Sylvia's Scenario

I am finally getting my before and after shots of the kitchen remodel.  Our remodel was not completed until December 5th and then we got very busy with the holidays.  In January, I wanted to finish the details like window coverings, rugs, wall hangings, etc. to give it that finished look.  This month got busy with visitors but NOW I am ready.  Above is the "before".  Below is "after". Here are more...  Before After Before After You can see how my goal was to brighten up the kitchen and change out the dark wood and granite for a  lighter and more uplifting effect.  We left the cabinets and painted the uppers an off-white (Benjamin Moore called Elephant Tusk) and painted the lowers a navy blue.  We left the same flooring and replaced the old oven with a new wall oven and a new stovetop.   There was a counter where the wall oven is but we don't miss it all.  We now have more space where the swinging door is by the p

  Last Friday,  I hosted a family gathering at our house to celebrate my nephew getting married so there were lots of relatives in town for the occasion.  I planned a menu of Cornish game hens (that I posted here ) and it was a potluck, buffet-style dinner.  I was very happy that the children even enjoyed it which can sometimes be a challenge.  I've learned from hosting meals that if the children are happy, the parents are even happier. For whatever reason, I had a hard time deciding what to serve for dessert and kept going back and forth with ideas.  I ended up deciding on chocolate cheesecake, but then I thought the kids might not like it so I bought some ice cream, just in case. When it came time for dessert, I offered the kids chocolate cheesecake and/or Cookies and Cream ice cream.  They wanted both! Well, I scored on that one. I wasn't planning on serving cheesecake with ice cream but when the adults saw the kids walking away with their plates of dessert, eve

Last week, I made another Ina Garten recipe (from her Back to Basics cookbook) called Italian Wedding Soup in honor of my nephew who married his long time girlfriend. It was a small ceremony with immediate family only but I offered to host a family dinner the next day after they left for their honeymoon so we could all celebrate this wonderful occasion.  We did a buffet style dinner for the seventeen people who came and served Cornish Game hens with  Wild Rice Casserole , the Italian Wedding Soup and everyone brought salads and side dishes. The weather cooperated and we had a beautiful evening and sunset, perfect with our view and newly remodeled deck.  It wasn't too cold on Friday so people were able to go outside and watch the city change as the sun went down.  We couldn't have asked for a better evening. The five children who came also had a great time.  The children were two sets of siblings who had never met but became best buddie