Here's a great kitchen

Last Wednesday's San Francisco Chronicle Living section profiled the renovation of sculptor Angelio Batle's work/ live space in Potrero Hill. If you're not familiar with San Francisco, Potrero Hill is a mixed development neighborhood that rises above the port on the east side of town. Though it's by now loaded with infill, new construction "loft" condominiums, Potrero Hill has its share of actual lofts and repurposed industrial buildings.

One such light industrial building is now the home of Angelio Batle and his family. San Francisco real estate is absurdly expensive and what was so interesting to me about the Chron story is that Batle's renovation was pretty heavily budget-driven. I have no idea how much money this family invested in their property, but they worked with an architect who understood how to stretch a dollar. In looking over the photos of the finished project, only a practiced eye could tell that there were corners cut and expenses shaved all over the place.

As is always the case with these things, I have a tendency to pay extra attention to the kitchen for obvious reasons. And whoever designed this kitchen deserves an award. I have a feeling that it was the work of the architect because the cabinetry is from Ikea. I cannot imagine a kitchen designer using anything from Ikea, least of all their cabinetry. But whatever, a pretty picture is a pretty picture and a good design is a good design.

Here's the panoramic view of this kitchen.

Now where it gets interesting is in the left corner. What looks like a stack of mismatched furniture is exactly that. The pieces were fitted together, painted a uniform color and then surrounded by new cabinetry.

Here's a close-up of how these disparate parts fit together.

The use of the gold-painted sculpture niches in this old furniture is really clever. It makes this kitchen the Batle's, that's for sure. Doing something like this is making this otherwise generic kitchen a home. It reflects the lives of the people who live here and I'm crazy for this.

Resourcefulness trumps budget every time. Everybody cuts corners, I don't care how much money they have. The trick is to do it with candor and wit and the Batle family hit a home run with this one. Bravo.

Cool new Google upgrade

Man! What a slow weekend for Internet traffic. I forgot how much things slow down during holidays. So, in the spirit of taking a break, check out Google's new Maps enhancement. I'm am in awe of this thing. I just spent two hours playing around with this new, improved Street View and I cannot get over it.

Google Maps introduced Street View a year or so ago and they have been busily mapping out the major metro areas of the US since. Well, now that they have a lot of the US covered, they've been working on the rest of the world. I just took a virtual walk through Rome and it feels like I was really there. Kind of. I guess the next step is going to be to make the images move. But check this out.

Here I was walking down the street and looking back at the Vittorio Emanuelle.

Here's the Piazza Barberini, and I'm standing directly across the piazza from the Via della Purificazione. I left my heart halfway up that street... Anyhow, these images are so clear I feel like I could walk over and wash my feet in Bernini's Triton in the center of the piazza.

This is the entrance to the Villa Borghese at the top of the Via Veneto. The only thing missing is the sound of the car horns and the buzzing scooters.

And here's looking across the Piazza Rotunda at my beloved Pantheon. I still can't get over this thing. Got some time to kill this weekend? Get thee to Google Maps!

From the land of the shoo-fly

I was born in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania; and no, I'm not Amish. I've been away from those gently rolling hills for a long time but Thanksgiving makes me nostalgic. I may not be Amish, but it doesn't take an Amishman to appreciate pretty countryside and an urge to make things by hand.

Arguably, Lancaster County's signature dish is a little something called shoo-fly pie. Shoo-fly pie is one of those things that everybody's heard of but never encountered first hand. Shoo-fly pie is one of my favorite things to bake and it can't be the holidays in my house without it.

The first time I ever made one for a party, everyone thought it was so exotic and cosmopolitan. That is funny on so many levels at one time I can't stand it. Anyhow, here's my recipe for cosmopolitan and exotic shoo-fly pie.

Pie dough for a nine-inch pie
1 cup of all-purpose flour
2/3 cup of firmly packed, dark brown sugar
5 tablespoons of unsalted butter (softened)
1 cup light molasses
1 large egg
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup boiling water

Roll out pie dough and turn into a nine-inch pie plate. Trim and flute the edges. In a mixing bowl, combine flour, brown sugar and softened butter. Mash with a fork until it reaches a consistent, crumbly consistency. In a separate bowl, beat together the molasses, egg and baking soda with a large spoon until blended. Stir in the boiling water and mix thoroughly (this will begin to foam). Stir half the crumb mixture into the molasses mixture and pour into the crust. Sprinkle the remaining crumb mixture evenly over the top. Bake a 400 degrees, on the center rack, for 10 minutes. Reduce the heat to 350 degrees and bake until the pie filling has puffed around the sides and is firm in the center, about 20 to 30 minutes more. Cool on a rack.

LG gets caught making bogus claims

In July, I wrote a posting about LG's inflated claims of making "green" solid surface counters. I asked, somewhat rhetorically but not really, if LG means "Life's Good" as their ads claim, or does it mean "Lies Gratuitously?"

Well, they seem to be at it again. Ann Porter, who writes the great blog KitchAnn Style, has the following announcement in her blog today: LG caught Under Reporting Energy Consumption. 

In September LG’s French Door fridges were tested and showed an energy usage 100% higher than the energy use promised on the fridge’s DOE Yellow Card.

It was reported that LG had programmed its refrigerator controllers to be able to identify DOE test conditions so that certain electrical functions are shut down when those conditions are met. When the 90F ambient test condition was met the auto-defrost shuts down, saving lots of power, and lowering their Energy Star test result.

Beware the Home Center folks. See Ann's article for rebate and recall info.

Bring on the fennel

Mark Bittman writes a column for the New York Times Dining and Wine section called The Minimalist. Additionally, he writes a Times blog called Bitten that's always worth a look.

Mark Bittman is one of my food heroes. He likes good food, but backs away from the unnecessary hoopla that often surrounds it. Great ingredients, simply prepared; who could ask for anything more?

This week, he took on one of my favorite vegetables, fennel. I run it through a mandoline, throw it in a bowl with some cut up oranges and a handful of cashews and tuck into a bowl of heaven. Really. It tastes like Amalfi.

This week, Bittman combined fennel with one of my other favorite vegetables, celery. Fennel and celery have strangely similar textures and it never occurred to me to combine them. This is a perfect counterpoint to a season of holiday overindulgence.

2 medium fennel bulbs, trimmed, some fronds reserved
3 celery ribs, trimmed
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, more to taste
Salt to taste
1/4 teaspoon black pepper, more to taste
Freshly shaved Parmesan cheese.

1. Cut fennel bulbs in quarters lengthwise, discarding outer layer if it is exceedingly tough. Use a mandoline to slice quarters thinly; slice celery equally thin.
2. Put sliced fennel and celery into a large bowl and drizzle with olive oil and lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper and toss gently to combine. Top with lots of freshly shaved Parmesan and chopped fennel fronds if you like.