Roasted Eggplant and Secret Friends

Yesterday I made roasted eggplant. I couldn't find Meredith's recipe but this might be close. I just cut the eggplant in lengthwise slices, drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled some spices and Parmesan cheese on them.

 I baked them for about 40 minutes in a 425 F oven. Oh boy they were good and so easy to make.

Every afternoon these two little birds meet in secret under our upper covered deck on a narrow ledge. I tried to zoom in with the camera but they flew away. It's too late in the season for them too be looking for a nesting site so surely they have secrets to tell. I wonder what secrets they are? Perhaps they're pledging their true love.

In other news we're finally getting our granite installed today, then we'll start on the back splash. Soon it will all be finished and I'll have photos to show you. I think the shoulder is going to take a long while to heal. Thanks for reading and for all your comments.

Granite and Tile

Here's the granite we chose, it's called amazonas and it reminds me of fossils. There are gray, green, brown and beige undertones. Perhaps you recall we are redoing our kitchen. Click the link to see the kitchen before countertops. We decided to get granite since they now have a 15 year sealant and there is much less maintenance than was necessary in the past. We like the natural look of granite over man-made quartz.

This is a photo of a photo of the granite sample so it doesn't show the sheen or detail it would if I were taking a photo of the actual slab. We plan go to the granite yard to choose our slab since, even in a pattern more uniform such as this, there's a great deal of variety in color and tone. We're hoping to get a slab with predominant green tones in it.

The tile is a subway linen-look tile with gray undertones. What do you think of this tile with the granite. I've heard it said not to get tile that competes with the granite. I'm wondering if a matt tile goes with the shiny granite? I tend to not like shiny tile anyway, preferring a more natural or stone look. I wouldn't mind a tumbled stone look but marble tends to be more white and I'm not sure where to find other tumbled stone tiles. Please give me your thoughts or share links with photos of other choices. We're on a short trip out of town so I may have to catch up with you on my return. Thanks for reading and for all your comments.

New Kitchen Before Counters

As promised here is a peak of our new kitchen before counters are installed. We'll have to live with plywood on the counters and the sink temporarily re-installed since it takes about three weeks before we get the counter top. We're trying to decide between quartz and granite. Several online forums have conflicting advice on which is best, some quite adamant with their opinions. Please weigh in if you have any thoughts about colors or choices in counters. Once the counters are installed we'll add the back splash. We're thinking of tumbled marble or a natural stone look, what do you think? We still have to sand the floors and coat with a clear stain and add a plug cover to the plug on the end of the counter.

Please disregard the dust and dirty dishes. Notice I have my priorities since I took time to put a few pieces of pottery on the left end of the upper cabinets. Even though end shelves are a throwback to kitchens in the sixties and earlier I decided it would had a spark of interest to the area. Notice the three inch can lights in the ceiling, those make a huge difference in this kitchen which was extremely dark. The window faces north so it can be quite dark especially in winter. We may still install some under cabinet lighting. A suggestion was made to use rope lighting, do you have any thoughts about using that type of lighting. I've never seen it used in a kitchen.

Above is the kitchen before demolition. The two lower corner cabinets now have bi-fold doors so the those cabinets are much more accessible. The right upper cabinet is also more accessible now since it's a diagonal corner. Turntables can be installed in all three to make them even more user friendly. Even though I can't reach the top shelf of the uppers without a ladder I can store dishes or appliances I use only occasionally or even stock up on canned and non-perishable food items. Thanks for reading and for all your comments..