Podcast Ep. 8: DIY Wood Countertops & Homemade Pantry Basic Recipes

In this episode, we dish all about diy wood countertops for kitchens and bathrooms – how we made and installed them in our first home (even though Brian had less-than-average woodworking skills), how we bought IKEA hardwood counters for our second house, and some simple tricks for a successful installation. Then Jami discusses her regret over using a water-based stain and what she should have done instead. In the food segment, she defines “Pantry Basics” and how you can easily make these items you thought you had to buy at the grocery store. Plus, a book-on-tape we really enjoyed together. And much, much more. (Possibly too much?)

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DIY Wood Countertops

Our finished farmhouse kitchen with DIY wood countertops.

You can see lots more photos here and read the details about the remodel here.

I pulled a photo from our Portland bungalow kitchen remodel (pre-blogging, so poor quality) to show you the wood counters we described installing. They were pine, finished with a Golden Oak stain to match the floors.

Even though it seems a bit yellow to me here, it’s still a classic farmhouse look with the white cabinets and bin-pull handles (and we did this circa 2000, so way ahead of the farmhouse-fixer-upper craze!). I LOVED the light and brightness of this kitchen after the remodel.

The Project

Here’s the video of Brian’s easy diy wood counter cutting technique:

And here’s our follow-up video after living with – and heavily using – the counters for 2 years:

We used them for 4 years total before selling, and they looked just as good after we packed up:

What’s Cooking

Brian’s favorite “pantry basic” recipe (and one of mine, too!): Healthy, Quick Maple-Honey Granola.

Our other family favorites from the Pantry Basics section of the recipe index (though it’s hard to choose!) are:

• Honey-Sweetened Ketchup 
• 5-minute Homemade Chocolate Syrup
• So Easy Mayonnaise
• Salad Dressings
• Frugal Pesto
• DIY Roasted Almonds (which will ruin store-bought nuts forever).

This is Really Cool!

Here’s the book that we listened to in the car on a recent trip to Portland (we have been known to finish them at home, listening like people used to gather around the radio in the 1940s…):

Wonder, RJ Palacio (SO very good)

Bonus! Since discovering audio books for travel (yes, we’re probably late to this game…), we’ve also listened and liked these titles:

• I Must Say, Martin Short
• The Disaster Artist, Greg Sestero
• Brave New World, Aldus Huxley (amazing how true this is in todays world and it was written in the 1920s!!!)
• Ready Player One, Ernest Cline (super fun with all the 80s references – looking forward to the movie)

For fall inspiration, check out all AOC’s Fall Decor and Recipes here.

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