divamum, it was crazy fast, once it finally got rolling! I sat with a big empty box of a room for about three weeks waiting for the cabinet guy. But once he started installing, that meant Joshua could come put in my soapstone, and everything else just fell into place very quickly. I went from NOTHING to almost everything in literally 48 hours. I think that, by the end of this week, I'll be done with everything in the kitchen, except of course the backsplash! :) malhgold, the range is an Aga Legacy--and the gas is finally turned on!! Woohooo!! Wouldn't you know it, though, I have to teach tonight and then I'm going out of town for two days, so I won't be able to actually cook on it until Friday. Ugh!! fern4, the wood is cherry in a natural finish. Thanks so much for the McIntyre link. There are some beautiful options there. I will have to spend some time perusing! plllog, one of my first choices was a pale green glass tile with a little cobalt glass thrown in for accent pieces. I may have to revisit that. If I can find the pics again, I'll post them. I'm loving these suggestions. Sometimes my head gets stuck on one thing and, even though I know it's not what I want, I can't move past it. This is really helping me think outside my self-imposed box.

I used to run a wilderness outpost and every week had to plan menus for 19-23 people, very picky kids mostly. Fridge and freezer but no stove, only grill and open fire. Transported stuff in coolers. Plan, and also plan for flexibility like folks have said. Here are some tips I learned. Unless you family hates it, bring Bisquick or some other type of baking mix like that. There are a gazillion things you can make with it--pancakes, waffles, biscuits, dumplings, quick breads and muffins, coffeecake, shortbreads with fresh fruit, etc. Something like that is sure to cheer everyone up, since most people like those kinds of foods. Mayo + ketchup is French dressing Mayo + ketchup and pickle relish is Thousand Island dressing 1/3 red wine or blasamic vinegar or lemon juice + 2/3 olive oil is Italian dressing--add dash of garlic salt and italian seasoning if you want. Use rice wine vinegar and soy or canola oil and you have asian dressing--add cilantro, ginger and toasted sesame seed oil and dash of chili flakes if you want. Kids like shish ka bobs. Shish ka bobs can be tofu, lamb, pork, chicken or beef meat, cubed and mixed with veggies to taste. I like green pepper, cherry tomatoes, summer squash or zuchinni and mushrooms. Marinate for an hour or more in a bottle of italian or greek dressing. I like Ken's brand or Newman's Own. If you prefer asian style, buy something citrusy or make your own, your MIL can help. Bring soy sauce or tamari, I love that for marinade. Do you have a crockpot? Shredded beef or pulled pork are dead easy and make everyone happy. Search here or online for recipes. Worst comes to worst, keep lots of pasta and bottled sauce on hand. Don't know what kind you like. I kept spaghetti sauce on hand, but you can keep ingredients for peanut sauce if your family likes asian better. Canned baked beans can be jazzed up on your own with some brown sugar, hot sauce, onion, garlic, mustard, etc. Also good and easy in the crockpot. I've got a great recipe for calico beans for a crowd if you think that might be something your folks would like. It's basically a can of kidneys, can of black beans, can of white beans, hamburger, onion, etc. cooked in the crockpot. Let me know if you want me to post the whole recipe. Potatoes keep well and everyone loves them. Fried up in the morning with veggies of your choice or not, scrambled eggs and sausage or fresh caught fish, cinnamon toast--everyone very happy!! Can be covered in aluminum foil--get the heavy kind--and baked over hot coals. Use sweet potatoes for a fun change of pace. Not too close to the heat or they will burn. Too far away and they won't cook, have fun learning the difference, lol! Crackers and chesse and mixed nuts mixed with chocolate and dried fruit and/or granola makes good snacks, along with fresh fruit. Apples, grapes and bananas travel well. See my "new uses for old bananas" if they get brown. Celery sticks spread with peanut butter and dotted with raisins makes a great snack too--ants on a log it is called. Peanut butter, crackers and dried fruit also good snacks. Carrots sticks with store-bought hummus. Lots of ice tea is a good drink to have on hand. Lemonade goes over well and is dead easy to make with reconstituted lemon juice, which keeps well on the road. Add a few fresh sliced lemons to the pitcher to jazz it up. Granola bars for the kids--easy to take on the trail. Worse comes to absolute worst--pop tarts, lol!! Instant oatmeal for late risers who miss breakfast. Kids love to roast marshmallows. Add grahmn crackers and chocolate pieces--s'mores. Don't roast on dry sticks, use green ones, or better yet buy some metal weenie/marshmallow roasting sticks. Hot cocoa if the weather turns nasty, or if lactose intolerant--hot tang or hot lemonade!! Ginger tea for the grownups. Tea with lemon, honey and whisky for the really grown up!! Sangria for a punch--cheap dryish white wine, bottle of 7-UP, glog of peach schapps or cointreau, lemon, lime slices and other fruit you have on hand. Lots of ice. Serve in clear pitcher. Rice freezes extremely well. Make in batches and freeze lots. Woks do great on the grill or campfire.

I don't know if this helps but, I have cherry cabinets and I have BM Flowering Herbs in my kitchen which is a nice sage green and BM Baby Turtle in adjacent FM one shade darker on paint strip not quite an olive but definitely darker.

I feel your pain. Suggestion: try allrecipes.com,,they have some collections like Xmas extra with all of it together. That might help and you can do an advanced search where you put in name of recipe or main ingred you want or don't want in a recipe,,that could help you track down some lost stuff. Plus I like that they are rated and people tell how the dish turned out,,what improvements they made etc. I can bring up bread pudding without raisins or if I have extra bananas on hand I pulled it up using bananas in the bread pudding and got hits there too. About.com in their food section has some wonderful recipes that I've made for years and lots of collections too. Now you got your work cut out for you in deciding....that is the hardest part you know. I hope you have a great first hosting experience,,,just remember, it's just one meal,,this won't make or break a persons life. Why don't you ask some that are coming to "bring your favorite XYZ dish" to help you out? I've done those,,"I'll do the whole thing dinners" and by the time I'm thru, I'm too tired to enjoy it,,I'm broke and say I'm not doing this again. Or, how about ordering some stuff from Honey baked ham or whatever. Take advantage of Costco, they have great appetizers you can pop in the oven. I'm just thinking out loud here. Have a good one. Nicole