Skillet-Seared Salmon with Curried Pineapple Essence

This was a stunning combination of flavors, though I would use less vinegar next time. I froze two dinners' worth and it was excellent as leftovers.

1 1/2 cups (1-inch) cubes fresh pineapple
1/2 cup rice vinegar
1/2 t curry powder
1 garlic clove, minced
1 t cracked pepper
6 (6-oz.) salmon fillets (1 inch thick)
1 t kosher salt
1 T ground cinnamon
1 T ground coriander
1 T black pepper
1 T ground allspice
1 T ground cardamom
1 T ground cloves
1 T ground ginger
1 1/2 T vegetable oil

Combine first 4 ingredients in a saucepan. Bring to a boil; reduce heat, and simmer, uncovered, 5 minutes. Remove from heat; let cool slightly. Place pineapple mixture in a blender; cover and process until smooth. Stir in cracked pepper. Set pineapple essence aside.

Remove skin from salmon, and sprinkle salt evenly over fillets. Combine cinnamon and next 6 ingredients. Rub one side of each fillet with spice mixture.

Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until hot. Add salmon, spice side down, and cook 4 minutes on each side or until salmon flakes easily when tested with a fork. Serve with pineapple essence. Yield: 6 servings

Source: Cooking Light 1998 (Oxmoor House)

Day 24

This was plumbing day. And only plumbing, so the project lead left soon after the plumbers got here. We now have a cabinet full of shiny new pipes and a new disposal.

Check out this faucet! It's what we ordered, of course, but it looks like we stole it from Hagrid's hut at Hogwarts. It's huge! I don't understand why Kohler would create a perfectly normal-sized sink and then design a faucet that's more appropriate for a swimming pool. As with the aircraft carrier--I mean island, and the super-sized cabinet pulls, I will get used to it. But it is sort of this giant sentinel, standing guard over our kitchen...

Experienced a big uh-oh when I looked inside the sink. The plumbers had installed a chrome flange on the disposal side instead of the oil-rubbed bronze one that matches the left side and the faucet. Hummph--either it didn't fit or it was defective. Jim and I figured we'd take up the issue with the project lead first thing Monday morning, and we headed out for some late afternoon cycling.

But no. The project lead called me on my cell phone at 4:30 when we were about five miles down the bike trail. Sure enough, he said, the Kohler flange does not fit the Kohler sink (how dumb is that?) but he already had two possible solutions for us. The first was a set of oil-rubbed bronze flanges from a different manufacturer. Unfortunately, they were bronze in name only and were actually made of plastic. That didn't sound so good. The second choice was a set of metal flanges in the same biscuit color as the sink. On the spot, we decided to go with that. It may not be quite the same color as the sink, but it should be close enough.

I have to say, I am not as impressed with Kohler as I thought I would be, but I am more and more impressed with our contractor. Did I mention I loved this guy?

Not to be outdone, we also have a shiny new dishwasher, hooked up and ready to go. Well, not quite, as the final electrical happens on Monday.

End of week 5--and what a week!

Day 23

The floor is finished, as promised. There's not much new to see, as the main traffic area is covered in brown paper. Trust me, though, it's gorgeous.

The process is winding down. The plumbing is due next, then the final electrical, the window, and the appliances. Then...done!

Dinner: We went out. We've been going out all week; there's a point at which the hassle is not worth the effort. Besides, we're both tired of leftovers and Crockpot.

Day 22

The flooring guys continued to make great progress, surprising since they only worked from 10 - 3. Jim suggested that the back-breaking, knee-straining nature of the work limits the time they can spend doing it. Anyway, it looks great and they promise to finish up in one more day.

The floor is gorgeous and we're very happy with it. Oddly, though, it does not have the impact that the other two big ticket items--the cabinets and granite--have. It's beautiful but not awe-inspiring. There's no "wow" factor like there was with the other installations, especially the granite. Maybe because a floor is just, well, a floor. It is simply the surface on which we'll move from one place to another. It is the blending element that turns the kitchen, eating area and family room into one big room. And a "blend," by definition, brings two or more elements together but has no specific identity on its own.

Day 21

The flooring guys got a good start--half the family room! Still several days of work ahead, so we don't expect to move back into the room until Friday.


This floor is "engineered" tigerwood. It is a hardwood, not a laminate, but it's built in layers of plywood with the true hardwood layer glued on top. This is supposed to help alleviate any problems with shrinking and expanding because of temperature and humidity fluctuations.

As with any wood floor, it will scratch and dent. According to the product literature, it has an aluminum oxide finish and may be sanded down to the bare hardwood and refinished up to two times. Or it can be "screened," where only the finish is sanded off and re-applied, an infinite number of times. Also according to the literature, scratches and dents may be viewed as giving "character" to the wood floor. Dogs and their toenails are one of the biggest sources of that "character." They even suggest putting booties on the dog's paws. Yeah, right. We just have to accept that with a really big dog, "character" is more likely to happen!

Meanwhile, the rest of the tiles for the backsplash have been installed, and half the grout has been applied. The tiles looked great before, but grouting provides such a finishing touch.

Day 20

Week 5 is and will be the most difficult week so far. This is flooring week. Inconvenience is no longer the word--total disruption is. We moved everything out of the family room, but since the living room is already our "temporary kitchen," there was hardly anywhere to go with it. Lighter things like lamps and stereo components went upstairs. Easy chairs, coffee table and end tables went into the dining room, which left the entryway for the sofa and stereo console.

The carpet came up with a little crowbar and knife action. Then the pad with much vacuuming and scraping. The new 1/4" underlayment covered the old subfloor. It looks nice and clean.

By the end of the day, more progress had been made on the tile backsplash.

It's all exciting, but I'm ready for it all to be over!

Day 19

It was a very busy day in the kitchen!


The granite arrived about 10am. If the granite templating was tedious, the installation was anything but. I watched them mix the epoxy to seal the seam, adding color so it won't be visible against the Blue Pearl.






Then they donned ear, eye, and breathing protection to cut out the area for the cooktop.













The next to last piece they installed was the cap for the aircraft carrier--I mean island. Two guys carried this thing, and told me it weighed about 400 pounds! Good thing the project lead made that island bullet-proof.










Then they "glued" it down--where's that thing going, anyway?











The final look? Absolutely stunning. Having only seen the Blue Pearl on little store samples, it was mind-boggling to see it in these large expanses. Even in my best dreams I couldn't have imagined it was so beautiful.











Meanwhile, the new skinny cabinets arrived, just in time to put in the bottom one before the granite was put over it.







The painting specialist was here to paint the walls. This paint is called "Deer Valley" and the darker taupe he's putting on the range hood is called "Tiki Hut." Whose job is it to come up with these names?

Finally, he and the project lead made a good start on the tile backsplash. The main background tile is called "Durango," and is a natural tumbled stone, meaning it doesn't have any square edges and is pocked and pitted on the surface. The metal-look tiles are also tumbled, and pick up the oil-rubbed bronze of the faucet and door handles, and the darker color of the range hood. We agonized over this design and color theme--looking forward to seeing it come together.

End of week four. There's a light at the end of the tunnel!