My husband I gave our kitchen a facelift this year.  We were on a tight budget so we were pretty limited as to what we could do.  We decided to replace the truly ugly black and white swirled vinyl  floor with a beautiful slate grey porcelain tile.  We also replaced the old range with a gorgeous new stainless model from Sears, added a hood that vented outside (the old hood just re-circulated the air into the room), replaced some plastic closet doors with some nice shuttered doors, and generally tried to liven the place up. 

We didn’t replace the cabinets because we couldn’t really afford to.  The only problem is that we still don’t have enough storage space in our kitchen.  So we’ve been shopping for a new kitchen cart that will match our old cabinets but still be able to transition when we eventually do upgrade. 

This is one of my favorites so far:

Kitchen Cart With Granite Top, $499 at Target

I really like this kitchen cart from Target.com.  It has two big cabinets on either side with 2 shelves a piece in them, which are good for storing large items like mixing bowls or your blender.  Plus it has four drawers in the certain for storing smaller items like silverware.  There is also a towel rack on the side and a big granite countertop.  The whole thing is on wheels which makes it perfect if you want to use it sometimes as a kitchen island and other times have against a wall.

I am not certain if we’ll want to go with a dark granite when we replace our countertops, which would be my only hesitation to buying this cart.  However, I think that having a granite top is much nicer if you want to use the cart for prep work.  I’ve seen a lot of kitchen carts with plain wood tops, and I don’t think that’s ideal for food prep.  I am still going to shop around a bit, but I think this cart would make a great addition to any kitchen, and may end up in mine!

If you get bored of the regular steak and chicken that most people cook at home, I recommend trying lamb.  I’ve got a recipe for a very simple Dijon Rosemary Crusted Leg of Lamb that I think is a home run.  It needs to marinate overnight and the cooking time is considerable (over an hour), but the prep is quite simple.

Dijon Rosemary Crusted Leg Of Lamb

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup honey
• 2 tablespoons prepared Dijon-style mustard
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 4 cloves garlic
• 5 pounds whole leg of lamb
• 1 teaspoon coarse sea salt
• 2 beef bullion cubes

In a blender or food processor (I like my Cuisinart Mini Prep Food Processor), combine the honey, mustard, rosemary, ground black pepper, lemon juice and garlic. Blend until it forms thick paste and apply to the lamb. Place in large ziplock bag and marinate in the refrigerator overnight. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Place lamb on a rack in a roasting pan and sprinkle with salt to taste. Add 2-3 cups of water and 2 beef bullion cubes to bottom of roasting pan . Bake at 450 degrees F for 20 minutes, then reduce heat to 400 degrees F and roast for 60 to 70 more minutes for medium rare. The internal temperature should be at least 145 degrees F when taken with a meat thermometer. Let the roast rest for about 10 minutes before carving.

Fried egg with chorizo and sage pesto sandwich

Preparation Time: 20 mins
Cooking Time: 4 mins
Serves: 1

Ingredients for the sandwich:

1 ciabatta roll
1 egg
5 hand cut slices chorizo  ( about 5mm or a little less than 1/4 inch thick)
A hand full of rocket
A little olive oil

For the pesto:

50g (2 ounces) sage leaves
50g (2 ounces) walnuts
150 ml (2/3 cup + 2 tablespoons) extra virgin olive oil
1 clove garlic
50g (2 ounces) Parmesan
5 grams (1 tsp) salt

Method:

To make the pesto using the traditional method take a pestle and mortar and crush all the ingredient with the mortar gradually incorporating  the extra virgin olive oil, if you don’t have time for this throw everything in to a mini blender and pulse until a rough texture  is achieved. You will have enough to fill a small jar and you can keep this in the fridge for up to 3-4 weeks or alternatively fill an ice cube tray and freeze, then you can pop a cube into pasta sauces or enrich soups etc…

To make your sandwich, fry the chorizo in a hot pan with a little oil, not too much as the chorizo will produce its own oil.

When the chorizo is starting to crisp up move to the side of the frying pan and fry your egg until the white is cooked through and the yolk is still runny.
Slice open a ciabatta roll and fill with the chorizo then the rocket and top with the egg, finishing with a drizzle of pesto.

via Design Sponge

If you saw yesterday’s corn chowder recipe, you read that at the end of the cooking time, the recipe calls for scooping out half of the chowder, pureeing it in a blender, and then adding it back to the crockpot.  This was a bit of an inconvenience, and has prompted me to add one of these handheld blenders, sometimes called immersion blenders, to my kitchen gadgets list.

The KitchenAid immersion blender above is made by KitchenAid, and allows you to blend anything, including scorching hot corn chowder, right in the pot.  You can immerse the blender in up to 8 inches of liquid, and it comes with several dishwasher-safe attachments.  Sounds much easier than taking my blender apart, and washing the glass pitcher.  I found this immersion blender at FFEMAX.Com for $52.99.

You can use handheld blenders in many recipes, including soups, mashed potatoes, whipping up diet shakes, and quick milkshakes.

There are lots of ways to use up Halloween pumpkins, and here is one delicious option. This pumpkin soup recipe includes cinnamon croutons for topping.  You can even get creative with the croutons for making this a real Halloween treat.