New and improved

I cooked in my new kitchen for the first time Sunday night, and it was a revelation.

I love the gas top on the range. Turn a burner on high—it's high! Ask it to simmer, and it complies instantly. After 15 years of raising children, it's a real shock to my system—and a delightful change of pace!—to get this kind of immediate response to my requests.

And if the first meal I cooked was a humble batch of Maid-Rites (Pat's recipe, available on request), let me just say that we all enjoyed them. I promise to make more exciting fare once we are 100% moved in.

Buoyed by my success with the stove top, I decided to fire up the big oven for a batch of brownie bites, cooked in mini muffin tins. I set the temperature to 325 as directed on the Ghiradelli box (yes, I used a mix) and went down to the basement kitchen to fetch a few supplies.

By the time I made it back upstairs, just a couple minutes later, the oven was fully preheated. I couldn't believe my ears when I heard it beep. I'm used to my oven taking a good 10 minutes to heat up.

In other news, the stools from Overstock.com were about 2" too short once you sat on the padding and smooshed it down. Fortunately, we found another option at Pier One last night, and really like them.

Jay is here today working on punch list items like island hardware, installing the new corner cabinet door, and miscellaneous tweaks. It's coming along!