Kitchen Help Career Guide and Counseling

Question: Kitchen Help? What Can I make With The Following Ingredients...Let me know of the best thing that comes to mind...thanks in advance -Dry Ingredients- All Purpose Flour Corn Flour Seasonings and Spices of many sorts Salt Sugar(and Brown Sugar) Cinnamon Long Bread Sliced Bread Rice Beans Potatoes -Liquids- Eggs Milk Water Oil Tomatoe Sauce -Meats- Chicken Ground Meat Sliced Ham

Answer: take the chicken dip in in beaten egg, then dredge it in a mixture of flour and cornmeal with some mexican spices ( cumin, or some cajun spice) bake at 375 till cooked thru you can bake a few taters in with the chicken, have the beans as a veggie.. i cook mine in butter and garlic.. for dessert you can take your bread cut it into slices sprinkle with cinnamon sugar and broil to carmelize

Question: What ornamental kitchen items or decor pieces have you collected for your kitchen? Today I found this antiquish type oranger juicer, it will look great in the kitchen- and it is usable of course. In the kitchen,I also have three little chickens on a wooden base and a old fashions cooking jar. What do you have?

Answer: an duck like soup serving bowl. And lots of diferent dishes sitting on there tripods/supports, A ceramic ruster and an stuffed one. A stainles steel jag which doubles as a termos, never used for it stands as an ornament, and so on.

Question: is a skylight above a kitchen table in a kitchen a selling point on a home? we are renovating our kitchen and? have the option to put a skylight above the kitchen table. would doing this be a nice selling point on a home if we were to eventually sell it or would it have no effect? if this something that is desirable in a kitchen?

Answer: I wouldn't consider it a selling point. Too much possibility for obtrusive lighting, and if future buyers needed to install direct lighting in that area, they might have to redo the ceiling anyway. We always used the kitchen table for meals and as the social hub of the home (games, homework, puzzles, bills, etc.) , so a selling point, for me, would be excellent pendant lighting, preferably with adjustable height and intensity.

Question: What are your best kitchen organizing tips? I curently live with the tiniest kitchen EvEr (actually stored stuff under my bed- yes it was that bad) I am moving this weekend into a kitchen with a galley kitchen- one side is stove & sink (cabinet under sink), the other side is floor to ceiling cabinets (YAY) I also have 5 drawers. Since I am starting fresh, what are your best organizing tips?

Answer: Moving is the best time to organize! You have to sort through all of your things in order to pack them so take advantage of this opportunity to start fresh in your new place. As you pack your kitchen items ask yourself if you really need/use it. Be honest with yourself here, your answers will save you space and sanity. Get rid of anything that is clutter - anything that is just taking up space, not used at all, or not used enough to warrant keeping it. Try to avoid specialty items or items that are just meant to save time. For instance, you don't really need a food chopper - cutting can be done with a knife. It might take a little more time, but it will save space. You don't really need a food processor and a blender - one or the other will suffice. When you get to your new place, unpack your kitchen in a very logical order. Put rarely used items up high or in the back of cabinets and more frequently used items within reach and in the fronts of cabinets. Place things as near as possible to where they will be used. For instance, cooking utensils, oils, herbs and spices would go closest to the stove. If you run out of space you might need to get creative. Things like a baking box work great. Get a plastic storage container with a lid and store everything you use for baking in it. The box can be tucked away anywhere that you have some extra space and when you need to bake you can just grab your baking box and everything you need will be at your fingertips. Best wishes for your new place.

Question: How can I clean kitchen grease on embroidered picture? This embroidery has been hanging in my kitchen for some years and has kitchen grease, just from being in the kitchen, on it. I need to know how to clean it without ruining it. Thank you.

Answer: Take it to dry cleaner.

Question: Will having my condensor dryer in the kitchen cause cooking smells to stick to the clothes? Hey everyone, I'm slightly concerned that if I have my condensor dryer in the kitchen (Which both draws air from the kitchen and puts it back out into the kitchen) - If the kitchen has cooking smells in it (eg. from curry or meat) will that stick to the clothes as they are being dried from the air that is taken in from the kitchen or should I not worry? Thanks everyone! Stephen.

Answer: Yes, I've often thought this, so I never use it when cooking and when I do cook I always have the window open and the extractor fan on.

Question: In my kitchen I have to cook food, I want to make automatic exhaust fan when kitchen fill with smoke? Regarding to above question, while cooking food I have to on/off exhaust fan manually but I want to have fully automatic circuit to controller the exhaust fan. When my kitchen get smoke (from burnt oil, burnt chilly etc.) the exhaust fan automatic on for five (5) minutes then off after 5 minutes. Could any body provide me the circuit diagram with parts list. I will be very grateful with you. Thank you very much for your cooperation in advance.

Answer: Although it sounds like a good idea it does have one drawback that you should consider. If the smoke is caused by a real fire you would NOT want the exhaust fan to come on automatically. I don't know of any device that is made that will do what you want. I suspect you could modify a smoke detector so that it would activate a relay rather than the alarm. This would require determining the voltage and current available from the alarm buzzer circuit. You would need to find a relay that could work using that available power. It would probably require some desoldering and soldering to connect the smoke alarm to the relay. You may be able to find a time delay relay that will work off the available power from the alarm circuit. If not you may need a separate time delay relay to provide the 5 minute on/off time. Note most smoke alarms have a small amount of radio active material. Please use caution if you decide to cut one open. There are smoke detectors typically used for industrial installations that have a built in relay for remote signaling. This may be an easier route since you won't need to do any modifications to the smoke detector itself. You would still need a timer. (See the last link below.) Mouser Electronics (link below) will have relays and timers.

Question: What color to paint the kitchen for good feng shui? I have recently started reading about Feng Shui and learned that our kitchen is in the worst part of the house (Northwest) and that a kitchen should never be red (ours is cranberry red). I really don't want to repaint our kitchen white but am open to other colors that are good Feng Shui for attracting good luck, prosperity, wealth, etc. Any suggestions? Please list how long you have been interested in Feng Shui and why you are suggesting the color you are. Thanks in advance!

Answer: It sounds like you have "Fire in Heaven's Gate" Using alot of Earth as in granite, pottery ceramic vases, stones, Earth colors such as yellow , tan , ochre. Fire ‘burns’ the metal of the NW and will affect the career, money and benefactors for the head of the household. The earth element will weaken the fire element and nourish the metal element of the NW. Strengthen the area for the patriarch with a metal statue of a man. Also place some yin water near the stove. That could be still water in a shallow bowl with a wide mouth. The water extinguish some of the fire energy. You situation may not be as bad as you think. Fire is good for the flying star 8 and that may be in your NW if that is the case , it will outweigh your neg affects of the Fire at Heaven's Gate. Also imagine you are blessing your family with a nourishing meal everytime you use your stove.

Question: How do I keep my kitchen from getting greasy? My girlfriend and I just moved into a new apartment, and it's great, especially the kitchen. The only thing is, that since it is in an older building, the kitchen does not have a grease fan. Our old place had this same issue, and often, there would be a film of grease on everything, especially if we cooked a lot. We are almost afraid to cook in our new kitchen for fear of this problem. Is there a way to prevent this from happenning, in that cleaning off this grease is very dificult and time consuming.

Answer: Buy one of those splatter shields for skillets. Those will help cut down on the amount of splatters when you cook. Also, use cleaning products that contain orange extract, as that is a wonderful natural degreaser for cleaning!

Question: How can I know my kitchen is strong enough for me to install heavy granite tiles? I want to install 12x12 granite tiles in my kitchen and was told that I have to first check if the subfloor in my kitchen is strong enough to support these heavy tiles. Any advice is welcome. I don't want to see my kitchen collapes with granite tiles over the time.

Answer: you have to determine what kind of sub floor you have... if it's concete or terrazzo, you're goo to go. if you have a woos subfloor, that is in good condition, you should be able to install over a 1/4 inch backer board, fiberrock, or hardiboard

Question: How can i make my kitchen into a kitchen and living room? My apartment has no living room,and a big enough kitchen.How could I make the kitchen into a living room also? I need Ideas so it doesn't looke completely stupid.

Answer: does it have a dining room or something though? cuz then i would simply add tbales and chairs (smaller though probably thatn whatever you have in your dining area) and put those in the kitchen, and put a living room where the dining area used to be. just get one couch, one or two chairs or a loveseat, put the tv thever if you want or an area rug and pillows and shams and curtains and carpet for color. if you dont even have a dining room, it would be very hard to do that. depending on the shape of the kitchen, if its some kind of rectangle i would simply take some kind of divider or screen like these maybe http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q=room+divider+screen&btnG=Search+Images&gbv=2&aq=1&oq=room+divi and then divide the room in half so u can put a living room, without people seeing into your kitchen.

Question: What color should I paint my kitchen? I want to update my kitchen. The cabinets are off white with brassy antique handles. There is beige tile and my appliances are white. I am going to put up an Earth/Clay stone black splash with a mosaic border. I am open to painting the cabinets (cant afford to replace them right now) I want to paint my kitchen a dark brown/cafe color. Any suggestions. My Living area is burnt orange and the dining room is white. I want to paint the dining room too. The dining room is situated between the kitchen and living room; so, I need the colors to flow smoothly between the three rooms. The floor in the living and dining rooms is light color wood. Help! Thx!

Answer: Go to your local home improvement or paint store and get paint swatches that are the same colors as the rooms that you are already happy with. Hold them together and compare them to other swatches that you like. This will give you an idea of how these colors will look near each other. The dark brown sounds nice, but try it out next to the others first. Another option is to buy several poster boards (they're cheap) and paint them the colors that you are considering. Hang them in your kitchen one at a time for a few days and see how the colors look in the actual area that you are wanting to paint.

Question: Do kitchen cabinets come in 17 inch width or will I have to make them? I am adding some cabinets to my kitchen along a wall that has dimensions of 84 inches long by 17 inches deep. I want to add more cabinets and a desk area. I want to know if stores like home depot or lowes have these prefab or if I'll have to make them myself.

Answer: Standard cabinet sizes are graduated in 3" widths, starting at 9". Standard depths are 12" deep for wall cabinets, 24" deep for base cabinets, and 18" or 21" deep for vanity and desk cabinets. If you are looking for a 17" depth, you could fir out some 12" wall cabinets (30" high) and build up a toe kick area below them, or cut down the "knocked-down" cabinets sold by home centers. This shouldn't be too tough, since they are in pieces when you purchase them.

Question: Is it possible to have a kitchen remodeled on a REALLY low budget? Need to have our kitchen remodeled and have no idea where to start. I'm guessing any contractor or kitchen remodeler would probably laugh in my face...but is it possible to have a 40 yr-old kitchen remodeled for under $25,000 and get good quality cabinets, new fridge, new dishwasher, new built-in oven, sink and stove top, new countertops and some recessed or in some way enhanced, lighting? And replace existing ceramic tile floor with either hardwood or laminate flooring? The work area is about 10 ft long X 8 ft deep. The eating area is about 9 ft X 11 ft. If this is totally unrealistic, what's the approximate minimum we'd need to accomplish this? Has anyone attempted this on such a budget?

Answer: You can do a lot for $25k... Spend some time on HGTV's web site... Heck, try to get on one of those shows! They'll do it for you :) www.hgtv.com Lots of kitchen remodels --- lots of ideas to make your own...

Question: What color and/or kind of kitchen backsplash should I get with dark cherry cabinets & madura gold granite? I have dark cherry kitchen cabinets with madura gold granite countertops. The combination of the two makes my kitchen very red. Is there a kitchen backsplash that would take attention away from the reddish color that I have. My style is traditional and I have a SW Believable Buff paint on the walls. Thanks in advance!

Answer: Maybe add some corbels or some other accents of a different color to take the stress off all of the red? http://www.invitinghome.com/Corbels/OW_Corbels_List1.htm

Question: How can I brighten up a large, older kitchen with inadequate windows? I moved into a75-yr-old bungalow that I love, all except the kitchen. This was my grandparents' home until they passed away, and then a rental property for several decades. The kitchen is very large, with counters,cabinets & appliances in a 'U' shape at the far end, and a large space for a table where you enter into it from the dining and family room. My mother had custom cabinets done by a novice carpenter 20 yrs ago. They're honey oak, but just okay in quality. I'd love to replace them, but it's not in the budget yet. The appliances are at least new & black. Countertops, flooring & walls are dingy shades of beige. There's a set of small windows over the sink that let in the only natural light in the room. There was once a screened porch off the back kitchen door, & a third window in the kitchen by the eating area that let in more light. But my mom had the porch enclosed, so that window now looks out onto nothing. What techniques could I use to brighten this dreary room inexpensively?

Answer: Its amazing what a good faux paint job will do to kitchen cabinets. in my last house I had standard white cabs and was going to replace them. My girl friend said she would take care of it. She painted them this hideous shade of red and I was freaking out but for a second coat she streaked with black and they look just like the best cherry-wood cabinets. (amazing) I also used rope lighting under the cabinets. this provides great highlights to your counter tops and I have found that I like the effect at night as a night light. Its not too bright and yet it allows you to function in the kitchen when the rest of the home is dark.. Look into pop Skylights. This is just a tube that goes from the roof to the ceiling. They let in a lot of light during the day and really light things up without using electricity. Flooring is easy these days and you can do it yourself. Stick on vinyl flooring is colorful and easy to install. The counter tops can be done with the same tile to match or a good contrasting color. If you have one wall that is appliance free and cabinet free consider a bright color. Orange or Red. this will help open the room and cheer the place up. Or... Mirrors make a room look twice as large and help to brighten as well. Just some things to think about. Try painting the cabs first. Even white would be better than Dingy shades of Beige!! If you give me an email address I will send you a photo of the redone Kitchen with the cool cabinets.