jsmith: Salivate, salivate, salivate! That dessert pizza looks yummy! modthyrth: The Nutella pizza does sound wonderful. I'd read about a version with marshmallows, but not mascarpone. (Salivating again!) We're doing pizza tomorrow, weather permitting, so I'll have to try that as we DO have all the ingredients on hand. Can't wait to try it. About the lemon drop pizza, it's a direct steal from the Forno Bravo website. A company called the Pizza Gypsy made it for the first FB Expo last spring. Here's a link to the recipe, as well as a discussion about tweaks to the recipe. We've decided that we like it best when we cut off the rind before slicing the lemons. We tried taking off all but the barest minimum of the rind and pith, but that still left the lemon slices with a tough edge. Your idea of blanching might work well. If you try it, please let me know the result. Whatever approach you take, it's very, very tasty. BTW, we blithely ignore the "spread a thin layer of mascarpone," instruction and spread a thick layer!

I do a lot of one pot dishes, meat and potatoes, stroganof, bean soup with ham, spagetti, etc., then after working to make lovely (and very high calorie food) I grind it all up in a food processor. No matter what the food, it always appears to be something gray with butter in the end (or red if it's spagetti). So I wanted lots of counter space for prep, a huge range to cook in and on, and somewhere to keep the food processor busy while grinding and cooking. Then I package it all up in 6oz packages and freeze it. This is all for DS...I don't normally cook our family meals (DH is a fabulous cook). I never envisioned myself grinding and freezing food LOL if anyone knew I'd lose my "Amatuer chef of the year" award from the mid 80's...I wonder if I could grind up a cheesecake...heh heh DH does all of the cooking when we entertain and for our family dinners. We planned the kitchen so that he could work efficiently, with a stainless counter run between the main sink and stove. That huge stove, with appropriate hood so he can stirfry, and prep space behind him to work on vegis while meat is happening on the stainless side. On the other side of the island we have a sink, and two counters. They're sort of "my" zone when we entertain, for appetizer prep, salad prep, and landing zones for dishes between courses. Our sink and DW are lined up with the main dish/silver storage, so that some day, when DS becomes useful, he can put away dishes or set the table without being in DH's way. The fridge is between the two zones so that we can both access it easily. So far it flows very well. We made our isles bigger than they were (they were about 29" wide prior) and planned appliances that don't fill the isles when open. Dish and food storage is planned based on when it's used and how, so that they're close to the functions that make sense (ie wine glasses and decanters are close to the dining room door since we tend to use a lot of them during parties). But no matter how well we planned...we couldn't increase the size of the kitchen, so after a dinner party for six...it all looks pretty much like this LOL: I was half way through cleaning up when I took those pics LOL we really do make a mess, and having lots of counters to toss it on between courses was a big deal to us.

Charlikin, I am so happy for you being so delighted with your very functional and beautiful kitchen. My dishwasher is on the brink and so is my stove so I will love to know which ones you bought that you love so well. I know I dislike my old stove so much that came with my home and is supposed to be self-cleaning but when I moved in there was pizza cheese and sauce all inside that I could not get out. I changed my refrigerator at the end of 2006 to a LG French Door Stainless Steel Refrigerator when my tiny almond Whirlpool Refrigerator died on me. I love the French Doors only because they do not bump into my small table's chair that is right in front of my refrigerator. I remember moving into my prior apartment that had a dishwasher and I was so happy. In fact my requirements for my townhouse was dishwasher, washer and dryer hook-up, and central air/heat. But I see now that I wish I had hot water heat since the air is so dry in the winter time despite a humidifier running all day and night. I am really happy for you. I am glad all that hard work designing the kitchen and making sure everything was done right paid off. I always love to read your posts.

Just a note for people who think that having runnels or a flat drainer on the side of the sink will do the trick. It won't if you have more than a few items. You need the containment of a dish drainer with sides and vertical racks or slots in order to contain the items safely. I don't find the look of a neatly filled dish drainer to be messy looking. It's an art, almost a pleasure to fill one so that the set of items you've washed looks workmanlike -- and is stable and no water is trapped among the items. It's the same thing as when I hang out my clothes (which I do for all my wash, year-round). Just having them pinned up is not the only goal. Having them pinned up so they dry in the most efficient and wrinkle-free manner is the first step. But I also get pleasure and often take the trouble to arrange them in pleasing assortment of shapes and colors. For instance, if I have a load of cotton turtlenecks (a garment I wear daily) I'll hang them in a prismatic succession, just for the pleasure of seeing them display against the white sheets. There is the same opportunity when filling a dish drainer with my kitchen stuff. I like to have my plates in graduated ranks. My pots and bowls are arranged like overlapping scales of a pinecone. My flatware is sorted into separate slots, of gleaming knives/forks/spoons. So, no my dish drainer doesn't look messy, or a hodgepodge. It looks like a place where someone has given thought and judgement to best placement of the items, in both the pratical and aesthetic realms. I have tried Trailrunner's hot soapy bowl method, but I find in my chilly northern house the water gets cold and icky too fast. If something is particularly sticky I might fill it with water, but mostly I just stack things on the dirty dish side of the sink until I get have the time to wash up. Depending on the pace of the meal prep, that might be after we are finished eating or at some other interval during the work flow. I am often struck by how many epople (who use DW) advocate "cleaning up as you go". That's fine if your cleaning up means loading the item in the DW. But for those who hand wash everything, it's more efficient (time and energy needed to for hot water) to amass a mid-sized group of items, before beginning the washing up. I am not troubled by the look of dirty items awaiting cleaning. After all these items were clean a few moments ago, and what's in them is the remnants of my food prep. I plan on eating the stuff that was made in them and I don't eat dirt! L.