What are you putting on the island...cooktop or sink (please tell me sink........)? While it's less than ideal to put a sink or cooktop in an island, the lesser of two evils is the sink in the island. If you're putting the cooktop in the island & it's b/c you want to visit with people while cooking...remember this:70% of your time spent in a kitchen is Prepping 20% is spent cleaning up 10% is spent cookingSo, what does it make sense to do on the island if you want to spend most of your time visiting while working in the kitchen? Prep. The least sense? Cooking. Now, safety...cooking is the worst thing to do in an island (or peninsula) unless you have at least 24" of countertop behind & on each side of the cooktop. Yes, it's more than NKBA states for non-seating (NKBA is silent on seating...which might mean it's a "no-no"); but from experience and common sense, 24" is better. [Think about someone spreading homework or the newspaper out on the island while you're cooking. Think about the steam from boiling water drifting over to the people sitting there. Think about how far grease splatters. Think about someone walking by or even running by while you're cooking...carrying papers, backpack, etc....and not being careful where they are in relation to the cooking surface.] Hopefully, all this is moot & it's the sink in the island...(even then, if you have seating at the island strive for 18" b/w the faucet and edge of the seating overhang to minimize visitors being splashed; 15" will work, but 18" is better). **** As to prep.... Unlike others, my prep area is driven by where my sink & cooktop are, not where there's a view or social interaction. I find the easiest and most natural place to prep is b/w my prep sink & cooktop...and that faces a wall. That area has about 40" of workspace (not counting the peninsula). If I need more room, I find myself working on the other side of the cooktop where there's about 5' of workspace b/c of the corner, even though there's no sink there and, again, it's mostly facing a wall. I have a peninsula on the other side of the prep sink that's across from the refrigerator w/about 30" of space, so it could be a logical place for prep. I also have my cleanup sink in front of a big bay window and the refrigerator is on that same run with 51" b/w them. However, 9 times out of 10, I prep b/w my cooktop & prep sink...and I have no problems with it. It's not like I can't visit with others while working there. They can sit at the peninsula and I can glance over to the right at them while I work or I can glance over to the left to see what's going on in the FR. To be honest, when I'm prepping, I prefer to keep my eyes on what I'm doing since so much of my prep work involves knives... All of this leaves the peninsula free for the kids to do homework or work on projects, or for me to setup my laptop when I'm working from home. It leaves the cleanup sink run clear for cleaning up only. No more conflicts! Would I change the location of anything b/c of this? Except for adding a trash pullout in the prep are, I wouldn't change anything else. It works great for us! [Well, maybe I'd change the location of the TV to where I wanted it in the first place but my DH thought he knew better...that way my DH wouldn't keep moving the stool to the "U" so he can be really close to the TV while eating breakfast. I keep biting my tongue to keep from saying "I told you so!"]

I've had LobCraben -- Baked stuffed lobster (Atlantic crab, cracker crumbs and butter for stuffing. It's best when the arms/claws are not baked because it dries them out. Best to steam the claws. Be careful not to overcook-overtake the lobster. Very delicious, and in some regions, lobster isn't that costly in December. I've never had Turduckhen and don't plan to. We indulged in three different roast turkeys. Now I'm making soup and "turkey pot pie". For the TPP, I used to use a recipe that was in either the Boston Globe Magazine or NYT Magazine from ~ 20 plus years ago. I made the perfect duplicate that year in a ~ 13"x17" pottery casserole. I made the perfect top crust with pastry crust cut outs of maple leaves. Yummy and very pretty. I have a bank box carton of all these recipes, but cannot locate it now. I will use puff pastry (frozen) and make the pot pie thickener from scratch. I don't want to use just "white sauce" but want the matrix sauce to taste like TURKEY (for Pete's sake). So I oven baked the pale skin and bones until the bottom of they were brown and with a good fond on the bottom. Then I made a roux from the fond and bit of fat (and butter to make up the difference). Then some turnip juice and turkey broth. I'd made turkey broth / stock from the roasted bones, sinew, fat, skin. So, right now, I have turkey flavored golden gravy, rich turkey stock and turkey meat. Lot of work to try to make turkey RICH FLAVORFUL Gravy from a turkey that had anemic pale turkey drippings and absolutely no fond. Are so many home cooks afraid of pan drippings that turn brown? One of my Sort of Son in Laws tosses the pan drippings and makes "gravy" afresh from oil. No turkey dripping flavor or color.. The guy is a bit of a jock chef, knows it all. A true MEAT hound and has a high opinion of his wanting and novice culinary skills. A veritable know-it-all clueless, undernourished ego. So, no experience with a turducken, but I would try it. It always seemed like a fad without enduring qualities. Feel free to give me ideas about a Turkey Pot Pie that I need to put together soon. I'm thinking that I will drain the stock (made with bones, skin, celery, onion and carrot w a bit of garlic, salt, pepper and Bells seasoning. For the TPP (Turkey Pot Pie) I will dice or tear (more natural taste and look) the turkey meat (? What? Two to three Cups?); then add mixed vegetables like peas, corn, carrots. No potato because I may freeze some. I will make Turkey Soup from the rest of the cooked bone broth. Probably no potatoes as they don't seem to freeze well. BTW, I love duck in Thai and Chinese food; but I have no idea how to cook it. Do any of you like duck, duckling?

plllog, he once watched a Jacques Pepin video, promptly boned a whole turkey, stuffed it, rolled it and baked it. Then he decided that it was a LOT easier to just bone a turkey breast. (grin) Actually, he worked in the meat department of an Italian grocery when he was a young teenager, and so something like boning a turkey doesn't even make him blink. As I said, he's a bit heavy handed with the hot peppers, and sometimes his food is too "creative", but he experiments, he cleans up his own mess and he's willing to make dinner when I'm busy. He'll even bake cookies. Or bread. Nancy, he doesn't really want to do the day-to-day "duty cooking", but he likes to cook when he wants to. That's fine with me, and if family members make a fuss about his cooking, then I know I can always say "oh, why don't you make one of those XXXXX that everyone loves" and I can weasel out of cooking if I don't really want to. You just gotta put a spin on it, LOL. For instance, I don't like using the InstaPot, it's fiddly and takes a lot more time than recipes lead you to believe. But I can say "hey, remember that duck that you made in the InstaPot, I'd sure like to have some more of that" and he'll drag out the InstaPot and make it. Bonus!!! Annie

"It sounds kind of silly, but it looks like it belongs in front of a more contemporary house. It's too modern for my house! " I find this a very odd notion :-) There is nothing particularly contemporary in style about a Japanese maple. They have been planted in Japan for thousands of years. With the right complimentary plantings, there is a cultivar suitable for any style of architecture! I would opt for a JM over messy, deciduous ornamental grasses any day of the week!! Especially for an entry garden. "If weed killer was sprayed, you can’t plant anything or will have to replace dirt around each planting." Just an FYI but this is not at all true. Most herbicides/weed killers retain minimal viability in the soil - they have to interact with growing plant tissue/foliage to be effective - and you can generally replant the area within a couple of days. The product label will always provide this information.