We have somewhere around 140 sf of granite in the kitchen; big kitchen with big island plus a buffet separating kitchen and family room. So the $14k price from the second place is about $100/sf (for both material and install). This is a quote for the exact type of granite we chose - we went to yards to look at various slabs and chose the Blue Eyes as the one we liked the look of best. Then our GC sent out the dimensions of our requirements to the two shops for quotes for our specific requirements. From what I have seen/read the Blue Eyes is on the expensive side, it reads more as a gray with blue highlights than blue, but it does have the blue which I guess adds to the expense. But DH is in love with it... The Costa Esmerelda slabs are cheaper - $8500 installed for 4 slabs. I think we're about 110 sf there (quote includes slab granite for shower walls in addition to counter and tub) so about $77 per square foot. I think what we've chosen is on the more expensive side for granite; funny how it seems to work out that way. Original allowances from our contractor were $10k for kitchen and $4k for bath, so we're over that (bath one was for granite countertop and tile shower, but I'm really leaning towards the granite for both and no grout!)

Rubyfig: I have had soapstone for about a year (GM original). My experience has been that in the beginning, mineral oil evaporated more quickly. I started using the beeswax that you read about on these boards. (I got it at Sur La Table.) Buffing the beeswax onto the counters definitely made them stay darker longer. Eventually after a few months, we stopped having to oil them as frequently and they still stay dark. Now, we only oil them when we have people coming over. Sometimes I'll just use mineral oil because you don't have to use as much muscle to buff it the way you do with the beeswax. We still get water spots but I don't really worry about that. We can rub them out with a sponge. Hope this helps. DC

Ann T, I was shooting for a 100% whole wheat loaf, but I might have to cave in and add some higher protein flour to the mix. The recipe used was a recipe that was specifically designed for all whole wheat, home ground. I will try the "stretch and fold" method next time, although I've not had good luck with that technique so far. I'm not careful enough, I guess, and I'm impatient, so I've failed exactly twice, LOL, and gone back to just kneading bread. It didn't call for an overnight rise, just kneading and rising in the "regular" way, but mentioned 20 minutes of kneading, so it got kneaded well the first time around. It contains orange juice as an ingredient in the original recipe. When I mixed, kneaded and set it to rise, it just didn't rise at all. That's when I decided to let it sit overnight to see what happened. Well, what happened was exactly nothing at all, LOL, other than I got that fermented smell. As you can see from the picture, it was quite wet, but after adding the biga it was more hydrated, so that was a help, I think. I tried a "no-knead" recipe too, and used the Danish dough whisk I got from KA because it was difficult to stir and that dough was impossible, I couldn't save it. After two days of fiddling and racking my brain, it became chicken food. Grainlady, as the nice folks at Pleasant Hill Grain instructed, I ran the wheat through at about a "medium" grind first, then ground it on the finest setting for the second grind. I think I'm going to have to add an additional grinding, but some experimentation will tell me, I suppose. It has an OK texture, I was trying to keep it somewhat "grainy", but it wasn't. I also had some sites tell me that it helped to "age" the flour, and I thought "well, that's silly, the stuff is supposed to be most delicious and nutritious right out of the grinder". The final product, though, didn't taste much different to me than that made with commercially available whole wheat flour. (shrug) So, at this point I'd give the thing 3 stars, LOL. It's noisy and time consuming, the dough is difficult and the taste isn't really better than my usual whole wheat bread. It's my first try, though, maybe it'll get better. There's a whole bunch of stuff besides bread, like pancakes and waffles, hot cereal, we'll try the stuff as pizza dough. And then, it's on to corn, if I can find some that I don't have to buy 40 pounds at a time! If not, it'll have to wait until fall, when my Florian Red and Oaxacan Green dent corn is ready. Assuming it grows and the deer and raccoons don't eat it all... Annie

Hi All, Thanks so very much to everyone for their help! We finished most of our kitchen (only need the backsplash) and after the helpful debate here on this board, and working with our installer and the granite fabricator, we wound up with an incredible 6 cm, stepped edge counter! Everything fit perfectly, including the stove, dishwasher, etc. I know there were a couple of people here who expressed doubt this was possible or would work out very well, but after doing the math on my own, listening to the more supportive comments on this board (thank you!) and speaking with the team here, we proceeded with our dream kitchen counters and it worked fantastically! I spent a ton of time with the shop guys at the fabricator and detailed exactly where I wanted the cuts for the laminated, stepped edge and the average person cannot tell it is a laminated... the granite lines up perfectly and no obvious seam since it is stepped! Have a look and please let me know what you think of the outcome!