Cooking with Gas

This week was a good week for my kitchen, a very good week.  I have grand plans for this kitchen but am a way away from execution since I’m on a cash-only basis with all my repairs….so for now I’ve painted and made very minor updates to get me by until I can start moving some walls but it’s definitely a less than ideal kitchen.

Kitchen...the before.  This was taken on one of my walk through's before I actually closed....Remember this
wall paper from my diningroom before post?  Yup it really was everywhere

Part of the joy of not cooking in my kitchen for the last couple of years has been this baby…

Cooking old school on my Magic Chef Gourmet Collection Stove...

Yes, there are only 3 burners…and a metal plate soldered in the hole where the 4th burner used to be…and the oven….oh the oven.  Everything either over baked or under baked…..and no working broiler left me pan frying sirloin tips one night when my grill unexpectedly ran out of gas….ugggh.

So, I have known since I moved in it was past time to replace.  The only problem…and this was sort of a big one…I wanted a gas range…and my house was not piped for gas….and natural gas doesn't run down far enough on my street to reach my house (I’m toward the end of a dead end).

This was going to be work….not just your routine shop and wait for the delivery.  I called my plumber (thank you Tim Liporto!) to get the piping going and scheduled a site visit with a gas company who stood me up (a little longer story here but the crux is they stood me up after I rushed out of work early one day and battled traffic to get home to meet with them…not pleased!), then called a different gas company who not only showed up on a snowy Saturday morning but was so pleasant & helpful in walking me through exact next steps….thank you Adam Scott at Scott Energy in Gloucester!

I did quite a bit of online “window shopping” to find just the perfect stove…an LG double oven, 5 burner so I was prepared when I went off to the appliance store (I really wanted to buy local).  In the first store the old geezer sales guy was so condescending to me I refused to spend a dime with them.  Really, I came in with exactly what I wanted to buy, had done the research, knew the appropriate price & questions to ask.  It wasn't a tough sale…10 min max.

Moving along…I then went to Yale Appliance.  Holy cow, they were awesome!  I had heard they were…and they went beyond expectation.  I went in with the info on the LG model I had picked and was immediately greeted by a receptionist who introduced me to a sales guy to help.  20 min later I had seen what they had, discussed the pros & cons of the LG model and ended up leaving a bit poorer but the proud (and VERY pleased) owner of a Kitchen Aide double oven/5 burner beauty.

Showroom floor at Yale Appliance & Lighting

296 Freeport St  Dorchester, MA

source

The following week (last week) they delivered and that couldn’t have gone any better.  I was soooo worried the delivery guys would have problems with my very old and narrow doorways.  Nope, they arrived (on time!) and were in and out in 10 min.

she looks kind of sad on that liftgate...almost like she knows she's heading to the
great appliance nursing home in the sky

Mostly because of my crazy schedule, this whole process took waaayyy longer than it should have (months)….but my patience finally paid off and my new stove was installed on Tuesday.

Fresh off the truck...not yet installed

Now just need to decide what to do with the hood...replace with a micro-hood or embrace
the vintage and keep it (it works fine)...the microwave has to go!

Now I’m just a little reluctant to use it…it’s so pretty and I just don’t want to get it dirty ha.

Look ma...no paint on the side

sharing this week on:
Between Naps on the Porch, The Dedicated House, Savvy Southern Style, Coastal Charm, Cozy Little House, The Cottage Market, The Charm of Home, French Country Cottage, Mod Vintage Life, Jennifer Rizzo, Artsy Chicks Rule, Elizabeth & Co, Our Home Away From Home

80% Local in The Perfect Storm - Gloucester MA

Are you ready for Tuesday?  I can’t believe how fast Christmas came this year….I seem to say that every year….this year I really mean it though.

The last couple of weekends I have really helped boost my Christmas spirit.  I’ve been “shopping local” and trying to find just the perfect thing for everyone on my list.  

Town tree in Gloucester...totally constructed with lobster pots (or
traps for non-Yankee's)

Last weekend I headed to Gloucester (about 30 minutes from my house) to explore – you know where they filmed the Perfect Storm (and of course the locale of the story the movie was based on).

Gloucester MA
photo source

 There is some irony here given sometimes Christmas shopping can feel like a bit of a perfect storm.  Well, Gloucester last weekend was just the opposite…it was a lovely day and without exception everyone I came in contact with was exceptionally warm and welcoming.  

Lovely proprietor-ess at Pearl's.  She really cared about everyone
who came in and thoroughly supported my 1 for you, 2 for me habit.

Pearl's
222 Main St., Gloucester MA

There are a mix of vintage, green specialty, and general boutique shops on Main Street.  There are also a couple of antique bookstores where I absolutely could have gotten lost in for days…it took all the self-restraint I had not to.  But I trekked on and I definitely checked quite a few gifts off my list.  

Oh my, so much bright shiny goodness at Banana's

How fun is this?
Banana's
74 Main St., Gloucester MA

Couple of “lessons learned” from this 80% local shopping experiment:

• In general I have found the local business folks provide a higher level of service than the big box stores…almost every item I bought was wrapped in a bag with tissue & ribbon that can double for holiday wrapping so I don’t have to rewrap everything.  Can you imagine that happening at Wal-Mart?
• No question there is a much more feeling of community when you are actually shopping in your community!
• The traffic/parking problems of heading to the mall…non-existent. I found on street up front parking everywhere.  Now the parking goddess tends to sit on my shoulder in general (some folks are lucky in gambling, I am lucky in parking) but I didn’t see a lack of parking anywhere.
• You can find the perfect gifts in some of the most unexpected places….I scored big time at the local hardware/lumber store.  They had a little specialty nook with specialty gifts and home decorative items. 

Building Center
1 Harbor Loop, Gloucester MA

Some lovelies at the Building Center

More lovelies from the Building Center

• There are certain things that are just impossible to find anywhere but a big box these days…try finding a small inexpensive camera at a local camera shop…for my 8 year old niece (who doesn’t read this blog so I’m not spoiling anything here) so a $200 camera is a bit overkill…we’re talking $50 price range here.  So Best Buy it is and this falls into the 20% non-local budget.  

Funny side story about why I went the camera route for an 8 year old.  A couple of years ago my nephew (who will be 17 next month) got an ipod touch for Christmas.  He wanted one sooooo bad so his other favorite aunts pitched together and bought it for him.  He has really coveted it ever since.  Well, the niece got a hold of it one day and cracked his passcode and decided she would leave him a little gift….250+ pictures of herself!  She just went to town  posing in every way you can imagine a then 5 year old would, with and without Barbie.  We all (including her) thought it was pretty funny…my nephew not so much.  So this year she gets her own camera.

Self portrait

So I have thoroughly enjoyed taking a little time and exploring the wonderful businesses in my area.  Really the only negative for me was it became harder to fight the “one for you, two for me’s” when I was faced with so much loveliness at every stop.  I definitely ended up spending more this Christmas but only because Santa was very very good to me this year :-)

May you all have a very Merry Christmas with all of your families & friends.