Some people are saying the stainless steel appliance era is ending. We used stainless in our main kitchen but decided against it for the beach house, so we wanted to share thoughts on when stainless makes sense and when you might want to skip it. While we’re talking kitchens, we’ve been experimenting with new recipes, organizing the fridge, and testing a couple of meal delivery services to see whether they live up to the hype.
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Help For Puerto Rico
We’re honored to have raised $12,000 for direct relief efforts in Puerto Rico, thanks to the generous brands that partnered with us. Their support made it possible to send meaningful assistance to the island at a critical time. We’re deeply grateful for their help and for everyone who contributed.
If you’d like to help as well, you can donate to United for Puerto Rico.
What’s New
- We tried vegetarian meals from two meal kit services and photographed the results. The first image is from one service and the second shows a meal from another. We paid for these boxes ourselves and wanted to evaluate whether meal kits are worth it.
- All of the meals pictured were adapted to be vegan for Sherry. For example, I added feta to my pasta serving while Sherry skipped it, and she also omitted aioli from the paella. We’ve already remade the avocado pasta using our own ingredients, and the paella is a Blue Apron dish we’ll likely make again.
- Sherry shared favorite vegan staples and substitutes she reaches for:
- A ready-made roasted vegetable pizza she likes for convenience.
- Earth Balance buttery spread as a butter substitute that tastes very similar to butter.
- Vegenaise as a mayonnaise alternative with a tang that works well in many recipes.
- Unsweetened coconut milk for cereal and baking where a milk substitute is needed.
- Tofutti Better Than Sour Cream for when a sour cream substitute is called for.
- Pre-made guacamole like Wholly Guacamole Avocado Verde for quick dips.
- Single-serve hummus snack packs for easy portioned snacks.
- Extra-firm tofu as our preferred tofu texture for most dishes.
- If you have vegan recipes or reliable substitutes you love, please share them — we’re always collecting ideas. And if a meal kit service offers more vegetarian options than the ones we tried, tell us so we can test it next.
Updates
- If you missed our earlier discussion about light color temperature, that topic appears in a previous episode of the podcast. We also linked our favorite soft white LED bulbs used around the house.
- We’ve been testing budgeting tools, including Mint and YNAB (You Need A Budget), after many enthusiastic recommendations. We’re learning the ropes and would welcome any tips or workflow suggestions from listeners who use YNAB regularly.
- We’ll be speaking in Bristol, Virginia on Thursday, November 9 at House Dressing. Tickets are limited, so plan ahead if you want to attend.
Listener Question
- On the stainless steel topic: trends include new finishes like black stainless, graphite tones, and colorful retro offerings. Each finish has pros and cons depending on your kitchen style, maintenance preferences, and how it pairs with cabinets and countertops.
- For reference, the stainless appliances we used in our kitchen include a counter-depth refrigerator, a slide-in gas range, a dishwasher, and an over-the-range microwave. We also experimented with a “White Ice” finish but found that shade didn’t match our cabinets in practice.
- Manufacturers are offering a wider variety of finishes now — from darker metal tones to bold color options — which makes it easier to mix finishes or choose something outside traditional stainless.
- We also looked at other finish options on ranges and refrigerators to see how different metals and colors read in real kitchens. The goal was to find a finish that complements our beach house design without forcing us into a trend we might regret.
We’re Digging
- We organized our fridge using clear bins to keep snacks like guacamole and hummus tidy and upright. The bins come in multiple sizes; we use the medium size to keep things visible and accessible.
- If a bin style is out of stock, there are comparable alternatives that work just as well for fridge organization.
- IFTTT (If This Then That) is an app we’re enjoying for automating small tasks, like sending Instagram photos to Twitter automatically. It connects web services and smart devices in useful ways and has many free recipes to try.
- If you’re seeking items we’ve mentioned in past episodes, we maintain a master list of everything we’ve been digging across shows so you can find past recommendations easily.
Finally, thank you to The Annie Selke Companies for sponsoring this episode. They offer bedding, furniture, rugs, and more, and provided a discount code for listeners. Thanks for listening!
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