My husband expressed a desire for an island range a few years ago, and after recently buying a small, stand-alone induction cooktop (that he uses on the island, across from our gas range), he is even more convinced he wants to cook at the island in the next house. :-D He preps on either side of the cooking surface, and is tired of prepping and cooking with his back to the family (his own observation was something along the lines of, "I know it's kinda weird, being so introverted, but I hate not being able to see everyone while I'm cooking"). I do the cleanup (at the sink under a window, sideways to everyone), so 100% of his kitchen time is spent facing the backsplash. Which ain't nothin' special....

I make tartar sauce similar to Country Sunshine's, but I put chopped stuffed green olives in mine. Here is my recipe for Shrimp Gumbo. I don't measure anything, but this is the basics. 2 ribs celery 1 bell pepper 1 onion Chop and set aside. In heavy skillet or stock pot, make roux of approximately equal parts flour and oil. Bacon grease is actually best...so if you have that...use that. I'd say about 1/3 cup each or a little more. Stir without stopping over medium heat until roux is very brown, but do not burn. Don't stop stirring either. Add chopped celery, onion and bell pepper. Stir it in and turn off the heat. Transfer if using a skillet to pot or if using a stock pot, add 3 to 4 cans chicken broth. Stir until the roux is dissolved, and on low heat, add a small can of tomato sauce. You can add more or chopped tomatoes. I don't like tomato pieces in mine....so I go with the sauce. I just want it to color the gumbo. The gumbo will not have a pretty color at this stage, but will as you finish it. Bring to a boil and when the celery, onion, bell peppers are cooked done, add a bag of frozen, chopped okra. When the okra is done, add shrimp. I use a lot of shrimp...and if I have crabmeat, I put that in too. You can put in any kind of seafood. Some people put in sausage, but I don't because it over powers the flavor of the gumbo. When I don't have seafood, I use chicken. Season to taste. I use Tony Chachere's creole seasoning and thyme. Tony's is flavored salt, and I use it like salt when cooking. Do not over cook the shrimp. As soon as it turns pink, or the liquid starts to boil, turn it off. Sprinkle a liberal amount of gumbo file and stir in well. That will also change the color a little bit. Stir it well so it doesn't kind of make strings in the liquid. A handful of minced green onions is good to add now too...or parsley. Serve over hot, cooked rice. (When you make the rice, put a big lump of butter in it to give it richer flavor.) My husband shrimped for 45 years...we still have couple of shrimp boats. I have cooked hundreds of pots of gumbo and this is recipe that I have worked on over the years. You could make stock from the shrimp shells, but I have found that chicken broth gives it more flavor. It doesn't taste like chicken...so no worry there. A lot of people don't like okra because they think it is slimy. Frozen okra has been blanched...so it isn't slimy. You can use fresh okra too, and it won't be slimy but I doubt any one who doesn't eat okra would believe me...so I say use frozen.

(*****************This is a recipe that I have been using for five years. I sure hope it's okay: Granite Cleaner 1 pint alcohol 1 tablespoon dish washing soap 1 tablespoon ammonia 1 tablespoon white vinegar I use this to clean then occasionally use a stone polish.)* __________________________________________________ "If a cleaning product was not specifically formulated to clean while NOT interacting with the chemical makeup of the stone, it is not safe to be used, period." (You are killing me!) no no no no and no Please: if anything don't take my advice: read: www.countertopspecialty.com (they have a whole entire "101" on sealing: why we seal: when: how: and "Care "Cleaning" under: "How Granite countertop sealer works": "Granite Counter Top Care: Do's and Dont's" ~you are investing a good amount of money on "natural" countertops from the earth: Take proper care of them! What is the point in spending the money if you are going to use the same cleaner that you used on formic on your new granite or marble or caesar stone or slate or soap stone??? granite is made of 60% feldspar ; 20% quartz ; 10% biotite mica ; 10% hornblend : and epoxy or polyester resin are applied on the surfaces of the stone for polishing process. (chemicals) I will list just a few: Do's and Don't: (avoid bad habits) that MAY damage granite. Use granite care and cleaning procedures and products. You eliminate most potential problems without ever having to think to ohard about it or worry that you may be causing damage to your new countertops! NO acidic subtances: blot fast: wine, coffee, fruit juices, tomato sauce, or sodas, cooking oil, vinegar, citrus juice or products. ~avoid food and/or drinks containing acid. generic cleaning products: bleach, glass cleaner or degreasers: (dawn: cuts grease) OK: granite sealers are petroleum based sealers usually: and Dawn Soap was used to clean up oil spills; so not so good to use Dawn Soap on your granite that has a "petroleum" based sealer! ~~~~~These products that you buy at your local stone contain acids, alkalis and other chemicals that can etch or damage the countertop surface or degrade the granite sealer leaving the stone more VULNERABLE TO STAINING. Trying to save money up front by using cheap cleaners only may ensure that you will spend a lot more time and money on your granite: when you have to call a stone doctor to fix the surface shine of your granite. never: Vinegar, ammonia, lemon or orange cleaners, windex never bathroom, tile, grout cleaners never: leave "soap bar or despencer sitting on your granite" You may not see damage right away: but it will happen eventually. I tried a new product out on Friday: rated high and I like it: Stone Medic RX: heavy Duty Stone & Ceramic Cleaner: ecolabs: good link on tons of great cleaners: http://www.stoneworld.com/CDA/Articles/Feature_Article/BNP_GUID_9-5-2006_A_10000000000000150271 I have been using on my own granite for 18 months: www.stoneproonline.com can get that at www.hardrocktools.net (all over USA) There are other good granite/natural stone cleaners out there. \*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*EXCELLENT WEBSITE: THE PRO'S\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\* http://www.marblecleaning.org ALSO: MAY I ADD: NOT ALLLLL "GRANITE" MUST BE SEALED: (MEANING IF YOU HAVE (Anorthosite) that can't be sealed and does not need to be sealed: WILL ADD TO PROBLEMS ON YOUR SURFACE!) BLUE PEARL; EMERALD PEARL; VOLGA BLUE: BLUE EYES, LABRADOR ANTIQUE: BLACK PEARL: BLACK GALAXY: BLACK EYES; INARI WHITE & BLUE; (http://www.graniteland.com/stone/type/anorthosite) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anorthosite

This thread is great...both the topic and IglooChic's stories! This is definitely a keeper (and maybe I can sneak it into the "Read Me" thread...???) On topic... In our old kitchen we had an eat-in kitchen that could seat 6 - if you didn't need to use the kitchen for anything else! Even just 4 became too many when our children outgrew the booster seats! (Both my children are very tall & long-legged for their ages...and probably will be as adults as well!) We also had a formal DR that only got used at Easter, Thanksgiving, and Christmas...at least for eating. The rest of the year it was home to all our mail (junk & not-junk) as well as a sewing room when necessary and a place for my computer when I worked from home. This DR is rather small...13'8" x 11'1" and really doesn't have room for a large, formal DR set (table, chairs, china cabinet, buffet). Since we couldn't afford an addition on the house, even just the kitchen (which is what our KD really wanted us to do, but EXPO wouldn't let her...no modifying external walls, load-bearing walls, or roofs was their "rule"), and we knew we needed more table space for everyday as well as more counter & cabinet storage, it became a no-brainer (for us, anyway). We converted the Formal DR into what I call an "Informal DR/Formal Kitchen" dining space. We took down the wall b/w the DR & Kitchen to open up the DR b/c it was so small. We put in a peninsula b/w the rooms for some separation (we had seen another house in our development w/a similar floorplan remove the wall completely and the combined rooms looked like a bowling alley...we didn't like it at all!) We didn't want to give up seating in the kitchen totally (especially my DH since he likes to watch TV at breakfast), so we added two seats at the peninsula. Yes, the two seating areas are close (a little too close, if truth be known), but they're rarely used at the same time. We totally eliminated all other seating in the Kitchen and doubled the amount of counter space and cabinet storage. Taken together, these changes were a huge improvement on how our Kitchen & DR work and fit together in the rest of the house. I do find that I occasionally miss the DR "drop zone", but I'm trying to train everyone to use the "one touch" strategy...touch an item once & either put it away or throw it out...especially effective with mail, btw! I haven't been totally successful yet, but it's getting better. So now, we have: Two seats at the peninsula A DR table that seats 10 - 12 (or would if we had enough surviving chairs...it's an old, inexpensive set we inherited from my in-laws when they sold their house & moved into an apartment. The chairs are slowly breaking one-by-one and aren't worth fixing. Someday I'll have my "dream" DR set...but not until the kids are out of college...8 years from now *sigh* Well, not too heavy a sigh as I'm not looking forward to them leaving home!) I've gotten many, many compliments from family & friends about the new kitchen, the open feel both the kitchen & DR now have, and the fact that we now use all the rooms in our house all the time!