Hmmmm, bmorepanic, I found this interesting from your link: "Regrettably, the aforesaid (and much-respected) Cook's Illustrated Guide to Essential Cookware (which we cited earlier on this page), has now been hidden behind a fee-pay requirement of the Cook's site (well, one can hardly blame them--though you could sign up for the "14-day free trial"). In it, they chose cookware makers item by item, rather than by "set" or "line". Excepting a few items that All-Clad does not make (such as cast iron and enamelware), their picks were uniformly from All-Clad. (We should also note that for a stockpot, they recommend the cheapest thing not actually trash that you can find, inasmuch as all they recommend using it for is boiling large amounts of water, as for pasta; for true stock-making, they much prefer a Dutch oven.)" Ok, I went from thinking I liked the Dutch oven shape the best for soups and spaghetti sauces because I didn't really know what I SHOULD be using or wasn't doing it right, to thinking I am not a complete idiot after all. My own personal experience and just what works for me counts, too, and I need to keep that in mind. I am going to do some more reading over there, I find it interesting. It seems like All-Clad or similar brand like Cuisinox will be best in a dutch oven type shape, with or without a copper bottom. I still haven't clarified that one. I think the copper will win out but may get eliminated due to price and less available bargains in that line. Then I am going to have to examine some of these more interesting shapes and maybe add one or more onto my wish list. :) I also have a yearning to try at least one piece of Le Creuset just to see if I like it.

We saved on our 'white' kitchen (which is probably turning into a brown kitchen but that's another story) by using Conestoga RTA cabinets (Highly recommend Brian Long/Cabinet Joint). DH and I assembled them together and then had our builder install most of them for us. I think we spent ~22K for perimeter cabinets, island cabinets, desk area, 2 floor to ceiling bookshelves, and then cabinets in two other rooms (pantry and mud room). This included custom cabinet dimensions and drawer sizes and heights, as welll as 18" uppers. Oh yes, trimwork too and shipping costs. (I'd buy unfinished wood and paint it myself next time for the trim work). It's a big space and I estimate we saved between $8000 - $15000 (comparing other quotes). Of course, money saved on the cabinets ends up being spent elsewhere.... And as always, when you DIY, everything takes so much longer. Regarding white kitchen - beware having too much white. You may find it 'blah'. We are going with a dark brown backsplash to ground the room. Our floors are light oak. This is quite different from the white/grey kitchen I was originally planning. Current state: note how the cabinets blend in with the ceiling and light countertop. Closeup of cabinets - please ignore bottom trim piece which needs to be re-done. Eventually, we'll replace the trash pedal with something white. Backsplash idea (this is photoshopped). The darker colors work so much better than the lighter ones, in this space.

Hi all, Thanks for the replies! Circuspeanut, Those are lovely hoods. The smallest is 36" though. And while my range is 30" and i know (from GW) it's desirable to have a hood that is wider than the cooktop, I think I need to stay at 30" for the hood. Besides, i'm just not that good a cook. Two burners at a time is my normal limit. With three going on special occasions, I'm pretty much in over my head! Cleo, yes I did think about shifting the range to the right, but I'm really afraid that downsizing the pots&pans drawer will be bad. MY KD and I were really careful about the amount, type and location of storage needed especially with no uppers) and the super susan is already spoken for! Your mantle hood is lovely BTW. Thanks for the picture. It does help me visualize. Buehl, I haven't seen one like that. That's kind of why I was considering a glass canopy hood. I thought that maybe if the stainless "chimney" part was too modern, maybe I could have my contractor box it in and paint it? If anyone has a picture or link to the hood type Beuhl mentions i'd love to see it. Favabeans - I could do that but then DH would probably kill me and I wouldn't get to enjoy my finally remodeled kitchen! LOL! The range is the only thing that's staying. PO's bought it just before we purchased the house. It' a dacor duel fuel, "pro style", in stainless. It has taken me a full two years to figure out how to use three of the oven modes, there are still two that I haven't a clue how to use. The newest models are probably way smarter than I am!

I have a few foot-tall sticks that cling to life: 'Dainty Bess', 'Lady Mary Fitzwilliams', 'Nigrette', if our very hot summer this year didn't do in my last plant of it: this puny rose clings to life amazingly. Doing pretty well, especially considering the bad ground it was planted in, is 'Cl. Mme. Caroline Testout'. This is a very tough rose that does well on its own roots. I have another nameless climbing HT, a beautiful long-budded pink variety, a found rose given to me as a cutting, that's growing in heavy ground without support and doing surprisingly well. I would love to move this to a pergola but am afraid I might lose it, even though I've seen to what extent one can massacre roses during transplanting and still see them come back. I want to take cuttings of this and put the new plant in a more appropriate spot. I have several plants of 'Mme. Jules Bouche' and am hopeful that for some I may finally have created the conditions it needs to reach its full potential. It has a lot of Tea character. Also a puny plant of 'Barcelona', my last survivor of this variety, and I hope I've planted it adequately and it will grow well. 'Barcelona' is tough, but my garden is too often tougher. Warm climate roses and their close relatives, among which I include the Pemberton Hybrid Musks and HTs, struggle in my garden. I think they need lighter soil than I can readily provide, some protection from wind and full sun, and a degree of what I can only call gentility in their conditions which the once-blooming old roses of European origin can better do without. This fall I planted some herbaceous peonies and a lemon verbena in a corner of the garden where shrubs have been growing for several years now and where I have steadily mulched. I think some buried part of my brain had decided that the environment had been sufficiently domesticated to support herbaceous perennials. The same would need to be done for HTs. I think, terracing, rich, somewhat soft soil, in an area hedged by shrubs and with a mature decidous tree or two somewhere in the vicinity, would be perfect. Naturally the hectare or so of the garden doesn't include a single spot where such conditions exist, I'm not sure there's one where they could even be implemented. I would love to try 'Oklahoma', for one, and there are other Hybrid Teas that pull at me.