For me there is no Fall. It’s only Summer and Winter. I dread the months of October through April. The world turns brown and grey and I have to wear a jacket and shoes. Ugh. We have a fireplace and it’s pretty enough but it’s gas and it takes a week or two for the awful smell to burn off. It’s not nearly as charming as a wood fire. I love the smell of a wood fire. Building a wood fire brings such satisfaction. It’s always a thrill to see a roaring fire start up. It must be a primal thing our ancestors instilled in us. In college I lived in a house with a wood burning fireplace and I was the only one of three gals who could get the fire roaring. (It’s all about air-flow). Now our stinky gas fireplace is “fired up” and my cat Emmett is in his happy place. I’m surprised he has any fur left as close as we gets to the thing.

In about one week I will have a functioning kitchen. Woo-hoo! I am so excited. We’re putting in a gas cooktop

and all I can say about that is hallelujah! I will be cooking with gas again! I’m already planning menus. First, the aforementioned beef stew, then some chicken chili/stew. I’m hoping that one of these weekends the Chiefs football game will be aired in our market so I can make a big pot of chili and cornbread.

My husband used to engineer for GE in their Appliance Park division. He designed our new Single/Double Oven 

It’s gonna be awesome. It has a pizza oven on top of the regular sized oven. I am so excited about this!

So, I’m doing the finishing touches on the paint and what-not in the kitchen. If all goes well, I will be cooking again, this time in high style. Did I mention how fabulous my husband Derek is? If not … boy howdy!

Ciao for now!

Rachel