Hey joanie. We have the Big Agnes insulated air mattresses. They are fantastic and very comfortable. They are the size of a qt bottle and are easy to blow up. They are very tough and as I said I have used mine almost every night in camping set ups for months and it has no leaks or problems. I will link below to the ones we have. I hadn't thought about the truck windows having screens to that would be great. A small fan would help to move the air. You would definitely need a canopy of some kind. We got one at Dick's Sporting Goods. It is easy to set up and very sturdy. Gives great protection if it is raining. We have even pulled it over so that it is 1/2 over our tent front and we can then get in and out without getting wet :) I haven't cooked on open fires for all meals. Just an occasional cookout. We have a 2 burner propane stove that I love. I can make pancakes and coffee and great dinners with it. We have a camp fire only for warmth and ambiance. We have a folding table and set everything up the minute we get to camp and then we are done for the time we are there. We have one cooler and restock often from the grocery. When I am on the road with my bike it is a whole different setup . I have a tiny campstove and we use a picnic table if there is one or the ground if there isn't :(. I have a one person tent that is very light. I still use my Big Anges though..it is never far from me ! If I can help with any other ideas let me know. I love to camp !! c Here is a link that might be useful: Big Agnes air mattress

I was typing up my response above when montana and sue responded, sorry! I do like the wood hoods but I do also like the stainless hoods. I also really like the mantle hoods. I have the same problem with granite ... I like almost every one I see. Too bad I'm not building several houses, haha ! The website for kitchensource is great. There are so many different style hoods to look at there. Thanks ! If I went with the Omega National hood (which looks just like the one that was option 3 above from the KD), what would you suggest for the looks of a custom topper ? I have played around with different ideas for that hood but have not come up with a very good one yet. According to the KD, that one has to attach to cabinets to the left and right, correct ? (we are using cherry) Got a phone call back from KD. We will save $800 by not having them provide any kind of hood, so that's money we can put towards other options if we do stainless or a different wood hood. He had an idea for the stainless hood and the problem with the duct from the ceiling not lining up with the hood's flue. His idea was to have a metal worker "box out" the top of the stainless hood to hide the pipe. I mocked it up in my 3D program and also the custom hood pictured in the original post (the hoods below may not be exactly to scale but this gives a good idea of it, and of course the wood hood would match the cabinets). (click on picture for enlarged view) Florantha, yes I posted my plans last year (link to the old thread at the top of this thread in the first post). Kudos to you for recognizing it!! I thought this day would never come when we would be almost finished building !! Interesting point about downplaying the hood. Which option do you favor or do you have another idea for venting ?

Given the right architecture the divided light look maybe more suited than plain glass. In deliberating all available choices to make the my best recommendation for a northern climate like Minnesota, would be to inquire about triple-pane glazing options first. Higher energy efficiency and/or better quality wins out in my book over a decorative accent.

plllog - what a wonderful thread! Have been a collector of kitchen tools and gadgets for the past 50 years and was a caterer for 10 of those years. My drawers and cupboards have many of the tools that have been mentioned here. Living on an island most of the year assures that shellfish and fish are staples. The single use gadgets we use the most are lobster crackers and picks, a fish poacher and a fish grilling basket. (I will confess that I have used a lobster cracker to open a tight bottle of club soda!) My grandmother gave me her apple corer and slicer. It is round with a circle in the middle to core the apple and perfectly spaced blades to slice it. Very handy here in New England during the apple season. I agree with the others about the microplanes. They are my newest toys - have several. The cheese grater has replaced my antique Mouli grater. My oldest toy is a wooden mushroom that is used to peel and crush garlic. It is also good looking. My DH enjoys a well made gin and tonic. The essential gadget is the lime/citrus squeezer that I think was mentioned earlier. Again OXO makes a good one. The best one is no longer made....Cannot even find it at the Vermont Country Store which has many oldies but goodies. Have enjoyed reading all of the above and am inspired to "weed" out the drawers and cupboards to make room for some of those lovely new goodies at Joseph Joseph. After all - acquiring new tools is in a TKO's DNA!!!