My favorite restaurant supply store find is my measuring scoops. I gave a set to Diana in the my favorite things swap - you can see a picture on that thread. Restaurant supply stores are good for getting substantial stainless steel measuring cups and spoons instead of the wimpy aluminum ones that bend or dent. Or the big thin spatulas that can be used for tasks like lifting a layer of cake after you have split it horizontally to add fillings. In addition to what others have mentioned, they often have the cake pans with straight sides instead of sloped which is nice when making layer cakes. Around here there are two kinds - the ones that sell mainly food with a bit of equipment and the ones that sell mainly equipment - everything from utensils to major appliances. Smart and Final and Cash and Carry are the food kind - they are under the same ownership but Cash and Carry is bigger with more specialized food. For example, our Smart and Final has a few kinds of Torani syrup but the Cash and Carry has the full line plus some other lines of flavoring syrups. The equipment ones aren't all equal either. The area that has Cash and Carry has about 3 of the non-food restaurant supply stores. One carries nicer more varied stuff than the other two. But all have at least the basics like the stainless steel sheet pans, good cooling racks and lots of utensils. All the ones around here are open to the public. You don't have to be a restaurant or have a tax ID. Here is a link that might be useful: Link to thread with picture of the scoops

Hi, Carol The cabinets are vertical grain fir, and the counters are soapstone (Jucca), from Dorado Soapstone. The flooring -- which you can't see in this pic -- is DuroDesign cork tiling (glue-down), color natural Baltico. Cream-colored Pratt and Larsen tiles went up on the walls after this picture was taken. I'll post FK pics in February, after the last of the trim has gone up. Glad you liked the look -- I like the function of appliance garages, but remember what a pain it was to have a handpainted tambour door over our old one, because the paint could never be right. Maybe a sprayed-on paint finish would have looked better, but with this kitchen renovation I wanted to skirt the whole issue. Lynn

I'm strongly leaning towards a single basin sink. So nice to hear you've been pleased with your choice. I didn't think hubby would go for a single over a double (the only kind we've ever had) but he's okay with it after all. Actually, he's being a really good sport about this whole thing. We want to stick with white - neither hubby nor I are fans of SS - so our options are a bit more limited. The white silgranit isn't really white, unfortunately, so I think we'll end up with fireclay or cast iron. Top runners are Franke Orca and Kohler Bakersfield (a cousin works there so I like throwing business their way) but I haven't decided for sure and others may make the mix. I know I'd like one with an offset drain, if at all possible. The Bakersfield doesn't have that but someone posted recently that there is a new single basin Kohler sink with an offset drain. It's not on their website so I don't know whether this is truth, rumor or perhaps a new sink that won't come out until later. Do you hand wash your fine china? That's the only time I think I would miss a double basin sink. Our fine china has a metal edge so it shouldn't be put in the DW. I figure a dish pan in a single bowl would work but I haven't talked to anyone who's done this yet. This would only be necessary a couple of times a year so it won't be the deciding factor but I'd like it to not be an uh-oh surprise. Thanks, faleash!

I used to be a Heinz ketchup snob but no more. One of our tastes have changed, whether it's Heinz or mine. I'll buy generic before Heinz now unless Heinz is much cheaper. And I don't use much ketchup anymore anyway so it doesn't make a difference. I tend to use BBQ sauce or steak sauce where I used to use ketchup and I have never been one to bury things in ketchup anyway. I mentioned to a few people I know that I didn't like Heinz anymore and they said basically they found the same thing. And then I saw America's Test Kitchen did a couple taste tests and the perennial victor, Heinz, lost the last couple times to Hunt's. Guess I'm not the only one who doesn't like it anymore. It's also interesting that Hunt's is cashing in on the corn syrup paranoia. I've been meaning to see what sales impact if any they can attribute to that aspect. For most other things I always look at store brand/generic first, then compare to name brand. There's one where I find real superiority and that's Green Giant canned vegetables. But the price is *so* much higher usually that it's not worth it to me. Occasionally though they'll go on sale if I happen to catch it. But I don't buy as much canned veg anymore either. Using more fresh and frozen. Although I still prefer canned corn to frozen. Most household cleaners however I seldom find store brand to be adequate. There I look for clearance, coupons and sales and that's quite often. Dish soap is Dawn or Joy only. I don't waste my time with anything else unless I use it for hand soap. I've bought the store brand "Magic Erasers" and they seem OK. Generic laundry detergents seldom do the job on real dirty stuff unless I doctor it up and that increases the cost so I might as well just use Tide Free. Bleach is bleach, baking soda is baking soda and all aspirin are alike to me. Speaking of aspirin, I found it interesting that the Target I was in this week only carries Bayer aspirin. No store brand anymore. And 100 count bottle was over $9! No way. I stopped at a Walgreens a day or two later and 100 count bottles were $1 each. Now for a quick rant: Since when did people become so stupid they'll pay $7 for 50 count of "low dose" aspirin? A female friend of mine is on that and I said why don't you just bite a regular aspirin in half and toss the remainder? Net cost of a penny per dose rather than 12¢-14¢ per dose. And since it's daily, it'll start to add up. $45-$50/yr savings there and if she cut them in half and used both halves you double the savings. End of rant. I am shopping Aldi more and more so there you get mostly store brands. For the most part they're just fine and usually much cheaper (but know your prices - they're not always cheaper). Paper products vary. Lately I've done well getting paper towels on clearance and put a $1 off coupon on it and have better product cheaper. I buy paper plates at Aldi. They're fine. Toilet paper? I used to be a Charmin snob but then for a while it was so dusty I quit, especially when the price went up. Now I usually buy the 1000 sheet rolls, usually Scott because they're so much cheaper than anything else and I'm pleased with the product. I buy them at about 25¢ - 50¢ per roll. That equates to about 5-7 rolls of any other brand. Won't find it any cheaper and it all goes down the toilet anyway. I haven't found store brand deodorants to work as well as name brand and with clearance and coupons I usually buy good brand names for under $1. I like foaming hand soap and the store brand is fine but there too I watch for clearance and it can be cheaper. With any of them you have to try them and see what you like or don't like. But you also have to be a savvy shopper because they're not always cheaper. Know your prices and compare sizes too. Size of items is ever-changing.