Gettin' Stoned

With just a handful of days left before two dozen hungry people show up for Thanksgiving Dinner, we are squeaking in the first step of a kitchen reno: new sink, faucet, stovetop and counter.

Goodbye!

A last look at the sink, faucet, cooktop, and counter. . . .

Friday and Saturday were busy days at That Old House.
On Friday, the plumber disconnected the old sink and faucet (eek! no dishwasher!).
See that chip on the old porcelain sink?
That, and a leaky faucet, started this whole do-over.

You know how it goes: "We have to replace the faucet. If we do that, we may as well replace the chipped sink. If we do that, we really should replace the worn out countertops. If we do that, no sense keeping the electric stove we don't like. . . . " and before you know it, you've rebuilt the entire house.


Early Saturday morning, the electrician disconnected and removed the smooth ceramic electric cooktop,
and installed a regular outlet for the new gas one.

All gone!

Before he was finished, the crew from the stone fabricators turned up
with our new L-shaped soapstone counter, ready to install.

Within 2 hours, we went from green laminate with falling-off oak edging:

To this:

Soapstone!

Any backsplash ideas? We haven't decided yet.
Thinking maybe beadboard, maybe subway tile, maybe Hershey bars. . .
(just checking if you're paying attention!)

An in-progress mosaic:

The soapstone looks gray at this point;

after a first application of mineral oil, it looks like this:

Before noon, the installation guys were done and gone, and we had my Dad, my sister and her husband here for a pizza lunch. Before they arrived, Howard and I frantically cleaned up masses of stone dust.

We had no idea that the installation would involve this:

and this:

Do you see the coating of stone dust on everything?
Really, they should warn customers about this so you can cover things.
On the other hand, I should have realized!

The plumber is due back today or tomorrow, to connect the sink and faucet and gas cooktop, and then I can get back to cooking and doing dishes and . . . hey! Maybe I'll re-schedule that plumber.

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Next step: taking the too-big counter that we nicknamed The Isthmus, and shrinking it to human scale, topping it with butcher block, and putting open shelving above it for dish storage.

I need the dish storage, and I need for The Isthmus to stop being a catch-all for stuff.

(It's The Isthmus because it's not an island nor a peninsula,
and there weren't any funnier geographic designations left to choose from.)

Thanks to Susan at Between Naps On The Porch for hosting Metamorphosis Monday. I really am enjoying having a genuine metamorphosis to show! Visit her blog for more changes.

To Mary of Little Red House, double thanks are due -- for hosting Mosaic Monday, and for sharing her love of her own soapstone countertops with me. Her blog today will have dozens of beautiful mosaics to ogle!

And guess what we realized?
The fireplace hearth at That Old House is made of . . . soapstone!

So I'm sure we made the right choice for the kitchen.

Now, a moment of Chaotic Truth, or something from the

"You Can't Make An Omelette Without Breaking Eggs" division:

It's The Isthmus, full of stuff from the L-shaped counter and some of its cabinets. What a mess. But it's all part of the chaotic creative process. At least that's what I tell myself.

Meanwhile, this guy was very interested in the whole process,
mostly because he doesn't see his cookie jar in its usual spot:

The neighbor children came by on Sunday to visit and see our new counters. Dion is infinitely patient with the 2-year old, who likes to lift those fluffy ears and poke around underneath. This little boy was afraid of dogs, until he met our Dion. :-)

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I'm very excited about our soapstone countertop. At seven addresses over 31 years, Howard and I have pretty much made do with whatever kitchen Fate handed us, and that was fine. But I have to admit, it's tremendous fun to be making this kitchen ours, and I'm still pinching myself that we're really doing it.

Now, let's hope I remember how to cook with gas!
Or Thanksgiving might be pretty dismal. -- Cass

Country or Cutting Edge? Two Thrifty 'Scapes!

Some new thrifty treasures arrived yesterday at That Old House.
So today I want to play with them!

Don't forget to visit the blogs listed at the end of this post,
for so many more wonderful thrifty discoveries, and beautiful tablescapes!

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Now for my thrifty finds: in this box . . . a Craigslist find,
but I can't show you the whole contents
on the slim chance that my sister reads my blog.

After Christmas, okay?

A second box held two sweet old silverplate forks, more than a century old,
in the Blenheim pattern I showcased in Tuesday's post.

These are the first Blenheim forks I have found. I just love that pattern, and Ebay.

This last box is a flat-rate post office fellow who was waiting on my front porch when I got home last evening. It is jammed full of old nickel silver flatware, also from Ebay.

Now if you didn't think I needed an intervention before this, you know the awful truth now. In this box are 132 pieces of flatware, pretty evenly divided among knives, forks and lovely great big spoons.

I already have some similar flatware, so I've got service now for more than 50.

These pieces are old. They were never fancy, they were workaday flatware around the turn of the last century, and I think they have great charm and good strong lines. Most are in very good condition; a few have some issues, but that's OK.

I paid less than ten bucks for the whole shebang.

In Princeton yesterday, I picked up these:

This is a stack of just 11 heavy red dinner plates by Oneida, but the rest of them are still out in my car! I bought 51 red plates in all for a total of $20. The hard part was lugging them out to my car and wrapping them for the trip home.

This flatware and dinnerware, after a good cleaning, will get tucked away in the pantry and be ready when duty calls. When we have one of our big parties,
we'll have matching flatware and plates for as many as 50.

And Howard, if you are reading this, sorry I forgot to tell you about the 132 pieces of old flatware.
Oops. My bad.

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Since it is Tablescape Thursday, and I am so in the mood to play with new toys, I used one of the red plates and some of the flatware in two different settings.

One is sweet, the other more edgy.

Edgy first.

This tablesetting is in honor of my daughter Anne, away at grad school and much missed.
The big black cup is from her school; how perfect for chili on a cold night!

Chili, eaten with one of these massive lovely old spoons.

Anne loves old flatware almost as much as I do.

The ceramic hand was one of Anne's undergraduate projects.

I like having it keep me company.

And I can never say my daughter didn't give me a hand. :-)

The red placemats and napkins were a set: $5 for 4 of each at HomeGoods.

Does it look as though we are having Hand Soup for supper?

Anne likes these old pewter S&Ps that were my Mom's; they have good classic lines.

I love the mercury glass candleholder I bought on a Goodwill
hunting trip with Annie, near her school.
It echoes the lines of the wineglass, a handblown crystal wedding gift.

Now, for something completely different!

Swapping out the edgy for the soft and sweet.

Same big red dinner plate, same linens, same flatware, but a rooster plate from T.J. Maxx (bought on a trip to visit our daughter Alida in California) brings in some other colors.

Turquoise, in a bowl (Dollar Tree) that also can hold our make-believe chili.

Aqua blue wineglass, a summertime thrift shop find, one of 5, blown and bubbly.

I've promised these to Alida, and eventually I'll ship them out.

Two little chickens join us. I think they are looking for a rooster.

The mercury glass light is still with us, and still lit.

A few mums in red and yellow in a very old silver spooner, well tarnished and used.

Do you have a favorite table setting? Do you like the more modern supper setting:

or the cozy country one?

My soapstone kitchen countertop is being installed on Saturday; I am so excited and nervous! Meanwhile, please keep your fingers crossed that by Wednesday, I have a usable sink and cooktop, or it's Happy Meals on paper plates for my Thanksgiving guests!





Join Susan at Between Naps On The Porch for more fun with dishes,
on Tablescape Thursday.













And buzz over to say Hi to Suzanne,
at Coloradolady, for her
Vintage Thingies Thursday blog party!









Tales from Bloggeritaville's
Leigh hosts
Thrifty Thursday. Check it out!

And the hand is waving goodbye. . . .

Happy Thursday! --- Cass

Silver Kvells, Silver Kvells . . . .

Kvell -- from the Yiddish, to gush with pride; usually reserved for proud grandparents when new babies are placed in their arms, as in, "Oy, I'm kvelling!"

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A couple of epiphanies today: One, that it is only 9 days -- and counting! -- till Thanksgiving and Two, that is is very hard to photograph silver well, and even harder to do so in sunlight.


I was poking around in my bits of old silverplate flatware, making sure I have enough so that everyone who wants a fork gets a fork at the Thanksgiving table. Dion says he's okay without a fork, but that's just one among more than two dozen gathered for the feast.

It occurred to me that I am going to have to polish these bad boys before T-day. They are just too tarnished to use for putting food into mouths. I don't know about you,
but I always think I can taste tarnish if it's on an eating utensil.

It's not a pleasant condiment.

So it looks as if I'm going to have a date with Wright's Silver Cream in the next few days.
I'll have to figure out a good reward for myself for that chore.
And don't say my reward will be nice gleaming silverware; I stopped falling for that one when I was 12.

Today, I'm kvelling over my old serving pieces that will be called into duty next week.
I know a lot of you also love vintage silver, so here they are.

First, a charming and surprisingly weighty ladle that just arrived in the mail yesterday.
Pardon the sun reflections.

It's a Reed & Barton Tiger Lily pattern silverplate piece, from the early 1900s. This pattern morphed mid-century in Festivity, but this piece is from the old school, and I love it. It's got a gorgeous monogram. Not our initial, but so what?

Our initial is "L" and it's on the next serving pieces -- a tablespoon and a meat fork also from the early 1900s. Can you see the ridges in the business part of the fork? They give the piece so much life and sparkle.

This is Community Plate's Georgian pattern, also very heavy and in really excellent condition given it's almost a century old. This old plate lasts and is so much nicer that most of what is available today in silver plate.

I have a lot of this Georgian pattern, including a dozen or so of the big spoons; they were used for soup 'way back when, but are more the size of our serving spoons now. Here's a darling little berry spoon:

Also ridged. It will dish up homemade cranberry sauce.

Just a wee bit younger is this Art Nouveau pattern meat fork that has seen some hard use:

He's an old fella, and it shows.
I wonder if someone buffed off a monogram on the handle?

He's still got lovely lines, though. He'll get a very gentle cleaning!

Another ladle, this one also a bit worn and showing her age:

Why do I think the spoons and ladles are female, and the forks and knives are male?
Don't answer, I think I can figure this one out all by myself.
Paging Dr. Freud, paging Dr. Freud. . . .

She, too, will be cleaned very gently:

Do you buy things for odd reasons sometimes?

Take these next spoons, almost 9-inches long:

These are the Rogers Blenheim pattern, from the late 1800s.
I have never seen any knives offered in this pattern; I think they are old enough that the manufacturers
back then only made forks and spoons and serving pieces,
and knives were made by other companies and purchased separately.

Blenheim is an ornate pattern, but I bought my first few teaspoons because of its name.
Our Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, Dion, is brown and white, which is known as the Blenheim color in Cavaliers. But it turned out that I loved the pattern, and occasionally do an Ebay search for it.

In fact, I'm waiting for delivery of a couple of forks, and spoons. These will be my first forks.

Here's the bowl of a small Blenheim spoon, 6-inches long.
Lovely detail. It, too, will serve cranberry sauce.

Most of my pieces are plated; old plated pieces are inexpensive to buy, and some of the patterns are just charming. I do have some sterling, though, including this lovely and large vintage serving spoon:

Look at those curves!

That was a gift from my mother-in-law.
It will serve the mashed potatoes; it does so every year.

And, finally, a cheese plane -- a modern blade on a vintage sterling handle.

My family is Norwegian; cheese is definitely on the befores table at every gathering.

This pretty piece will probably slice the Nokkelost!

********************* It's Party Time! *********************

Thanks to Tam at The Gypsy's Corner for hosting Three Or More Tuesday!

Thanks to Diane at A Picture Is Worth 1,000 Words for hosting 2nd Time Around Tuesday!

And thanks to Roomies blog for hosting Past Due Tuesday!

Now go visit; I know I will.

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Your moment of Peace . . . sun pouring through our dining room bay windows this afternoon:

This is why I pray fervently for a cloudy Thanksgiving! That sun shines a spotlight on any bit of dust or schmutz left behind after the pre-party cleaning.

Strong sunlight? Heck, I don't want to see myself in it! -- Cass

Brownie Mess Cookies

What computer?

I haven't spent much time online this week; I apologize to all the wonderful bloggers I have not visited! There are some computer issues here at That Old House; I am not blaming anyone; I'll just glance over at Howard and whistle.

But today, while the winds of a Nor'Easter send the leaves skittering across the conservatory roof, and rattle the old shutters something fierce, I thought I'd make a few quick and easy cookies.

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My poor husband. We hosted about 20 people for a casual dinner last Saturday night. Our daughter Alida was home from California for a a quick visit, and she invited some friends and family to the house.

We set up appetizers in the conservatory.

That's my brother-in-law Bill digging into the shrimp and the hot artichoke dip; past him, a study packed with 20-somethings, and in the foreground, my 89 year old Dad.

Now I ask you -- would you trust this man on the left
to choose and bring home dessert for the evening?

I did.
And he brought home the Mother Lode of great big bakery cookies.

I think my husband was hungry when he went shopping.

I sent the many leftover cookies home with the young people, and on Sunday night about nine o'clock, when Howard toddled off to the kitchen to scavenge for a snack, I heard him rustle thru the leftovers . . . and then I heard, "Dang!"

No cookies.
Cookies all gone with the young'uns.
But when he gets home tonight, there will be some nice freshly baked cookies for him.

I usually have brownie mix in the pantry, Duncan Hines being our house brand.

And you can make a respectable cookie with it.

You will need:

And the recipe, such as it is:

My printer isn't working. Can you tell?

Dump the mix, the oil, and the eggs into a bowl:

I tried to make a smiley face with the egg yolks as the eyes.
Hey, not everything works.

Mix it all up, by hand, as some lumps are okay. It is really stiff.
The whisk stood up all by itself in the dough.

Look! It's the Eiffel Tower!

When it is all mixed, toss in whatever you want.
Within reason. Probably not capers.

The recipe calls for 1 cup of chocolate chips, but I didn't have any. So I plunked in a handful of milk chocolate chips, some white chips, and some dried cranberries. I wanted to put in coconut, which is really good in these cookies, but Howard doesn't like coconut. I also wanted to put in some nuts, but nuts don't like Howard.

Do you have your cookie sheets stored like this?
It's my Moment of Awful Truth for today:

Someday they will tumble out and kill me.
And I will richly deserve my fate.

The cookie sheet gets a spritz of cooking spray, and it's time to make the cookies.

An ice cream scoop makes nice even plops of dough.

Dion takes up sentry duty across from the wall ovens.

Look at that concentration. He knows what is in those ovens.

Ten minutes -- voila!

Houston, we have cookies.

Sweet, huh?

Now, it would be a shame if these cookies just languished on the kitchen counter for hours until Howard gets home.

I think they need a test run, don't you? How about we go into the study,
where That Old House gets written, and bring some coffee and a couple of cookies?

The old cherry drop leaf table between the sofas is just right for holding snacks, and books.
I've been poring over kitchen books, and that's what I'll do now,
while I test drive the cookies. It is called multi-tasking.

Ummm. . . I really did eat one! And it was delicious --
a little crusty on the outside and the edges, and soft and chewy on the inside.

Remember there are many real recipes at Foodie Friday, at the Designs by Gollum blog. Go visit Michael! Now. Or no cookie for you, either!


Have a lovely weekend! We are tackling that big counter in the kitchen tomorrow, if by "we," I mean "Howard." I will be lunching and shopping with Annie in central Jersey, far from the sounds of drills and hammers. It's a good plan, don't you think? -- Cass