'30 Kitchen Dreamin'

So, we're standing on the edge of the funnel here at 2430...the kitchen remodel funnel. And there we pause peaking over the edge of the funnel, half scared, half excited, half unsure, half confident, and half really bad at fractions. In this moment of reflection, we'd like to use a few posts to share a glimpse at what is inspiring our soon to be torn up and put back together kitchen. We're lovin' this island. We really want a dining height eating surface and this is the most elegant integration of one yet.

The feeling of this room is really nice. The graphic black kitchen with the mis-matched dining chairs.

A nice mix of materials.

The red here helps define the work area graphically.

I'd Like to Tap that House: Iconic House

This is the first of a series that I'd like to call "I'd Like To Tap That..."
where it will be designs related to awesome spaces, interiors, kitchens or architecture.

I really like this simple iconic shape of a house extruded by Kavellaris Urban Design. It's great how they even continued the lines further out in the front to create the balcony and covered car lot.
Dylan & I are starting to gather some inspirations for our kitchen, and we like this open kitchen & dining room.The seemingly simple concept is well-executed with thoughtful details through out the house inside and out. Pretty amazing how how bright it seems even though the only light source is coming from both ends of the house!

Ballard Danish Treats

One of the OG shop in Crownhill/Ballard neighborhood:
Larsen Bros Danish Bakery is this totally understated and seemly unappealing bakery that's filled with colorful goodies and super affordable Danish baked pastries, cookies, and bread. I've yet tried everything. But so far all the Danish treats I've tried have been more than satisfying!Some of the Scandinavian treats they offer:
Danish Kringle
Cinnamon Rolls (kanelbullar)
Julekaka Bread
Yest Bread (vetebröd)
Saffron Bread (Saffranbröd)
They even offer these beautiful special Scandinavian Kransekager cakes made from layers of these almond-based paste cake for wedding or anniversary celebrations! I love how the mini-flags is part of the decoration.COOKIES!!
One of my fav is this flaky almond past-filled pastry with poppy seed. A light and delicious treat for only $1.25Not sure what these green things are....haven't had the courage to try them yet...but the look of anticipation on their faces made me regret not getting it.

New Garage Door for the New Year!

Okay, I know...it's been WAY too long since we've updated our Dupe blog. But to start off the year, we're excited to say that we're FINALLY getting our glass aluminum garage doors installed...TODAY! Also Dylan's birthday! What a wonderful day it is!!The installer is doing the work right as I'm writing this post! I love not having to do the actual work! I'm just sitting here writing this post, sipping on some tea, and BOOM, this handy installer guys has already got one side of the door in! UH-MAZING!
Besides the obvious of improving the facade of the Dupe, the doors will replace our previously half-functioning vinyl crappy doors and....fill our Chikabird studio and wood shop with happy warm sunlight!! We won't have to be working in the dark cave anymore! YAY!!
Our garage doors are from these handy guys of Distrubu Doors...with their fancy van of the owners and their miniature Distrubu Door predecessors....Love it.

More shelving progress

2 more shelves done and I think I might not need the 4th one. Here are some pics installed with goodies on the shelves.

Above is a before shot with blue tape outlining the proposed shelving arrangement (the TV was originally going to go here). Months and months later the dream is nearly realized! Just have to figure out how to finish the shelves, but not change the color of the wood (I don't want it to yellow...any ideas?).

Shelving at last...almost...sort of

Anyone who has visited '30 in the past 2+ months may recall the seemingly purposeless white wood textured panels on our wall. The panels were the beginning of our built-in shelving...one of those projects that has taken way too long. We got one step closer recently. Finally have 1 shelf of 4 sort-of-kind-of ready. I'm pretending it's ready at least. 3 more to go! Plus notching for the brackets and finishing them.



I am building the shelves using this great bracket system from Rakks and using the wood-textured wall panels (actually planks of primed house siding) as wall panels that hide the the required vertical brackets in the gaps between. The shelves will be lightened white oak and will be adjustable in height using the clever camming action of the Rakks bracket.

More on the whole project when I finally get the damn thing done.

Ultimate Freedom Meal 09'

Oh! What a glory day it was to celebrate the day of freedom. The dupe (our house) celebrated honored our country with great pride by coming together to make an awesome freedom meal.....well actually, to be honest, we really just needed an excuse to convince Jesse to make his infamous burgers made with red wine reduced sauce and shallots. Ever since he first mentioned the process on how to make those burgers a year ago, we've been dreaming about it ever since. So what better time to make a burger than on July the 4th?

Chika on the other hand took charge of making some homemade french fries & curry ketchup! You'd think that making fries is easy as cutting it up and just throwing them into a giant pot of hot oil...well, not these twice-fried-perfectly-crispy-outside-with-soft-inside-fries.

Chika peeled, sliced, and soaked them in water the day before to take out some starch. This was an important step to ensure the best result for the fries.

At the dupe, we don't joke around. We don't just do the most obvious and quickest cooking technique. We like to prolong the process, add more steps, or reduce whatever liquid we can to make these seemingly simple dishes more than awesome.

The burgers and fries were beyond my expectations. Burgers were juicy and well flavored...the fries were crunchy and soft at the same time. It was just heavenly. Burgers+fries=Freedom=Food coma in heaven.......with burger angels. ooh yeah.....

For dessert, I made Chocolate croissant bread pudding. This also required an extra step of pre-toasting the croissant so it's extra crunch and buttery! This is not a dish that's highly recommended for the South Beach dieters...fyi.

I used a recipe online, but altered it a little by adding sherry to the sauce and used 97% dark chocolate. I topped it with some toasted hazelnut and homemade cinnamon whipping cream. But here's my slightly altered recipe:

Dark Chocolate Croissant Bread Pudding

• 4 to 5 large croissants, cut into 1-inch cubes to measure 6 cups
• 5 tablespoons softened butter, divided
• 2 cups half and half
• 8 ounces dark chocolate, chopped
• 3 eggs
• 1 / 2 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup sherry or brandy
• chopped toasted hazelnut for garnish
• Fresh mint for garnish

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Cut croissant into 1 inch cubes. Spread croissant on a baking sheet. Bake until lightly toasted; set aside and turn oven off. Spread 1 tablespoon butter in the bottom of an 8 or 9-inch square baking dish and add toasted croissant cubes. Heat half and half and remaining butter in a medium saucepan until almost boiling; add vanilla and sherry; cool to room temp. Whisk together sugar and eggs in a medium bowl and slowly whisk in chocolate mixture. Fill bottom of baking dish with one layer of croissant (use about a third of the croissant cubes), sprinkle with chocolate. Pour sauce over croissant cubes, making sure that all are coated with mixture. Repeat step until the whole dish is filled with croissant, chocolate, and sauce. Let stand for 1 hour and preheat oven to 350°F. Bake for 35 minutes. Serve warm with whipping cream or ice cream!

After our meal, we enjoyed a bike ride to Fremont and watched the amazing fireworks by Lake Union. It was a good freedom day.