Being an important room in the house, any kitchen should have the proper lighting to ensure that those who use it can see everything clearly even at night. There are tricks in lighting a kitchen and it’s not actually enough that only a single light is installed on the ceiling.

Having only one ceiling-mounted lighting fixture creates a glaring effect and causes shadows which is a no-no in the kitchen, according to interior designers. To create a well-lit room, blending and layering four types of light is most ideal. Depending on what you want to achieve in your kitchen, all four should be taken into consideration but you can also choose to use only two of them if you’re after practicality.

Task lighting is the most important of all and this is one placed above a person’s head and the countertop (work surface). This provides sufficient illumination when preparing ingredients and reading recipes whether from a book, magazine or an iPad. Ideally, this kind of light should be installed below the overhead cabinets.
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Your kitchen is the heart of your home—the place you cook, eat, entertain and bond with your family. You want this important room to be beautiful and luxurious, but you can’t spend your entire nest egg on renovations. Thankfully, you don’t need a massive budge to create a fabulous kitchen. All you need are a few dollars and these five creative ideas. Continue reading »

It used to be that a kitchen was a utilitarian space used only by the person cooking a meal. Nowadays, though, kitchens are often the focal point of a home and the main gathering place for friends and family. Whether you’re enjoying a quiet conversation over a glass of wine with a loved one, having a coffee date with a friend or helping the kids with their homework, your kitchen should reflect the kind of lifestyle you want to maintain.

A few things you can do to make an old kitchen look new again include:

Change the countertops

Switching from an old scratched laminate counter to granite will not only give your kitchen a completely new look, it becomes more utilitarian. Granite is heat- and scratch-resistant, so you can place items directly on the counter while cutting and dicing. It’s also easier to maintain. A simple wipe with a damp cloth will do the trick for spot-cleaning. Granite is available in many different colors, so your kitchen will have a whole new look. Continue reading »

When we hear the word high-tech, we often think about something advanced, futuristic and one that makes life so much easier. Many people equate high tech with robots that can do so many things in just a simple touch of a remote control button.

In the home, the kitchen is one area where more advanced appliances and gadgets can be used. In terms of appearance, a homeowner can create a high-tech look as well using stainless steel. This particular material can be used not only in the cookware but even in creating the counter tops, cabinets, wine racks and workbenches.

Other than the overall theme of your kitchen area, the appliances you put there can also contribute to that advanced look. Those you can get made from stainless steel are the gas range, refrigerator, oven, microwave, dishwasher, the grill, smoking gun, tea maker and digital nutritional scale. Beyond their material, however, you also need to look for that high-tech functions they can do.

There’s a refrigerator today with a built in LCD screen. The display is where you can leave notes to family members or show photos and there are even some that come with apps to help you in certain kitchen tasks.

There’s also an oven that is capable of refrigerating your food while you’re still not ready to cook it. It can be switched on remotely using the internet, cell phone or telephone or using its touch screen controls. How cool is that?

Another cool kitchen tool is this latest microwave with a bar scanner and a database of some 4,000 items. It works by scanning the bar code of your food product and then automatically programs the cooking time and power level.

For some reason, this silver look has always been associated with the future. Perhaps because of those robots that are made of steel and those half-human, half-robot characters such as the Terminator we’ve seen in the movies.

Finally, if you don’t want separate appliances, the answer is the all-in-one type. In today’s high-tech world, there’s already such a thing as this – one that combines a fridge, oven, stove and dishwasher and it is called the eco green system kitchen.

Photo via thehightechsociety

Do you often buy small kitchen appliances that serve a specific purpose? Does your urge to buy them stem from your frequent watching of TV shows that introduce new kitchen products in the market?

If you are and if you’ve currently found a lot of them unused in your kitchen, then maybe it’s time to get rid of some of them. It’s the end of the year and decluttering is good for you and your home.

The experts say we only need a few basic appliances, pots and utensils in the kitchen. In reality, though, homemakers have so many with some of them rarely used. Continue reading »

A lot of people are so passionate about cooking. Even those who don’t have a formal education in culinary studies are so into it.

You may have observed the aspiring chefs in the various cooking challenges on television. They come from different backgrounds and professions. There were writers, engineers and office employees who joined in the hope of getting the attention of top celebrity chefs and restaurateurs as well as improving their culinary skills.

The good news now is that you don’t have to take part in a reality cooking show on TV to be able to personally experience using state of the art kitchen gadgets and appliances. There are high-tech kitchen tools including software apps available these days that you can invest in and use to help you in creating your most loved dishes, celebrity style regardless of the occasion.

Belkin Kitchen Cabinet Mount – What this tool does is allow you to use your tablet safely without taking up much space and risking your device to get wet or stained by food you’re preparing. So you can look at recipes or watch videos first before you do the cooking. Another type is the Belkin Chef stand with stylus for the same purpose.
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Anthony Bourdain, the infamous traveling chef now on almost every lifestyle channel in existence- had quite a story to tell in one of his first bestselling books: “Kitchen Confidential“. Finally, after many trial and tribulations, he had found his sous-chef extraordinaire, Steven Tempel, for the Supper Club in New York, where Bourdain had just been made head chef. To say that Steven was eccentric was, according to Bourdain, putting it mildly…

Nevertheless, Bourdain reveals in the very frank and no nonsense book (as in how it really goes down in the restaurant business), Steven was somewhat of a genius. It turns out that Bourdain had recruited Steven from Casa Nostra Restaurant, in Northern California, where he had been working in the kitchen with “idiot savant” and “baking genius” Adam Real-Last-Name-Unknown!!

Kitchen Confidential is an excellent read and here at Celebrity Chefs we highly recommend it. As it turns out, the owner of Casa Nostra Restaurant (which was known for serving the best italian cuisine in town)- Joey Velardi, has recently opened up a branch in Manila, Philippines- where it is receiving rave reviews from the locals and in fact Bourdain recently visited for his show “No Reservations“.

Let’s hope Bourdain doesn’t steal the chef again

A lot of cooks would agree that the use of wine in some meals have added a certain spice in making them sought after. Such can be attributed towards the contributions of Chef John Ash, an internationally recognized chef, educator and author. His continued work and application of wine towards cuisine and his evident mastery for winery has been his obvious trademark that has brought him towards world wide prominence.

John is known to hold various classes and teaches culinary schools and institutions with regards to the tricks of the proper use of wine for culinary meals. Majority of his known reliability has been attributed towards the wine industry and such has been something that has continued to push him up towards fame and fortune.

He has published two books, namely American Game Cooking in 1991 and From the Earth to the Table: John Ash’s Wine Country Cuisine in 1996. The latter book was awarded the Julia Child Award for Best Cookbook in 1996 by the International Association of Culinary Professionals.

Ina Garten

Ina is just so cuddly and earthy, yet at the same time with a nose for timeless style, that I thought it would be a good idea to post some of her favourite things, as inspiration.

Favorite cookbooks?

“Some of the other books I use most are Nantucket Open House Cookbook by Sarah Leah Chase, The Loaves and Fishes Cookbook by Anna Pump, Bistro Cooking by Patricia Wells, and Cucina Simpatica by George Germon and Johanne Killeen.”

Favorite glassware?

“Barney’s in New York City carried my stemware for years, but unfortunately, they’ve now discontinued it. But, thanks to one of our readers, we’ve found another source. The name of the glassware is Cristallerie La Rochere, the Amite pattern and the website to order it from is lafermedelamer.com. My glasses are the white and the red wine stemware. They also carry the large water glass and champagne glasses to match.”

Favorite pots and pans?

“I love All Clad pots. I would recommend you start with small and medium saucepans and 8-inch and 12-inch saut� pans. I don’t even bother with non-stick because if you soak the pans after you use them, they will clean beautifully. I know they’re expensive pots, but you can collect them one at a time. They’ll last a lifetime and you’ll enjoy using them. For Dutch ovens, I prefer Le Creuset. These are all available at Williams-Sonoma, Sur La Table, and Crate & Barrel stores nationally. “

Favorite ice cream maker?

“I use a Krups ice cream maker which I bought at Williams-Sonoma many years ago.”

Favorite places to stay in East Hampton?

“My favorite places are the Baker House 631-324-4081 and the Pink House 631-324-3400 in East Hampton, which are both lovely bed and breakfast inns, and the Bridgehampton Inn 631-537-3660 in Bridgehampton. There are no big hotels but these are lovely places to stay.”

Favorite restaurants in East Hampton?
“Three of the restaurants I like most in East Hampton are Nick & Toni’s, The pub at 1770 house, and the Palm Restaurant.”

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Chef Jody Adams personifies the ease of being a great chef through the use of available resources found in your kitchen today. Being a good cook is a given with practice, but with more practice and a touch of imagination at that, good chefs are sure to arise. This has been one of the beliefs that have catapulted Chef Jody towards mastering the art of cooking.

Cooking in the eyes of Chef Jody would simply be like following instincts rather than the usual traditional cooking practices that people see on television or from reading the available cookbooks in stores today. It all boils down to following a cooking style which would carve out your name in the genre of food that a person would want to cook up.

This is the secret that Jody Adams shares as her ultimate success in cooking. With a wide array of recipes that includes starter meals, seasonal prepared meals and Italian tradition meals such as pasta until deserts, Chef Jody has a long list of recipes all based on her instincts and what she can do around the kitchen. People can do this as well if they know how to go around the kitchen of their homes as well.

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