A project and some preparations

I've been trying very hard to de-clutter my kitchen without making it so that I don't have things where and when I need them. We (read: I) have a lot of kitchen gadgets and only 3 drawers, so there is limited real estate for certain items. That means that other items are on the counter or in a place that doesn't make sense.

Today's project was to clean up the coffee corner. Once again, I forgot the before picture, but here's what we did. Moved the champagne glasses and most of the wine glasses (why do we need 12 of each in the cabinet?) to the little space above the fridge with our wedding china. With almost a whole shelf clear, I moved some other glasses around, leaving the bottom shelf almost empty.

So now, all the coffee stuff that was on the counter is now in that cabinet. It is right above the coffee maker, so it doesn't inconvenience anyone, but is much cleaner and hidden.


Project complete.

Now, on to preparations for tonight's Christmas dinner with the Millers. We're doing this in lieu of exchanging gifts or going to Maggiano's - much cheaper and no crowds. So Dave and I are making flat iron steaks, twice-baked potatoes (with help from Bonnie since she's done them before), and some veggies.

For dessert, I made a no-bake cheesecake and some chocolate covered pretzels. The cheesecake takes no effort at all...I like that. The pretzels do take effort, so I didn't want to make 2 things that took a while to make.

Here are the pretzels, waiting to be eaten:


I hear Bonnie is bringing truffles! Yum. We'll be stuffed!

After dinner we're going to the James Center to see the lights!