Hot for coffee [giveaway]

How zonked am I after New York? Don't ask, but if there's one thing that can give me a good kick in the pants to keep a day like today on track, it's a short sweet shot of espresso from my Nespresso machine. I wasn't always a coffee drinker though, nope, as a teenager I was possibly the world's worst barista at a coffee bar in London, see, I only drank tea then, rather than coffee (apologies to anyone and everyone I ever served an awful cappuccino to). On the design front, the latest from Nespresso are the limited edition CitiZdot Paris and New York machines, designed by Sylvia and Lo Toth of Collectif T.O.T., which, I can guarantee you, will always give you a perfect cup of coffee and zero teenage attitude.

[giveaway] Okay, now here's a bit of fun - My friends at Nespresso have offered up the chance for someone to win a CitiZ in Limousine Black (click here to take a look at one)! You're eligible if you live in North America, and all you have to do is sign up for my e-mail newsletter (see that little box under the Subscribe title on the left, that's the spot). Oh, and anyone who's already receiving for the newsletter is automatically entered. Get yourself signed up by 6pm EST on Friday, May 21st, then I'll be randomly picking 1 lucky winner!

  

 

Almost, but not quite

The neighbours must be loving us - All this snow and ice has meant the filled-to-the-brim skip out front of the house can't be picked up yet (fingers crossed for a slight melt soon), and now it's a wee bit more full with packaging from the kitchen install. Yup, the kitchen is going in (can I hear a woot-woot?); the Home Depot installers arrived yesterday and the work has begun on fitting all the de-lovely Venicia by Kraftmaid cabinets.

We went for the Mirra Collection Carina doors in Bianco Gloss (take a boo below at a Venicia kitchen in the Chianti Gloss, and squint to see it in white and not red, lol). They're chic and simple flat panel doors with a swish integral aluminum pull for a seamless and ultra-modern look. The planning process at the store was great; we worked with Georgina (she's a treasure!) who knows the Venicia matrix upside-down, totally maxing out on all our storage needs. Make sure to click here and read up about all the Venicia cabinet's bells and whistles.

Picking out appliances was, as usual, eye-wateringly difficult since there is so much fab gear to choose from. I firmly believe that once you pick the range/cooktop everything else will fall into place and, since our range will sit smack dab in a peninsula, we decided to go with one that had a downdraft extractor so we didn't have to worry about a ceiling-mount rangehood. Tada! Jenn-Air had the perfect solution, we went with their Dual Fuel Slide-In Downdraft Range, which led us to pick their Cabinet Depth Side-by-Side Refrigerator and the Energy Star rated Built-in Dishwasher - All in stainless steel with a great modern industrial vibe.

For the countertop and integral sink we're set on Corian (though I'm flip-flopping on the colour), the faucet is the fantabulous new Karbon articulated kitchen faucet from Kohler, and the backsplash a ribbed white glass subway tile from Daltile called Taffeta - All available to order through Home Depot.

Click here to see the story so far on what's been happening on our mondo reno - We're finally in the home stretch, with a move-in date of Feb 1st!

    

Kitchen Confidential

Can I say how much I love, love, love the way this kitchen for Canadian Family turned out? I had the pleasure of working on the project with Jen Reynolds, CF's editor-in-chief, and the results were shot by the always sassy Michael Alberstat (make sure to check out his portfolio).

Jen's drab old kitchen didn't reflect her century home's feel or her eclectic sense of style (it was as dull as dishwater) so we spent time layering charm back into the space; making sure it worked for her family and had all the bells and whistles Jen had always wanted (like those smashing fridge drawers from GE Monogram). Here's a quick rundown - The kitchen was planned and installed by Home Depot, the antiqued painted cabinetry is by Kraftmaid, those new windows are from Jeld-Wen, the sink and faucets (including the pot filler above the cooktop) are Kohler. As well as the fridges, the oven and cooktop are from GE Monogram (the SmartDispense dishwasher is GE Profile). And finally, that gorgeous Persian rug was lugged back years ago from Iran by Jen's husband Neil!

You'll have to grab the Winter '09 issue for the inside scoop on the whole project, but I wanted to share a few of the shots below.

 

Animals allowed

When it comes to cleaning I'm allowed to do one job - vacuuming - so I have quite the close personal relationship with our Dyson. I can never quite believe how much stuff it can pick up, even in our teensy temporary apartment (are we really that filthy, lol???). Ours is the DC23, a compact canister version that brilliantly fit in an under-counter cupboard in our old kitchen; gotta love that smart design.

Up next from Dyson is a new handheld called the D16 Animal that would be totally handy right about now (we're about to start Pug sitting). This smart rechargeable cookie is designed with a powerful motorized head to make merry with pet hair, and Harley the Pug, lawd love him, sheds like mad. The D16 Animal hits shelves on Nov 15th.

Have it, want it

I made Pear Butter on the weekend, I know, very Martha of me, but we ended up with two bags full of ripe pears from my in-law's garden and I had to think of something. Apparently I'm part of a trend, lol; a new generation getting into preserving, canning and pickling and all that jazz. I have to tell you, listening to my Italian contractors talk obsessively about the best way to make and can tomato sauce (the trick, apparently, is to let the tomatoes dry for a day or two to concentrate the flavour) I'm not the only one. My trick for the Pear Butter (it's all in the pureeing) was the indispensable and goodlooking Ikon Blender from Breville - Check out their line if you're hunting for well-designed countertop appliances.

Otto can't make a smoothie, but how about a shot of espresso? This little guy is the very racily styled  '08 Australian design award winning stovetop espresso machine that has caffeine fanatics drooling. You'll have to sign up online and wait a little for an Americano, since the first orders ship out in November.

Oh and btw, the Pear Butter is delish.