From the Oven: Making light of baking - Honey cake and Banana Yogurt cake/muffins

I've been wrapped up in the renovation, and then travel for work, and then getting really sick because of... well, who knows why one gets a stomach virus, but I can tell you that stress and travel don't HELP at all.

I'm starting to feel better, so I thought I'd update you with some baking experiments I've snuck in here and there (pre-and-post sickness, lest I bake the virus into something...).

It's starting to be Fall here in the northeast, and I didn't have a chance to get together with my family at the big family dinner in September, so I wanted to remind myself of "home" AND try out all my new counter space.

So I dug out my old food processor recipe book.

Don't snicker.  This was my second recipe book (more on my first, some other time) and food processors were making their way into home kitchens in the 80's.  This one, The Pleasures of Your Food Processor by Noreen Gilletz, is basically a version of Second Helpings Please, with the recipes tweaked for the processor (check out her other books as well... looks like the food processor one has a 30th anniversary update!).

I remember reading my mother's copy all the time. There were great tips at the start of most chapters-- like why your cake would have "tunnels" in it, different types of substitutions you could make for ingredients, and metric to Imperial conversions.

My copy has this neat feature where the cover bends back, so it becomes its own recipe stand!

The bend in the cover is so it can fold back and become a recipe stand. GENIUS!

I love a lot of the cake recipes from this book, and the two I've made recently are great in their original format.
However, since I'm watching my calorie intake, I decided to try to lighten up both recipes, and am delighted at my own success!

Honey Cola Cake
My all-time favorite honey cake recipe.  My mom and I aced this cake years ago, which was great because my Great-Aunt Celia also made Honey Cake yearly, but she burned the heck out of them (and I don't think she was aware), and so my first memories of honey cake are not the greatest... but this cake is foolproof, and really delicious.

The original recipe from the above book calls for brown sugar, eggs, 3/4c of oil, 1/2c of cola (could be regular or diet), 1c of honey, and the regular flour, baking powder and baking soda, cinnamon.

I swapped out the entirety of the oil for unsweetened applesauce, which brought the calorie count per slice (for 12 generous slices) down from 363 to 249.
This is a great trick, and can be used in any cake that calls for oil. Substitute some or all of the oil for unsweetened applesauce, which helps keep the cake moist.

By doing this, I lowered the fat from 15g per slice to 1g, and cholesterol became negligible.
I also swapped 1/3 of the brown sugar  for splenda (so 1/2c brown sugar and 1/4c splenda), and reduced the calories further to 232.
You can safely remove 1/4 to 1/3 of the sugar from any cake recipe-- in this case, I kept some in, for it's various properties (aside from sweetening, sugar adds texture, draws in and keeps moisture, adds to browning, tenderizing the gluten... this is why you can't just straight substitute sugar for Splenda or other non-sugar sweeteners, which don't all have these properties).

So the final count for this cake (1/12th) comes to:
232 calories
1g fat
53g carb
4g protein
1g fiber
7% calcium
10% iron
2% vitamin A
trace vitamin C

Here's how to make my lightened Honey Cola Cake:

Ingredients:

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1/2 cup brown sugar, packed

3 large eggs

1 cup honey

3/4 cup applesauce, unsweetened

1/2 cup diet cola

1/4 cup splenda (bulk)

Directions:
Heat the oven to 325 degrees. Make sure to do this 20-30 minutes before you start baking, to ensure the oven is at the proper temperature (the first beep isn't the right temperature... you basically need a good oven thermometer to ensure you're there).

Grease (or use a spray oil, like Pam) a 12" Bundt pan, or 10" tube pan.  You need that hole in the middle of the pan to ensure the cake bakes evenly.  You could try other pans, but will have to adjust the baking time.

First, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon until blended.
Put aside in another bowl.

Flour mix, set aside, and the applesauce, standing by.

Process the brown sugar splenda, and eggs for about 30 seconds.  Then add applesauce and honey, blend for another 90 seconds.

Eggs and sweeteners (splenda and packed brown sugar) before blending.

Remove processor cover, and add the dry ingredients, pour the cola over that. Pulse for 4-5 quick turns, just until the dry ingredients are incorporated (a few lumps are ok, you can grab those with your spatula).

Immediately pour the batter into your pre-greased pan. 

Before baking

Bake at 325 degrees for about 1hr, and check that the cake is done with a fork or toothpick-- stick it into the middle, and if it comes up pretty clean (a crumb or 2 is fine), you're set.

Also, when the cake starts to pull away from the sides, you are for sure done!

After baking. Yes, it is gorgeous!

Let cool in the pan for about 20 minutes, before you remove from the pan to cool on a cake rack. 

Look at that light texture! It's really a delicious and easy cake.

The cake keeps well (honey is a deterrent to weird things growing, and keeps it moist), and definitely freezes well.

*******************************************************************************************************


Similarly, I was able to convert my favorite banana cake recipe.  The recipe has yogurt in it for tang and to help leaven the cake (you'll see!).

In this case, I replaced the butter with unsweetened applesauce (which is a bit risky-- butter and oil are NOT the same, chemically speaking.  Butter has fat AND water, and milk solids, whereas oil is just a pure liquid fat.  But it seems to have worked), and replaced the 1.5 cups (!) of sugar with 1/2c brown sugar, 1/2c xylitol, and 1/2c splenda.
The brown sugar is more flavorful than white sugar, and contains molasses, which helps make it moist (and is where the brown flavor and color come from).  The Xylitol is a great sugar substitute, with good flavor and browning abilities-- I'm liking it more and more in my sweet treats.  Splenda just adds sweetness, but doesn't do much in terms of texture, which is why I needed the other sweeteners. It is the lowest calorie sweetener of the bunch.

The original recipe made 9 servings, which must've been HUGE... I decided to make muffins, and I made 18 muffins, so we'll compare against that number.

The original would've been 187 calories per muffin, with 6g of fat (3 saturated) and 38mg cholesterol
My lightened version  has 123 calories per muffin, 1g of fat, and 24mg cholesterol.
Lots of folate and B1

here's the stats for 1 of 18 muffins (I made 12 slightly bigger and 6 slightly smaller, but let's say I made them all even, and this would be the count):
123 cal
1g fat
24mg cholesterol
111mg sodium
101mg potassium
27g carb
6g fiber (some of this is how the xylitol is counted)
3g protein
4% calcium
5% iron
2% vitamin C
1% vitamin A
8% B1
7% Folacin

Ingredients:

2 large eggs

1/2 cup applesauce, unsweetened

1/2 cup brown sugar, packed

1/2 cup splenda (bulk)

1/2 cup xylitol

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 large bananas

1 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 cup greek yogurt 0% fat

1 teaspoon baking powder

2 cups all-purpose flour

Directions:
Heat your oven to 350 degrees.  Do this a good 20-30 minutes before you start baking.

In a food processor, combine the eggs, applesauce, sweeteners, and vanilla.  Whiz for 2 minutes, scraping down the bowl once.
While it's running, drop in the banana in chunks, and whiz until fully processed and smooth.

Meanwhile, in a 2c measuring cup or a bowl, mix 3/4c of yogurt (greek 0% or regular non-fat, or even regular yogurt of a different %, but you'll have higher calories), with the 1tsp of baking soda.
This will take about 2 minutes to DOUBLE IN VOLUME.
Have the kids watch that... :)

Mix the 2c of flour with the 1tsp of baking powder. Set aside.

Mix the yogurt/baking soda puff into the banana mixture with a few quick pulses.
Then mix in the flour/baking powder with about 4 quick pulses.

Pour into your muffin pans,  sprayed with Pam, or a well greased 9x9 pan, or a bundt pan... you can't really go wrong with this recipe.

Well, unless your oven isn't hot enough...then your muffins will be flat, like mine. The leaveners need a quick BLAST of high temperature to start working, and this is why pre-heating your oven is SO CRITICAL.

Let this be a lesson!!!

they still taste delicious though...

 

Yes, the muffins are flat. My oven wasn't hot enough.  Still delicious, but flat.

Bake for 40 minutes at 350 and check for done-ness.  Bake up to 50 minutes total. (Muffins take less time than a full pan of cake).
Easily frozen, and could be frosted if you like that kind of thing.

Kitchen Reno 2013: Day 15 and a few days after - DONE

Well, we were basically done on Day 14, which was a Friday.
However, we still needed some final electrical work, and that got done last Monday (apparently, Rob's golf game was rained out, so he acquiesced to come finish up).

In a mere 2 hours, Rob put together, and put up, the (if I say so myself) really nice ceiling fan.  We managed to closely match the floor color, and the metal matches our metals in the kitchen really well too.

We also got the pendants put up, and after only 3 different hardware stores, I found all the right dimmable LED bulbs (Note: not all LED bulbs are dimmable. When a bulb will last almost 20 years, you should make sure you have the right one).

There are some verrrrrry minor details that got touched up during the week, but nothing I'll call out here.

Now, the hard work, for us at least, began... cleaning and moving stuff back in, and finding the right place for everything, and more cleaning.

The cleaners came on Wednesday, and did a great job... returned the carpet on the stairs to pre-reno condition.  Cleaned the windows, the screens, mopped the floors two more times... we feel so light and clean again, I can't tell you how much better I feel about the house (and, well, everything), now that things are dust-less.

Thursday morning, the movers came to move the giant china cabinet back, as well as the boxes of dishes and cupboard items, and the tv and the cabinet upon which it sits.

They didn't send the same 2 guys as the first day, so they were SURPRISED at how heavy the cabinet was, but they didn't drop it, and after that, things rolled quite smoothly.

One weird thing-- while we were in the midst of moving, the neighbors (not the ones we share a wall with, but the ones on the other side-- they asked to see the house while the movers were here.
Well, ok... seemed like a harmless idea to me.

They were polite and took off their shoes, and then wandered around the first floor with me, commenting on how lovely everything was, and how EXPENSIVE it must be.

?

Did they think I was going to respond to that? Oh, why, yes, strangers, we spend X dollars on this renovation; I'm happy to share that personal information with you, of course.

They didn't just hint at wanting to know the price, they pretty much asked... I think I just smiled and nodded and said something like, Yep.  But I did NOT disclose.
Seriously... what nerve.

Anyway, when the lookie-loos were gone, the couch company called to schedule a delivery of the new sectional-- between 3 and 6pm (they called at 8:50am).  I said, No, I have to be downtown AT 6pm, and that just won't do. Is there anything you can do?
No.
How about tomorrow?
No, we can't guarantee that.
Well, we have a problem then, don't we.
Yes, well, ma'am, I'll call dispatch and see what I can do.

That long story somewhat shorter, when I called the dispatch a 1/2hr later, they had indeed moved our couch to the "express" truck, and it would arrive between 1pm and 4pm.

Guess when it showed up?
4:05pm.
Sigh.

And when they had it unpacked and in place, I had my only meltdown of this entire process.

Our plan was to have a compact sectional, and so we bought a 2 seat loveseat, then a rounded corner piece, and then this interesting angled piece, like a seat-and-a-half, called a "cuddler". 
When it was all put together (which we couldn't see in the store), it was like a very tight J.

I snapped.  You couldn't get into the seats, you couldn't put a coffee table anywhere, the whole thing looked too big, and I just freaked out.

Couch in the original configuration.  My friend David says it looks introverted, needs to come out of its shell

Also, it was REALLY hot out, I hadn't walked the dog yet (and he was having a pretty hard day, which is another story), I had spent the entire day unpacking the boxes (almost everything except the formal china) and didn't have a place for everything (which was upsetting me) AND we had to go this group dinner thing downtown AT 6:15pm, wearing all white and schlepping our own table/chairs/tablecloth/cutlery/wine glasses/food... and I just had HAD IT.

So, I called my darling hubby, asked him to come home asap, we were NOT going to the dinner in white, and we needed to solve this couch thing.

While he was coming home and I was walking the dog and feeling a bit relieved of the pressure of the whole white dinner silliness, I thought of a solution to the couch thing...
We do have enough space to unfurl the sofa by adding a couple of single-seat sections, and we were able to really test this out by taking the sections apart, and not only measuring for the new pieces, but our coffee tables fit in those slots just right (in the end, we just kept one spot open with the coffee table for now, and put the other coffee table at the end... guess that makes it an end table, eh?).

Imagine a seat where the table is, and another seat on the other side of the corner piece, and no end table on the left

 

Note, the rugs are for Haka. He's hating the floors, has wiped out (full Bambi) on them already. He did ok when they were dirty, guess he got some traction. Anyway, it's liveable for everyone now.

Over the course of the next few days and the weekend, and with hubby's help, we found spots for just about everything that matters (and I'm contemplating what to put in the less-reachable spots... things I don't use that often? why even give kitchen space to those things? hmmm...), and we hosted our first guest on Friday night!

So, our kitchen renovation is at a close.  Next week, I'll drop some gifts off for the contractors with thank-you notes. I thought they did a great job, stuck to their timelines, were respectful of our choices and requests, and kept the job momentum going right through the end.

Thank you for following our saga-- your reward is below, our final, picture perfect (before I moved stuff back in) pictures!

Powder room, before (you can't see the epically bumpy walls and paint errors on the ceiling):

Powder room - before

Powder room - after. You can't see it, but the walls are waaaaaaay smooth, and the ceiling doesn't look like a 5yr old painted it (no offense to 5yr olds)

Dining room, sort of before:

Sorry I didn't grab a full-length view of the room, but you see the color and the floor

View of the same wall, from further back

View from the window

I don't have before shots of these angles...so these next few are just "after":

Kitchen as seen from the French doors

Doors as seen from the kitchen

And the money shot:  my view every day when I work from home:

My view from the couch - before

Now, the plan for the new kitchen:

And, the final end result. Love it!

Trying to recreate the angle from the conceptual plan - the stool doesn't live there

And finally, my new work-from-home view:



Done!



Kitchen Reno 2013: Days 13 and 14 - almost there...

Yes, the end is in sight.  I'm so happy, yet still stressed at the same time. There is still so much to do, at least on my side.

Day 13 was mostly about caulking and painting.  I'll spare you the jokes, and just say that Jamie did a great job, as I've come to expect (but am still very happy to acknowledge and give credit where it is very much due).  This guy can paint baseboard without putting tape or anything on the floor!

Speaking of baseboard-- apparently, I don't need quarter-round in the dining room b/c they did such a great job installing the floor, we don't really have a big gap or anything that needs to be covered up.
Huh.
Cool!

Day 14 was again about painting some remaining items, very small detail stuff, and Andrew was back to put some finishing touches on the kitchen.  Toe kicks (the piece that finishes the cabinet, so you don't see underneath it) on a couple pieces, and adjustments to the sliding door shutters (apparently the floor IS a 1/4 inch higher than it had been previously), and the last couple knobs (I actually put them on myself, woo.)

Whatever they were doing, it took all day to do it.  The last hour or so was spent removing all their tools from the house, and most (but not all) from the garage.

Then, Andrew went out and got a mop and some cleaner stuff, and Jamie and he each took a turn mopping down the floors.  Actually, they vacuumed with the shop-vac, and then while Andrew was out, I vacuumed again, trying to get the white dust out of the dark shadow lines between the floor boards and around the edges of everything.
THEN the guys each mopped the whole floor 1x while the other wiped up.  I wiped down the counter tops and the fridge (which was way dirtier than it looked... oh stainless steel, how I love your camouflage ability). Yuk, but it's done.

The floor is about 85% clean now, probably needs 2 more passes to be really clean, and maybe a toothbrush in some spots.
Also, there 1 big scratch, but we'll get a floor crayon thingy to cover that up... I'm glad there's not more, but I'm not really fussed, as my UK friends would say.

I don't want to give away the big reveal, so I'll keep my pics limited...  Monday might see the return of Jamie, but I'm not sure why... maybe just to pick up the rest of the tools?
Tuesday, Rob the electrician comes back to finish the pendant lights over the peninsula, the ceiling fan in the living room, and a few final electrical things on the panel, and he said he'd give us new plugs all around so they're not all grimy and with paint (many are original to the house and have the OLD paint on them).

Here's a few pics to tide you over...

Dining room, almost done! Clean-ish floor too

 

Sneak peek, pantry persective.

Kitchen Reno 2013: Day 12 - (no more) Burn Baby Burn

Ok, so, this is not strictly kitchen renovation related, but the plumbers were here today specifically to put in a pressure-balanced valve in the master bath.  We fixed the guest bath when we moved in, but never got around to doing the one in ours.

Scott (from yesterday) and Andy (owner of the plumbing company) came by today and took about an hour and a half to fix something that has been driving me nuts for 8 years.

This is Andy, hard at work. The pipes on the floor are the cause of my thermo-misery

I'll never have to yell "I'm out" after a shower again!

This is the end result. Not fancy, but very functional.

But, what's happening with the entire first floor, you ask?

Many wonderful things.

The dining room is DONE.  Jamie declares it so, and so it must be.

Dining room? DONE! Note the distinct lack of refrigerator.

The ceiling in the kitchen/living room got a coat of paint.  I think it needs 1 more.

Rob the electrician came by today, but his vendor didn't have all the LED-capable dimmers he needed, so he'll have to come back next week to install those.
Also, because the ceiling was wet, he didn't put up the pendants or the fan.
 

But he did put in LED bulbs (5w each) into the pot lights. Here's a couple that live over the new couch (couch not included in photo... but it's coming next week!)
 

Oh, the lovely lights.

 

Since we have a dark colored backsplash, we made the last minute call to put in black switches and plugs. Glad we thought of that, because I think it looks great!



Come to the dark side...

Rob couldn't find a black integrated switch/timer for the grow light, so we have a regular switch and I'll use a timer on the plug inside the herb shelf.  Can't win them all.

Rob had FITS over the grow light LED panel.  Fits, I tell ya!

He thinks it looks like a "Lite-Brite" (I loved mine; as an OCD child, I mostly just liked to make separate piles of the different colored bits...), and he REFUSES to take his final picture of the job with it in the shot.  I'm not joking.
It's not *that* bad.  Note that it will be hanging and shining flat down, and not out, like a crazed Union Jack!

Rule Britannia?

And seriously, I need this shelf. Look what happens to my basil and oregano when left to my hubby's tender, loving care!

phytocide! Remember my Orange Mint, Basil, and Oregano? Oh, tri-lobe Basil, we hardly knew ye...

Justin came by, and he and Jamie fixed a new hole that Rob had made... Rob made the hole because Justin's crew had to open the wall yesterday, to better anchor the floating shelves, and lost Rob's wires in the process.... (and for the want of a horseshoe nail)

It will be fine in the end, but needs some more mud (and we all know, mud=dust, so we're not done with that just yet).

Front of hole, note the part above the electrical box.  That's new.

Oh, and don't put your finger in there. Live switches.

Back of hole

I have the Ernest Hemingway of holes.

Note the purple walls that remain...not for long!

Once everyone else left, Jamie went to town on the living room and kitchen, and got a first coat of grey wall paint on.

Inspired by my room at Frederick's Hotel in Maidenhead, UK!

TOTALLY DIFFERENT room!  Love it!

Plan for Day 13 - Jamie will tackle some primer on the walls of the powder room, second coat on the ceiling and walls of the living room and kitchen, more mud on the shelf wall (will have to finish that and the closet up on Monday/Tuesday next week, likely).

Powder room, with the lumpy walls all smooooooothed out.

Other things that need to be done-- the drawer with no hand-hold should be getting one, and I hope to see that again soon.

We also need pistons to hold the upward-opening cabinets, well, UP.  Justin said he saw those in the shop, so they should be installed here soon, I hope. 
 

Note the distinct lack of any way to keep this door open. It does soft-close though.

Justin also said I'm doing a great job as the project manager.
:D

Kitchen Reno 2013: Day 11 - O, the DRAMA!

I'm so spiritually exhausted today. Total emotional rollercoaster.  Let me share with you...

I started the day by sitting BOLT UPRIGHT in bed at 7:29am, immediately noticing that my hubby had NOT woken me up (as previously agreed upon, EVERY NIGHT OF THE RENO)... the dog was upstairs, the baby gate in place, but my work had yet to be done.

Every morning, I run around the house making things ready for the guys. 
First, I roll up Haka's 2 carpets (he lies on one near the air vent in front of the front door, and the other is near his bed so he doesn't "bambi" if he gets up quickly).
Then, I move his bed to the basement.  This is his bed:

No small feat.

Then I put away his dog bowls that are downstairs (from his 5pm and 10pm meals).
Then I move my car onto the street, so the guys can make full use of the driveway.
Then I run back upstairs and give Haka his morning cookies, including his *stress ease* cookies, so he won't pace and freak out all day with the guys coming and going downstairs.

Soooo... today, I got all this done by 7:46am, when the first of the crew arrived.

Adam and Andrew, and shortly after, Jamie the Painter, arrived to, I had hoped, paint.

Nay nay, said the gods of Renovation.  You silly human.  You thought you'd be DONE this week? You spoke of Friday, when today is only Monday?
Bwahahahahahahaha... we will throw you many curve-balls and emotional lightning bolts, and put you in your place!

Um, so, ya.  They couldn't paint b/c there wasn't enough prep work done previously... So they spent the morning sanding the ceiling and other patched places, and using much caulk around the crown molding, and other tricks of the trade to make all the seams and nail holes disappear.

Side note: in my head, and online with my friend David, and with my hubby, many juvenile *caulk* jokes were made.  I won't subject you to them here, but just know that I am not even remotely above "going there" and I snickered many times.

Adam made a big hole in the coat closet wall, trying to create enough support for our new floating shelves that go on the wall above the peninsula.
He got it done, now we just need for that patch to dry and get mudded some more, sanded some more.... more dust please! Thank you sir, may I have another?

Jamie did manage to get a coat of paint on the crown molding in the dining room, and then the caulk was dry enough (snicker) to put a 2nd coat of green on the dining room.  Just a couple small patches left to do in there, and we will call the dining room done.
But it's not yet.

Meanwhile... is that BURNING I smell?
I ran downstairs in the early afternoon, and lo and behold, the plumber was here.
I'd been advised that he would be old and Polish (that's a quote... not sure what I imagined, but someone like my grandfather came to mind).  Instead, I got Scott, who looks like what you'd see if Hugh Jackman got skinny, had his goatee, and longish hair.  Very nice guy, easy to work with, and answered my questions, didn't make me feel like an idiot...

Anyway-- he was installing the Kohler magic faucet when I came downstairs, and then he called me when it was time to do the dishwasher.

You remember, the dishwasher? that leaked? and caused the floor damage, that required the floors to be ripped up... that led to the renovation? THAT dishwasher?

Well, seems that the intake valve might not have been the only culprit in that leak.  Scott couldn't install the machine because the outflow hose, the big white one that is sort of like an accordion?
Imagine if that had been eaten by moths... ya. UGH.
That was the skeletal remains I saw, and I immediately realized, THE RENOVATION GODS ARE SPEAKING TO ME and they are saying-- go buy a new dishwasher.

So I begged Scott not to leave (and he went and replaced the refrigerator water hose instead) and I zoooooomed to the nearest appliance store, ran in, bought a floor model (Samsung), wheedled a bit of a discount on top of the floor model price, and got the 2 guys to load it into my car.
Maybe 20 minutes total.
Zoooooomed back home, and Scott and Jamie unloaded it, and installed it.

And then, buyers' remorse sunk in.  My model does not have the best reviews online.  Some are stellar, but many are not.  Luckily, none of the issues involve water leakage.
Actually, funnily enough, this model has a leak sensor.
Irony.

So, happiness turns to fretting as I read more and more reviews.  To shorten the story, hubby and I decide to keep it for now (I have 30 days to return it, and after that, I actually have a 5 year warranty, that includes replacement of the unit if it has to be fixed more than 3 times).
I read the user guide front to back, and I feel confident I know how to load it so that the dishes will get clean.
Fingers crossed.

So, I'm back at ground level of my rollercoaster.  Tonight, I have filtered water from my fridge door, and ice too.  I'm washing the dogs bowls in the dishwasher.

And to top it all off-- I have the worlds smartest faucet. 
Well, as long as it's plugged in. 
Without power, it's just cool to look at.

Here's the video for you-- and it works just like this. But mine's stainless, not shiny:

 

I'll have pics for you tomorrow, I promise :)

Kitchen Reno 2013: Day 10 - The "crowning" glory!

After a week away (a week away, a week away, a week away... to the tune of In The Jungle...) the project is still on track on Day 10, as planned.

I was off teaching my company's new PS (professional services) hires, and while no work was going on INSIDE the house, the countertops and backsplash were being fabricated.

2 other things happened while I was gone:  we chose the profile for the countertops, and we made a fuss about the inside about one of the cabinets that did not turn out as we had originally planned.

*I* wasn't going to make a fuss.  The cabinet, intended to store knives in a hidden drawer and then have a big open space for cookie sheets, came in with hardware making it instead a very large spice rack (lots of wasted room in the back), with a  huge divider, and a tiny slot for cookie sheets.
I was disappointed, and mentioned it when the cabinets were in the warehouse, but was told it could be fixed easily later.
When the cabinet was installed and the hubby saw it, we agreed it needed to be changed asap. I asked again, and the kitchen designer said it couldn't easily be changed (the metalworks were glued/screwed to the door, which pulled open, and wasn't hinged... they'd have to take the whole thing out...)

I gave up, as I didn't want to ruin the whole project plan.  I'd figure out something else to do with the knives and could use the large spice rack for other stuff. Insert large sigh here. 
But it was tainting my view of the whole project.

My wonderful husband, however, did NOT give up. As soon as I was out of town, he contacted the guys, and said that while I was just trying to be polite, I was really disappointed, and we had to fix this.

So-- first thing Monday morning, the first thing the kitchen guys did, was take out the metal works and the door, and the interior divider, and BOOM.  Cabinet we can work with!  They'll make a drawer (we agree that a non-hidden drawer is more practical, since you don't want to open the door all the time to get your knives, and a new door, and we'll be back in business. #happy

Also? Since the box didn't move or change,  we did NOT impact the timeline for the countertop installation, which was my other main concern. #reallyhappy

A win-win (for me. :D ). Literally.

Here's the new inside of the cabinet and the old pieces that caused misery

Cabinet minus the offending parts

The main offending part - so much wasted space, and this is clearly not a knife drawer

Here's the profile of the countertop-- we chose Eased.

We researched, and Eased is easier to clean off

In a fit of inspiration, we also chose a light fixture for the dining room this weekend.  I has anticipated crying, migraines, and misery. But it was actually surprisingly easy (thank you conceptlighting.ca )!

Our new Dining Room fixture

Here's what it looks like in the store, but this isn't our shade color:

I love that the crystals have bubbles in them

It should arrive in 2-3 weeks. 

Other things that happened on Day 10:
Crown molding went up in the kitchen and living room.  I hadn't originally wanted this (just wanted the cabinets to go straight up to the ceiling), but the ceiling had other ideas.  Since it apparently has quite a slope to it (nothing to be concerned about, just a fact of life...ceilings sometimes slope), we had to cover the gap between the straight piece and the ceiling with crown molding. So here it is.

This had to be painted to match the cabinets (Cloud White, don't'cha know?) in the shop, and I think it looks great already. It will look better once Jamie gets done with it.

The crown molding. Subtle, yet necessary

I brought the Kohler faucet/tap (did you know they call faucets "taps" in the UK? No? You're welcome! Now your British friends won't look at you like you're on drugs when you talk about your plumbing choices with them) back from the US where I had it shipped (and saved about $400 or so in the process of buying online and shipping it within the US), and my LED grow light for the herb shelf (STOP SNICKERING. I like basil. That is ALL) came home with me as well.

Good thing I got the faucet in time, because the COUNTERTOPS ARRIVED TODAY, and I about lost my mind from joy. That's 2 days ahead of schedule, and a huge milestone!

I don't want to ruin the surprise of the "big reveal" when it's all done, so here's a snippet of counter, and the 32" sink. 

For the record, I remember the quartz differently. I really like this, and hubby says this is what he remembers, but it's not what I've been imagining. Anyway, I like it. Wait till you see it all together. 

Day 11 should bring an end to mudding and sanding (minus a new hole they need to make in the closet wall, to more securely install the floating shelves we requested), and a lot of priming and painting. 

Do I dare tell Jamie the Painter I found a scuff on the wall? Or do I try to erase it???