Thursday, January 8: Demo

Demo began in earnest today, and when I got home from work I found an almost completely empty kitchen. All the cabinets, the island, and all the appliances except the refrigerator are gone. We could see notes scrawled on the drywall from the previous renovation thirty years ago. (I'll do a post with photos soon.) The other thing I found from the old kitchen was the only remaining drawer, which a workman had carried down to the basement, and which was filled with POTHOLDERS. Mystery solved! We had forgotten to empty one entire drawer. 

We are doing well in our basement kitchen. Andrew and I have resolved not to buy any new food (except for staples like milk and things for the kids' lunches) until we eat everything from the freezer and pantry. We have had very normal meals so far (pierogies, chicken parmesan). Tonight was a little more free-form; the kids had the last of Mom's pasta with cauliflower and carrots (left over from their stay this weekend) and Andrew and I had a random mix of leftover raw veggies, olives, and spring rolls I'd brought home in a large Ziploc bag from a work event. We are both saving money AND emptying our over-full freezer. Win win. 

I'll enjoy the kids' horror and skepticism as the meals become more "inventive" in the days and weeks ahead. They will, of course, eventually be the reason we begin buying and cooking regular food again. Lucia is burning so many calories from running these days that she's been coming down to the basement late in the evening to eat a second small dinner--last night she made herself a grilled cheese; the night before she reheated a piece of pizza.