What fun! I remember those days with my three little ones. I made MW oatmeal and raisins for my grandson this am. After the blizzard, my landscape looks similar to yours--except for the mountains. :)

Your pic of the happy diners is the sweetest thing I've seen in a long time! Just wonderfully heartwarming! Thanks for sharing that.

I don't think I'd be able to take my eyes off that amazing view to cook anything. OK, maybe I would just to see those charming smiles on your darling diners. :) But, after cooking, I'd make a latte and just sit and stare at that view!

Great recipe and cute kiddies. Enjoy them. Amazing view! I am glad you are to the point of your reno that you can enjoy your kitchen and the griddle looks like it will get years of use. We started out wanting a griddle, but it didn't work out. So, a bit jealous there! I hope you get the counter situation cleared up soon.

No breakfast today. Yesterday was snowy and we made oatmeal and apples sauteed in a bit of butter and brown sugar.

Tonight more snow - Italian meatball soup, salad, and Sullivan Street Bread is on the menu and watching The Martian.

Thanks for the compliments on my kids! They are so happy to have this space in our house back and so am I!

I will also never tire of that view to the east!

We watched The Martian last night, nightowl! It was really great. I read the book right after the movie came out and absolutely loved it. The book is far more detailed than the movie and they take a few liberties but overall I loved it.

We use the griddle almost every day. Pancakes, French toast, grilled cheese, and quesadillas are frequently on our menu. It reverses to a grill but I haven't used it yet. DH didn't make many requests for our kitchen, but a decent sized griddle was his big wish. His other requests were solid wood floors and real stone counters.

Mmm, Italian meatball soup sounds yummy!

Meatball Soup
Sullivan Street No-Knead Bread

Sweet kiddos, Beautiful view and brekky. sounds and looks like heaven. DH made me eggs and veggies with salsa for before I went to the Dentist. He treats me well, he does. :)

The Martian was good. Even the movie critical DH loved it.

Hope everyone's okay in the storm.

Frozen faced Yeona in the snowless BC NW. (Vancouver BC)

What a view! I didn't make breakfast but I did make chocolate chip cookies for my little people who have been out in the blizzard most of the day. We have 30" of snow so far, west of Baltimore, and it isn't letting up. I haven't seen a plow all day!

Nightowl- I love meatball soup! Thanks for the recipe.

I made breakfast for dinner! LOL. I'm in South Detroit (aka Ontario) and the weather is pretty good. Fairly mild this year and very little snow. I'm from Vancouver Island, and I miss my mountain views, so thanks for posting! :) Your kitchen looks great and the kids seem to be enjoying it!

Ohh, my! What a nice photos of the little's. I love the your island and WOW the view is spectacular. Love the barn and snow.

I can't wait to try the recipe for the syrup and the bread. I'm in Texas where the wind howled yesterday but today was sunny and chilly. Nice Texas weather.

We really like breakfast for supper, too!

Thanks for sharing.

Sunny

Do your kids realize they are famous? I never heard of buttermilk syrup. I have to keep it in mind and surprise my family with it.

I love the view and your different counters. The kids are so cute.

I made this for breakfast this morning in our bathroom as usual.

Spinach, broccoli, onion and bacon quiche. That's my bathroom counter and the tub is to the left (top of picture).

I just came home from MiL and made beef barley soup at her house for her convalescence. It was so strange to cook in more than 2' of space.

Regarding DH, is that Suzuki institute as in violin?? Your kiddos are darling and surely enjoying the new kitchen! I also love my griddle, but not much cooking or eating this week being down with virus crud. Love your view, what state are you in?

beachem, it's so rewarding producing a beautiful meal in a bathroom kitchen, isn't it? Somehow the accomplishment is so much more. The quiches are beautiful! I cooked in my small bath for 8 months and what a wonderful feeling when it's finally over!!

Beachem - I'm continually amazed at the food you make without a proper kitchen! I was struggling throughout the reno and we have a wet bar in the basement where I had a microwave and toaster oven set up.

happy2b - My kids think any pic posted online makes you famous. It
doesn't help that DH's orchestra has a YouTube channel and they think
*he's* famous too!

bbtrix, I live in Utah. And yes to the Suzuki strings. DH is a cellist and youth orchestra conductor. My 11 year old plays the violin and my 8 year old the cello. 4 year old hasn't started an instrument yet. I don't play anything! I'm a theatre lighting designer and stage manager.

This is the latest video with his orchestra. DH arranged the piece. The musicians in the video range in age from 13-17: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWImXdnxznE

The video is wonderful! Brings back beautiful memories for me. My daughter studied violin and viola with Suzuki strings for 12 years, was a member of a professional chamber group, and finally concertmaster with the youth/community orchestra her senior year of high school. Nothing compares to this experience! She also was an actress which led me to set design. The arts enrich our lives so! Thanks for sharing!

Ahhhhh, such a beautiful, beautiful thread! Got a little teary-eyed actually at those kids...brings back memories.

I'm getting a calm, warm, and fuzzy feeling now....thanks scoutfinch.

This wasn't made this morning, but last night.

Even though I made it last night, Dh and I ate it reheated in the micro for a late "breakfast" this morning. Does that count?

Adding: Oh and just in case it was unrecognizable, haha, it is lasagna!

Sullivan no-kneed bread and italian meatball soup. The Martian was GREAT.

Ok ppl! I am on diet and these pics are killing me!

Btw, Southfinch, from what I can see we have similar pendants.

gw · More Info

aktillery9 - I LOVE your kitchen. We seem to have similar taste. Your whole house is just lovely.

Those pendants are perfect with your island color, which is very similar to mine. Who makes them? Mine are a super budget friendly Amazon find by Linea Di Liara.

Ariella Ovale Pendant

Diets -- The meatball soup - make it with half the meatballs and make them with chicken/turkey and cut the breading/eggs and bake in the oven to drain off any fats, and make it with half the pasta and twice the spinach. It is mostly beef broth, tomatoes, saute celery/onion/garlic.

Soup is good for diets. Filling and takes a while to consume.

A few days ago we made Canal House Chicken with ginger and fennel. It was a bit of olive oil. Everything else was chicken, a head of cauliflower, and lots of spices.

Made homemade borscht during the blizzard yesterday.

re: borscht Tell me more please. Great plate, too.

I almost forgot that my mother made homemade syrup when we were kids.

loved your post. Your kids and your view are great looking.

Thanks nightowl!

The dishes are Mikasa "High Spirit". They are from their Maxima series; super strong, and oven microwave, DW safe. The design is an old one (had been around for years before we even got our set--I had wanted them for a long time!). It is discontinued unfortunately. :(

The borscht recipe is my modified version of my late MIL's recipe (hers had meat, beef chuck cubes I think). Mine doesn't use any meat.

I only made it once before without meat, the recipe below is yesterday's ingredient amounts, and what I did.

Borscht

12 Qt pot

11 large beets; parboiled (to soften skin a little; makes beets easier to peel) and peeled, set aside

Then, shred in food processor; (I did ~1/2 the beets w/ 3x3 julienne disk, and ~1/2 w/ medium shredding disk-- mostly because I couldn't remember which I used the other times I've made borscht! You can use either disk, or grate by hand. After processing the beets, I chopped them a little in a large bowl w/ this curved hand-held chopper blade that my parents got for me in Alaska, just to make the beet strands a little shorter--some were kind of long from the large size beets)

*********************************************************

16 cups water

1 onion cut in half (I leave the skin on)

2 small bunches carrots cut up (carrots had stems, I cut them off, also, they weren't very large or thick carrots)

4-6 celery stalks, and some leaves cut up

Allspice berries

Salt & Pepper

1 lemon (juice)

Boil 1 1/2 hours (?), strain out veg

Dill

Allspice berries

Lemons

Vinegar

Sugar

S&P

Add beets to the broth in the pot, along with 1 bunch of dill (either in cheesecloth/bouquet garni or finely chopped?), add more water to pot (to about 1" from rim), more allspice berries, more S&P, juice of 4 more lemons, add sugar to taste, and some vinegar.

Boil at least one, or more hours, adj seasonings to taste.

Serve hot or cold, with sour cream or smashed potato (mash w/ a little butter, no milk) or plain boiled potato.

Thanks for the video link, scout. Super nice! I look forward to checking out more from the channel!

I am actually teary-eyed and have a lump in my throat from that lovely video and the beautiful music on it. Your husband truly has a gift to inspire the creation of something like that from those young people. I'm so glad there are people like him in the world. I subscribed! Thanks for sharing.

Thank you so much for the kind comments on DH's video. He truly loves what he does. Once upon a time he wanted to conduct a professional orchestra but after a few years in that world he realized he could make a bigger impact by working with youth. The students inspire him daily and he has an amazing group of committed parent volunteers too. They have blessed our lives in a million ways.

This house was actually built bythe grandparents of one of his orchestra students. By the time we met her, her parents had bought the house from her grandparents when the grandparents retire. Her mom was one of those committed parent volunteers. They got a job transfer the day we signed the contract on our old house and heard from our mutual violin teacher that we were house searching. They called us that night and offered it to us before they listed it. This house is a 5 minute drive from DH's work in a school district with great services for our youngest child's language delays. It was a literal answer to a prayer. DH also teaches cello lessons to our GC's son.