Lol Ann you and my mom, she despises raisins. She'd sooner eat a chocolate covered cockroach! Even craisins make her nauseous. I've never 'plumped' a raisin - sounds fairly lascivious ;-). Most recipes I've used them in call for them to accompany the dry ingrdients before adding liquids. The drys seem to collect in the wrinkles [they look like brain sulci to me] and maybe that dry attracts the fat liquids ala the roux process? because the raisins in my recipes are never tough. But heck I may have to try it out! Plump on! BTW I like goldens over regular or reds personally.

If you're using a cake mix, I find the chemical taste becomes stronger with time. Either way, I would not make anything 2 days ahead unless it needed to be aged. I would make it the day of or make now and freeze. But then I get up at 5:00 am to make pies on Thanksgivibg!

If DH is here, medium russetts, scrubbed and placed on middle rack of oven at 400 for 40 minutes. He likes the crunchy skins. If it's just me (I like softer skins), same potatoes, same length of time, but wrapped in foil. Never had an explosion when cooking them in the oven, so never poked holes in them. Cook them hot enough and they are not "mushy". THen I do with the foil-wrapped ones what we used to do at one of the restaurants, pick it up and slam it on the counter, cut a slit in it and sort of press the ends toward each other to make a "mouth" for the butter and lots of black pepper. I used to microwave them because I felt bad heating an oven for just a couple potatoes. They're ok. But when I got my toaster oven I went back to baking them. Man, I didn't realize there was such a big difference! I always bake them now. But if I miscalculate the timing, I don't mind putting them in the nuker for a minute or two to finish them off.

Thank you again, to each and every one of you. You have all given me much to think about as we've worked through this sticky kitchen plan. DH and I sat down last night and laid out what we are going to do. You might be suprised or maybe even a bit dissappointed at a few of our decisions, but as we sat in the space and thought through our movements and needs, we think that this is what works best. Hold onto your hats, because we are doing a variation of the plan that was referred to as disjointed. We are planning on taking out the 30" stove and replacing the top with butcherblock. Underneath will be larder style drawers for potatoes, onions, fruit, etc. A fridge will go in the fridge hole, with farm storage next to it. This will make an efficient work flow: garden or fridge to farm sink, chop at the butcherblock, have a 30" cupboard above it to hold the everyday basics, pasta and such, and fill casserole dishes, canning jars, or pans on the counter under the big window, and then on to the stove. We talked about why we installed the counter and large window the way we did originally, and neither one of us really want to change its functioning. It was set lower to make it easier for baking and pouring. Putting stoves in front of it would cut into the view, and we'd be giving up that wide swath of working and setting space. I haven't been all that pleased with the SS sink since we put it in. The large cupboard that hangs out in space over it, the one I didn't think would bother me when we planned it that way, turns out to aggravate me. (Am I claustrophobic or something?) I'm not very tall, yet it still feels like I ought to duck when I am using that sink. Soooooo we plan to remove that sink and the cupboard above and to the right of it and replace it with a larger stove, probably the Crown that I mentioned earlier, and put a narrower cupboard to the right of the sink for cooking oils and savory spices. Putting the stove in the SS sink spot puts it in a more protected zone than it was in our original plan, as several of you have recommended doing. Why the Crown? Well, it's repairable. It doesn't have anything electronic to go bad on it. So, even if something goes quirky with it, we can fix it ourselves. It's 40" wide, giving us 20" to put toward storage rather than 2 30" stoves that would chew up 60" of valuable space. Maybe some day, if we are unhappy with it, we can upgrade to a fancier NXR or Wolf type stove, but for right now, I think I can be a happy clam with it. Fully refurbished, these are listed on ebay for close to 5k, so I don't think it's going to be a bad stove. Let's continue on down the kitchen. To the right of the stove will be the baking area with a heat resistant counter. Where the DW was, there is room for a rolling grain bin, and we can fit some more bins, and a cart to hold my grain grinder, too, in front of and to the right of the heat run. We just put back our old island, which we conjured up from a salvaged butcherblock attached to an antique dresser. (Drawers under the island Rhome! Grin.) We had taken it out because the clearance was too tight when the DW was open, and it would slide into table space when the DR was in the front room. Since the DW will be moved, it won't be an issue anymore. Baking will happen at the island. along with using the sqeezo/victorio, and other group cooking tasks. Bigger butchering projects can happen here, too. So, the sink and the DW are going on a peninsula style counter coming out between the two windows at the side of the house. Amazingly enough, this does wonders for our lighting that's already in. The sink will line up right under the fixture that used to hang over the dining table (anyone want it? I like its looks, but, it's gotta go. It needs a taller ceiling to be happy). We've put a ceiling hugger in it's place. Ahhh, my head can breathe in that space again. The ceiling fan light hangs over the island. That one is high enough not to bother me, thank goodness. On the stairwell wall will go one more fridge placed in the corner. From the fridge out along the wall will be a 5' counter with drawers underneath, and wall cabs above. This spot will be for dishes, snacky stuff for DH's lunches, teas, and wraps and storage containers for after meal cleanups. The dishwashing peninsula lets us look out the front windows without being right up against them. It also lets us have a spot for folks to hang out at the front. We mocked it up with our trusty folding table and it feels spacious up there, amazingly enough. DW will be to right of sink. Sink will have the doors inset underneath for knee room. To the left of the sink, I'm planning to have DH build a base cab to hold our toaster oven on the top shelf, and the cookbooks below. On the side opposite the sink, I'd like to put shallow cabs that can hold extras: toys, books, extra kitchen needs, I'm sure it will change as our needs change. Because the sink cleanup area is such a short run, we're planning to do a 30" depth flat counter, no backsplash. This will give us more landing space for the dishes during cleanup. We're wanting to do this counter with solid surface, and put runnels in for draining large pots and pans. The middle room will have 2 workspots along the front wall, probably a laptop at each window. Drawers in between the windows. "Gutter shelves" to the right of the windows. The stairwell wall will have a large floor to ceiling cupboard, 12" deep, for homeschool and art, craft, office supplies for things that are done at the table (coloring, etc.) The large expanse of wall at the back of the room, where Rhome drew the computer area, will be a 15" deep x 9' 6" long pantry. The wall between the DR and Liv. Rm will be removed (Yahooooo! I can hardly wait!) We're thinking of arching the top of the doorway that has to stay there, and doing panels, similar to a paneled door, on the stub wall that has to stay there. I'd love to know how to make this not look "weird". Under the picture window will be a work counter, 26" high, that can hold 2 sewing machines. Under the counter will be a drawer unit on wheels for threads and other small sewing supplies. We're planning to make the counter have supports like a gate leg table. Normally, the lg. couch will divide the DR from the living room. But when guests are coming, we can drop the sewing counter down, put the machines away, and slide the lg. couch against the picture window. To the right of the window will be floor to ceiling cupboards for toys and sewing supplies. Along the back wall will be bookshelves above, enclosed fabric storage below. The loveseat can push against this and be pulled out when we need to get fabric. Our couches are lightweight, thankfully. I wasn't kidding when I said I move stuff around a lot. Two comfy chairs will sit a bit in front of the window, too. To complete the circular tour, behind the back door will be a cupboard where I can keep meds, herbs, and extra laundry soaps. I honestly can't tell you whether or not we will do the boot wash spot, DH and I didn't touch on that one last night. My dad called to tell me yesterday that he has a friend who offered to do us a custom SS base, if we want, but I forgot to tell DH this. I think that's the majors. You all have helped us think through so much. Thank you for giving of yourselves in this way. It's a sacrifice to pour so much of yourself into helping us wrestle with these plans; we appreciate it. I know this is long, but I didn't want to leave you hanging, wondering what we decided. If you'd like, I can hopefully post pics when we're done. I've loved seeing others pictures, and will try to return the favor. Hugs to you all, (hope that's not too personal. I just appreciate your help!) Laughable