Why a blog, why now

After watching the movie “Julie and Julia,” I was inspired to write this blog. Julie Powell took on the challenge of cooking all 524 recipes of Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking in 365 days. In a tiny apartment kitchen. And wrote a blog about it. That is not what I am doing here. We are not DIY kinds of people, so other than deciding on tons of details, I am only recording it. And it had better not take 365 days. But it seems like an interesting project to report on the progress of our kitchen remodeling on a daily or semi-daily basis, as it's happening. So there is the parallel with Julie's blog.

Of course, a kitchen remodeling project does not start with Day 1 of Construction. We have been working towards that day since last September, and probably thinking and dreaming about it for 10 years before that. So many decisions! So many details! So much money!

Our house was built in the late 1980s, and the kitchen design reflects the times. When we moved in 12 years ago, it was wonderful. Well laid out, big enough for two cooks, plenty of storage. As the years went by, however, its faults began to emerge, or maybe we just got older and more particular. It is a bit too country for our tastes, and looks smaller and darker than it should because of overhanging soffits sporting hideous dark green wallpaper. We never removed the wallpaper because we thought we'd remodel one day, so why bother?

Today I can say we are very close to Day 1of Construction. The design is finished and we've made our choices. We signed the final contract last week and put down a hefty deposit. We are committed! I hope you'll join me on our journey over the next couple of months. Whether or not you're planning to remodel a kitchen some day, it should be interesting!

What's a kitchen blog without recipes? Over the next several weeks, I'll share a few of our favorite dishes (not from Mastering the Art of French Cooking). We would not be doing this if we didn't enjoy cooking—and eating!