Liz, I'm following along right behind you. I went to a stone yard convinced that I wanted quartzite for the durability but fell in love with marble. Has yours been installed yet? I'd love to see photos. The guy who met with me showed me an 8 year old marble countertop that had been returned because the family who had it in their kitchen was expanding their island. The etching and minor stains really gave it a lovely patina. It convinced me that I could live with its sensitive nature. I can't wait to make my final selection. We're about 2 months away from kitchen cabinets. House is to be drywalled next week.

YEAH you did it. I wish i had pics of my first loaves from 35 yrs ago !! You rock. It does take practice kneading and shaping. I have made two tutorials and will post them tomorrow. I have taken LOTS of pics and will make slideshows and then you will see. I made both the Challah which just this minute came out of the oven and I made the Sunflower Whole Wheat bread...there are errors in the recipe I posted so I will also correct those....I just hope that jterri doesn't KILL me :) I had to add water and leave out flour. I can only say that when I thought back it has been 25 years since I made it so who knows how things have changed ! Anyway ...tomorrow is Friday #2....looking forward. c

I think this has been a fruitful discussion. I hope it continues. The more I think about this, the more I believe people should be encouraged by KDs, the kitchen sellers at the big box stores, cabinet makers, etc., to consider counter heights when planning a kitchen. And I think a big shout-out to many of the great contributors here at GW is called for because until I spent hours...well, really weeks of hours...reading through reveals, advice to folks planning their kitchens, and such, I never would have thought of all these types of details being important for a good, functional, pleasant space. GWE’s (GardenWeb Experts) are the bomb!! Last night I made a big salad and started a pot of “clean out the refrigerator” soup. I really liked chopping and that kind of prep on the higher counter. My DH helped a bit a really liked it as well. I also made scratch biscuits. I hand-mixed the dough at four different heights: on the higher counter with the triple breadboards on top (didn’t like), regular counter height (didn’t like), on the breadboard when it was slid into its slot, just below counter-height (liked it much better but still a bit high), and then put the breadboard across two counter-height stools (a bit too low). I think a small stretch of counter somewhere in-between the latter two would be nice for that type of work and other baking, machine-mixing, yada yada type tasks. I’ll continue the experiments. My chiropractor...who I seldom need anymore due to the excellent exercises he’s given me to strengthen my back and keep myself in alignment...does a weekly radio show on our local station. I called in this morning and mentioned this issue and asked him about it. He was very enthusiastic and gave some examples of people he has worked with who have had back issues directly related to long-term repetitive movements where things are not at the right height for them. So, really, for someone who cooks a lot, this isn’t a trivial issue. I really want to learn more about this. Oh, gosh...my friends already think I’m the anti-high-heel and heavy-purse nazi, now I'll be the counter-height nazi, too. But I had a back injury for which I was told I would never fully recover, only have limited mobility, and will always have pain. Well, I proved them wrong on all counts due to proper exercises (mostly from chiropractor) and body movements. I can go hiking with a 30+-pound pack and other activities, like 50-mile bike rides, that they said I'd never be able to do again. And I haven't taken a pain pill since 2008. It's because I've become the healthy-back nazi, LOL. This stuff is important for quality of life issues, imho. Off my soap box. @westsider 40 - Good points about not kneading long. I really don’t bake often where I need to knead. When I do, I move my large breadboard to my table and do it there. So it might be best to just continue doing it that way. @Oaktown - 14” difference! Wow. You would almost need two separate kitchens to work best for the two of you. Yeah, I think you should have a stool under each appliance and in each toekick. Just pull the whole thing out when you’re cooking. DH can push it all in when he’s cooking. @tracie.erin - Interesting on the stove height. I can see why that would be good to have it lower since your arm motion is different when stirring and such at a stove vs. chopping/slicing/dicing in a prep area. I do think my stove is the right height. If we do raise the counters on the wall, we’ll have to make adjustments for a lower stove top. Thanks for the tip. @laughable - Yes, I’m trying to put a lot of thought into this kitchen. And you are one of the people who have really inspired me to put in the extra time and effort to get it right. It will be my last so it better be good! I usually transfer from stock/crock pots in the sink because I’m unbelievably clumsy, lol. The pictures aren’t showing, darn it. I just am getting the Photobucket “This person has moved or deleted” message. It could be my computer. I had to take it back to factory settings last night and am still loading updated drivers and such. I’ll come back later and check it again. I can visualize your explanation of what he did in his own kitchen and why. Still need to get to my library to see if they have any of his books.

sleevendog, I'm 5a also, although if you go 50 miles west to The Lake, it's 6a, the Lake Effect moderates the temps and creates a micro-climate. Anyway, it's been wet, then dry. Unusually cool to start which meant everything was late in maturing. Lots of early cool rainy weather gave me tons of foliage, but not many blossoms on things like peppers and tomatoes. I've gotten two small eggplants from my 6 plants, if frost holds off another couple of weeks I'll probably have a ton, and maybe tomatoes too. I got a zillion zucchini and cucumbers, though, and just dug potatoes and the sweet corn was exceptional and I have leeks by the basket full. Oh, and more butternut squash than I'll ever figure out what to do with. Last year they kept in storage until Easter when we ate the last one, so maybe they'll be the same this year. Beets were amazing, as was the kale and my Purple Dragon Carrots, but the rutagaga, turnips and parsnips all got horribly disfigured by root maggots. Kohlrabi never made bulbs and a rabbit ate all 24 cabbage plants. As for tomatoes, this year I planted Wisconsin 55, Peppi sent me the seeds. They all died. Some Taxi are hanging in there, I might pick a couple next week. Sungold died. Great White is loaded with tons of tomatoes but the few that have ripened have blossom end rot, as do the Pineapple and Mortgage Lifter. I have a couple of Peach that I picked and put in the window to ripen, although they are quite small. Sweet Million has done nothing, the Yellow Pear are all split, and even my old standby Rutgers are loaded with green tomatoes but all red ones are either split or eaten by the voles. The Indigo Rose might actually survive, although there is no sign of ripening. Tomatillos are loving it, though, and I've fried those in place of green tomatoes and they're delicious that way. It's a good thing I canned last year until I ran out of jars, because this year for tomatoes isn't looking so good. I still can't complain, I have an embarrassment of riches from my garden and have three Carolina Reaper peppers in pots, so I can move them inside. Elery paid far too much for seeds and I'm gonna grow those darned things no matter what! Annie