Kitchen improvements
The day after Thanksgiving we replaced our oven. I won't bore people with the defects our old one had developed; we probably could have continued using it for a while before another thing stopped working on it, but Ginny felt that it was time for a new oven while we could afford it.
The new oven is an induction oven, which generates heat through magnetic energy rather than through the conventional electric heating elements our previous ovens have had. (We've always liked the idea of a gas stove, since it takes almost no time to get them up to temperature, but our kitchen's configuration would require some modifications before a gas stove could be feasible.) The processes of induction also meant we would have to replace most of our cooking pots and pans; anything made of copper or aluminum wouldn't conduct heat, and even some stainless steel items don't work. Again, we could afford it, and some of our older pots and pans were in even worse shape than our old oven as it was.
A local company, Boyle's Appliances, helped Ginny pick out a model she liked and even installed it, including adjusting the feet so the stovetop is level. Their service was a step above what we've seen from larger appliance retailers, which is why I'm bothering to mention their name. The stovetop is one of those newer ones with a flat glass surface, which should also be easier to clean than our previous stove.
On the other end of the kitchen, yesterday I installed a peg board I built using some oak from Dawn's garage that no one else was interested in. It's a project I have been wanting to do for a long time--ever since I became frustrated by how hard it is to find the implement I want in our cluttered kitchen drawer, and noticed how many of our larger utensils (spatulas, serving spoons, etc.) have holes in the ends of their handles.
The pegboard material is masonite, and I picked a stain for the oak that would be close to the same color. It's a bit darker than other objects on our kitchen walls, but I'm sure we'll get used to it. Once I got things hung up on the board, Ginny looked inside the drawer and laughed at how it still looks as crowded as ever in there. That's due to all the larger knives we have, which don't have holes in their handles. But as for things on the pegboard, I can see them and find them instantly. I call that a win.
The new oven is an induction oven, which generates heat through magnetic energy rather than through the conventional electric heating elements our previous ovens have had. (We've always liked the idea of a gas stove, since it takes almost no time to get them up to temperature, but our kitchen's configuration would require some modifications before a gas stove could be feasible.) The processes of induction also meant we would have to replace most of our cooking pots and pans; anything made of copper or aluminum wouldn't conduct heat, and even some stainless steel items don't work. Again, we could afford it, and some of our older pots and pans were in even worse shape than our old oven as it was.
A local company, Boyle's Appliances, helped Ginny pick out a model she liked and even installed it, including adjusting the feet so the stovetop is level. Their service was a step above what we've seen from larger appliance retailers, which is why I'm bothering to mention their name. The stovetop is one of those newer ones with a flat glass surface, which should also be easier to clean than our previous stove.
On the other end of the kitchen, yesterday I installed a peg board I built using some oak from Dawn's garage that no one else was interested in. It's a project I have been wanting to do for a long time--ever since I became frustrated by how hard it is to find the implement I want in our cluttered kitchen drawer, and noticed how many of our larger utensils (spatulas, serving spoons, etc.) have holes in the ends of their handles.
The pegboard material is masonite, and I picked a stain for the oak that would be close to the same color. It's a bit darker than other objects on our kitchen walls, but I'm sure we'll get used to it. Once I got things hung up on the board, Ginny looked inside the drawer and laughed at how it still looks as crowded as ever in there. That's due to all the larger knives we have, which don't have holes in their handles. But as for things on the pegboard, I can see them and find them instantly. I call that a win.