork based. I also saw at the same place about 10 different kinds of hamburger patties, which gave me inspiration for maybe trying to make a Mediterannean style patty using the recipes above, maybe with feta cheese. I think the market must have been low on meat because I went late in the day on the last day. That's when you can get the good deals but apparently that's when they are out of meats, lol! I did score some pita and some hard rolls for a song. Then, I found out the fish market in my neighborhood closed at the end of last year, but there is still that other one that Ruthanna recommended to check out. Good thing I have two weeks to prepare. There's also a kosher meat market in my neighborhood. Boy, am I ever finding out a lot about meat! Here's a link to the recipe for the cake. I like the idea of cupcakes, because I can make one batch ahead and freeze them. I made ricotta cupcakes before and they were fab. Only thing is, I think I am going to change the menu a bit depending on what meat I do and maybe not do this cake since I will probably do corn chips for the appetizer. Now I'm thinking six layer dip, (no beans since that's an entree), corn chips, mint lemonade, kofta or shwarma with pita and tzatsiki and tahini dressing, potato salad, calico baked beans, (maybe some grilled marinated Mediterranean veggies too) and coleslaw or tossed salad. For dessert, baklava, smores, and pineapple or some other fruit thing. Kind of ecclectic but that's my taste. Here is a link that might be useful: Cranberry orange cornmeal cake

All that Asian shopping, and then yesterday Elery and I went to the Mediterranean Market and next door to Russo's Wine Warehouse, a brother of Ann T's favorite grocer, GB Russo's. Little hole in the wall that has a little of everything, and right in the same shopping plaza as the Mediterranean place. So Elery bought some wine and Calamata olives and I got tahini and a date filled cookie and some pita bread. Oh, and Elery bought a package of goat meat which will become tacos or something this week. When I came home we stopped at a local farm and picked up a dozen eggs, she said they were "big this week". Well, I guess. The one on the left is one of this week's eggs, the one on the right is one I bought last week and it was a pretty large egg: It's nearly as wide as my thumb and as tall as my index finger, I was sure it would be a double yolker but we had it for breakfast and it wasn't: My little backyard garden is going great guns, yesterday we had roasted chicken made with Lars' Algerian chicken recipe, and put it into those pita pockets with some chopped romaine, fresh cucumbers from my fines and fresh sliced tomatoes from Magicland's hoop houses. I'll have my own in another couple of weeks: Friday night Elery got here late, he had to take Pancho to the vet. Poor Pancho had been on heart meds and lasix and then he tore the tendon in his back leg. The heart condition made surgery impossible and the pain meds mess up his stomach, and Elery had to make the sad but inevitable decision to help him by allowing the vet to euthanize him. So he wasn't in much of a mood to eat and we just had some flaxseed chips from Trader Joe's with some hummus made with edamame in lieu of the garbanzo beans. I thought it was a bit bland, so I added cumin, it was really very good. Tonight Elery grilled some maple glazed salmon while I made a brown rice and lentil pilaf that I'd picked up at Whole Foods and picked a couple of zucchini from the backyard which was stirfried with red and yellow peppers and a sweet onion with a bit of olive oil and Penzey's Northwoods seasoning, along with a grilled pita bread. It's still in the 90s here, so not much other cooking going on. Poor Elery is used to his air conditioned house, it's a bad time to have a couple of weeks off to spend with me! Annie

Here is another idea for you. I made these a couple of months ago and will probably make them again soon. Home Cookin Chapter: Recipes From Thibeault's Table Stuffed Zucchini ================ Hollow out Zucchini. Saute onions and garlic, add the ground pork, the inside of the zucchini, Arborio rice, season with dill, parsley, lemon zest, seeded and chopped tomatoes and chicken broth. Cover and simmer until the rice is almost cooked and the broth reduced. Stuff the zucchini. Place stuffed zucchini in a pan with a little chicken broth, cover and simmer until the zucchini is tender. Avgolemono Sauce Rather than make the traditional Avgolemono sauce enriched with eggs, I make a sauce using: 3 tablespoons butter 3 tablespoons flour 3 cups of chicken broth Salt Pepper Juice of one lemon Lemon zest optional Make a roux using the butter and flour. Add the chicken broth and when the sauce is cooked add the juice of one lemon and the zest if using. Season with salt and pepper and serve over the cabbage rolls.

Maybe it is the way I have drawn it, but there is actually no issue with the door and cabinetry clearance as drawn. That said, I would still love swinging doors! And Cabinet guy said he will specify a super hard finish for the shelving paint. He buys the paint from a company here in GA who can duplicate the formula of any paint brand but it is formulated for the kind off sprayer booth he has and in different hides. It's as good or better than any factory finished paint I've ever seen. (Cabinet guy is an owner operator who took over his father's shop about eight years ago. He has one FT and one PT employee and they do one kitchen at a time, filling in waiting times with small projects like mine.) So I a, going to go with the painted finish and try not to let any future dings bother me. I guess that makes the darker paint a better option?