Many of us spend more hours, especially Monday through Friday, with those we work with than we do with our own families. I am fortunate to work for an amazing company, Clarke. I have been here for almost 9 years and rarely has there been a day where I have said, “I just don’t want to go to work today.”

Clarke is a very special place. It is my home away from home and the people here are my second family. I can attest to the fact that this feeling is the same for many of the employees. It is a place you are welcomed day after day, a place of equality and pride.

Jenny Tredeau in the prep kitchen at Clarke.

Every employee here cares about the people we serve. Designing a kitchen is a very personal experience and we never take it lightly that you welcome us into your process when you come to Clarke. We are proud to be part of your project, whether we work with you face-to-face or behind the scenes. We all work together to make sure this is the best experience for you.

Designing a kitchen and investing in appliances for your home should be an exciting and fun process. Your kitchen is the heart of the home, your gathering spot, your catchall spot, the make-you-feel-better spot.

I love meeting and working with new clients every day. Each project is special and unique for each individual or family, which, in return, makes my job new every day. To understand how my customers live – daily routines, entertaining, family size, holidays, passions for cooking and baking, even methods of cleaning, all assist me in helping them make the right appliance choices.

I believe not only in Clarke, but the great brands we offer. Sub Zero and Wolf are the leaders in their categories. They are manufactured in Wisconsin and are a third-generation family company. “Made in the USA” is a very strong, heartfelt statement for Sub-Zero and Wolf.

Best is an Italian-designed line of ventilation that keeps the air in your home clean and fresh. These products can be hidden away or displayed as a centerpiece of artwork in your kitchen.

Asko, a water appliance company, is a family business in which the factory still sits on the same farmland in Sweden, where it began over 60 years ago. The pride and eco-friendly passion they bring to their dishwashers and laundry is evident in their performance. As Sub Zero provides superior food preservation, Asko takes special care of your finest fabrics, favorite beach towel, fuzzy teddy bear, delicate china and more.

Jenny Tredeau explaining Sub-Zero's exclusive features to a Clarke Showroom visitor.

The appliances Clarke chooses to distribute throughout New England are the best in the industry. The pride in owning these appliances at home and playing with them at work makes what I do even more special. I have the utmost confidence in representing all of the Clarke family of brands. Besides being a great place to work, Clarke is an amazing place to visit. I invite you to stop by or schedule an appointment. An appointment assures that someone is waiting for you to give your project the attention it deserves. This is such a special place and I know you will feel it from the moment you walk through our doors. We would love to be part of your project.

KBIS Speaker Maxine Lauer

Digital-From-Birth
Age: Infant – 14
This group is ethnically diverse, the most tech savvy of all ages, raised on computers from toddler age and expect products to be interactive and able to “transform” and adapt to each individual. They are watching Food Network shows in record numbers and making food an essential piece of their worlds (sounds like the Foodie craze won’t be fading any too soon!)

Gen Now
Age: 15-34
They have a 24/7 mentality for change. They are rewriting the rules as the new adult majority (84 million of them!) Cooking for them is “an ecosystem of options — from fresh preparation to meals-to-go to everything in between.” For them, eating can be done anywhere and anytime. They “do more with less” and design is changing to suit their requirements. They have high expectations, but limited discretionary income. They will make sacrifices to be able to get what they want…you just want to make sure your product or service is what they want.

Generation X
Age: 35-44
These are the entertainers. They love to wine and dine friends and family in their homes. In fact, their love of wine has put the U.S. In front of France for the first time as the largest consumer of wine. They are masters of work/life balance. They grew up with hundreds of cooking shows and magazines and love unique flavors and fabulous food. More than one-third of primary grocery shoppers visit an ethnic grocery store at least occasionally and 31% patronize organic/natural food stores.

Zoomers (previously known as Baby Boomers)
Age: 45-65
This generation is more affluent and healthier than prior generations. They are willing to buy wellness and they have a youthful mentality. They are the “Do It For Me” generation and will spend money on services that help make life easier. Often they are making decisions not only for themselves, but also for elderly parents and co-dependent adult children. The kitchen is the new wellness center for the Zoomers and the bath is a spa.

Prime Timers
Age: 66 and up
These elders are redefining the aging process. It is expected that one in eight Prime Timers will reach the age of 100. They are all about aging in place, designing for ease of lifestyle and future safety, especially in the kitchen and bath. They are active, inspired and want to make a difference.

You can read about these groups in more detail in KB+B and make sure you stop by Maxine Lauer’s 30-minute KBIS presentation on April 24 at 1PM. Titled, “Life Stage Demographics: A fun and interesting look at your next customer,” the presentation is free and requires no special registration once you are in the show.

The Nova Scotia Home Designers Association has one. So does the Tidewater Builder’s Association in Virgina Beach and the HBA of Greater Dallas. In fact, Kraus Fitch Architects of Amherst, MAwon one at the 2011 Annual Conference of the New England AIA for Two Pond Farm in Williamsburg, MA.

Now Clarke has one too. It’s a People’s Choice Award. For the first time ever, Clarke has taken its Clarke Kitchen Design Contestone step beyond industry judges in the glass-walled conference room and asked the people of New England which of the magnificent kitchens would be their winner for most beautiful kitchen utilizing Sub-Zero and Wolf appliances.

Whose name will be engraved on Clarke's People's Choice Award?

More than 50 entries were submitted by architects and designers from all over New England. In the first 24 hours after the voting opened this week, there were more than 600 votes. “The people” can only vote once. And only one kitchen can win.

The process got me thinking…how did “People’s Choice” awards start anyway? In this election year, we take these democratic tools for granted. It seems like the term “People’s Choice”  is so much a part of our culture that it always existed. But, with a little research, I realized that the term, “The People’s Choice Award,” really started being bandied about after the first People’s Choice television show aired in 1975, created by Bob Stivers. The show has been produced every year since then and airs on CBS. It started in America and now is emulated in many places around the world for many things beside actors and favorite shows…that’s how much we humans love to vote for our favorite anything and find out if the crowd agrees with us.

The show has always been produced by Procter & Gamble and they bought the show from Stiver, the creator, in 1982 . Looks like the very first awards recognized The Sting as 1974′s Favorite Picture, Barbra Streisand as the year’s Favorite Film Actress, and John Wayne as its Favorite Film Actor. Ratings for the annual event peaked in 1977, when the 3rd People’s Choice Awards attracted 35.3 million viewers who witnessed Farrah Fawcett-Majors win for Favorite Female TV Star, Star Wars win as the Favorite Picture, and Streisand and Wayne win again in the Film Actress and Actor categories.

The Clarke People’s Choice Award for Kitchen Design will close on March 15th and the winner will be announced on March 29th by 10PM. It will be interesting to see if New Englanders choose the same traditional or contemporary kitchen that the industry judges in the glass conference room at Clarke find superior.

Find out if the region agrees with your selection…believe me, it’s a tough choice. Vote today by clicking here.

Why an Asko dishwasher? I will be happy to answer that, but the real questions are:  Why are you still pre-washing your dishes? Why are you washing the tough items by hand? Why are you hand drying items from the dishwasher before you store them away in the cabinet?  These are the real questions, and ASKO has answers & solutions for you if you are one of the millions still doing much of the dish cleaning & drying chore by hand, even though you have a dishwasher.

ASKO dishwashers save time and energy while providing superior cleaning.

ASKO Appliances has taken steps to make life easier by providing solutions for everyday problems that consumers face, and many times don’t realize there is a solution.

What makes ASKO different? Why don’t you have to pre-wash, or do the tough items by hand?
It starts by going beyond standard dishwasher features for cleaning…

• A stationary PowerZone™ that doesn’t move and rotate like a wash arm, that cleans from the first second to the last second during a cycle.
• A patented, exclusive SCS™ system that ensures the dishwasher is using the cleanest water available by periodically turning of the drain pump during a cycle sequence to remove soil that has been knocked off of the dishes.
• When ASKO is done cleaning it then turns on an interior fan to pull steam & moisture out of the dishwasher and a high rate of speed, to turn sparkling clean dishes into squeaky dry ones.

Most dishwasher brands battle with drying performance that has been drastically reduced over the years to meet lower energy standards. The addition of ASKO’s TurboFan™ produced drying performance that was opposite what other brands were experiencing.

What else can an ASKO dishwasher do for you?
It can clean a load of dishes much faster than others. Every ASKO dishwasher has three fast wash programs. Starting with a 20 min wash only quick wash, a 60 min wash & dry quick wash, and a 1 ½ hour daily wash. It’s hard to believe that 60 min & 90 min cycles are called fast, but in today’s dishwasher environment with Auto wash programs, and low energy use, most normal cycles have become a 2 hour long process!  Making life easier isn’t the only thing ASKO does for you, it also protects you with a warranty 3x stronger than the other brands, with its 2+1 warranty. When you register for your products warranty,  you will get three full years of warranty coverage that includes both parts & labor.

The best way to appreciate the beauty and performance of ASKO is to see the models in person…and use them! At Clarke’s showrooms in Massachusetts and Connecticut, you can do just that! Call for an appointment today.

Farm Fresh, Certified Organic, Seasonal, Slow Food, Artisanal, Heirloom, Locavore, Community Supported Agriculture.

All of these words have become part of our daily language.  For a long time, chefs and “foodies” have been touting the importance of eating foods that are “seasonal” and grown locally.

Coastal Living named Stonington Farmer's Market one of the best farmer's markets on the coast.

Wonderful Farmer’s Markets exist in almost every town throughout the country, many of which are open throughout the winter season.  Area chefs hold special “dinners at the farm,” attracting diners that are inspired by the freshness of “just-picked” produce and eggs, and the idea of delicious food served at a “Community Table” in the middle of a farm field.

When you get to know your local farmer, you want to treat the products that you purchase with the utmost care.  It becomes personal.  What better way to preserve the freshness of this food than with a Sub-Zero refrigerator? Sub-Zero is different. Cool, moist air preserves fresh foods longer, while air purification in the refrigerator removes odors and bacteria that can hasten spoilage.  Temperature-controlled, super-cold dry air in the freezer will hold food longer while preventing freezer-burn.

Seasonal publications are packed with information regarding participating farms throughout your state, Farmer’s Markets, seasonal recipes, and interesting articles related to local agriculture.

If you haven’t visited a farm market yet, I urge you to try it.  It’s comforting to know that your food was grown nearby, and didn’t travel across the country before it reached your table.  It’s a win-win for everyone—patronizing your local farmers keeps them in business, and you get the freshest possible ingredients available.  As the bumper sticker on my car reads—No Farms-No Food

Here’s a link to some of New England’s winter farmer’s markets:
http://www.farmtotableonline.org/2011/11/winter-farmers-markets-new-england/

Enjoy!

I’ve been with Clarke for more than a decade now and I’ve encountered thousands of homeowners working to create their dream kitchens. I love when a designer suggests that they start with the appliances, because the choices are endless and can make a big difference in the design of a kitchen. Here’s a quick overview of my five things to consider BEFORE you start that project…

1. Layout

First and foremost, consider the functionality of the space to be remodeled. Few dispute the fact that the kitchen is the heart of the home, so carefully consider what will become part of this project. Will the family room or great room be integrated into the kitchen area? Will every day dining take place in the space? Many homes are eliminating formal dining spaces completely. If you are actually making changes that alter the footprint of the space, either an architect or kitchen designer will need to be part of the project in order to provide plans for the contractor you hire.

Take your time and find someone that fits your personal style and someone that you can trust to help with the numerous decisions you must make and requirements that will be needed.

2. Appliances

When a professional is hired to help with the layout, one of their first requests will be to have the homeowner select the appliances desired. This will allow the designer to provide several different options for the space. While the homeowner at the outset rarely considers this step, the appliance selections can truly change the home.

Designer Gerard Ciccarello's Clarke 2010 Design Contest Winner from Convenant Kitchens.

Many homeowners start a remodeling project due to an appliance needing to be replaced. This offers an opportunity that often allows the homeowners to elevate their cooking ability and enables them to achieve restaurant-quality cooking levels for their family. A variety of new features and options with brands like Wolf appliances, along with increased cooking speed, are usually benefits of selecting new appliances. Food preservation is something that should not be overlooked when selecting refrigeration. Proper selection of refrigeration, for instance incorporating Sub-Zero into your project, could save hundred of dollars in grocery purchases annually. This all equates to a healthier family lifestyle.

Energy efficiency is also key for families and the environment. Energy Star appliances are key, especially when considering cleanup (dishwashers.)

3.  Storage

The accumulation of cooking tools, decorative accessories and the increase in family size all have an effect on us as homeowners. This leads to a need for more space and storage for all of our “goodies.”

With new drawer designs, roll-outs, and unique solutions for necessities such as cling wrap, foil, and paper towels, most cabinet manufacturers have an array of products within their lines to fit any budget. Need spice storage? No problem. Want a plate rack or tray storage, you can find it.

With the increase in space comes more of a need to add secondary trash, another sink location to help in prep/clean-up and with today’s products and desire for efficiency, you may want to consider another dishwasher if the family starts to increase exponentially or your lifestyle includes frequent entertaining.

4. Re-Sale

Of course re-sale must always be in the back of our minds when considering a remodeling project. Will you be living in the home for a short term (possibly 3-5 years) or do you plan to stay longer? If your answer is short

This beautiful design by RoomScapes Design Center shows how dining can be incorporated into the room.

term, make sure to keep the new design easy for many lifestyles. Try to keep personal taste and elements unique to your family to a minimum. Always make sure to incorporate high-performance appliance brands like Sub-Zero and Wolf, as this will be a huge selling feature when your home is compared to others for sale in the neighborhood. Materials, countertops and hardware should all be considered as key in resale. And don’t forget to provide great lighting, as this can (with the appliances) be the element that sets your home apart.

5. Investment

How much do we budget? Base your initial thoughts on your surrounding housing market. This will enable you to stay within the parameters needed for re-sale. Again, when prioritizing the elements you will include, the return on your investment for high-performance appliances is one of the key elements. Both the durability (long lifetime) of these appliances and the consumer appeal make them a must to incorporate into your remodel. Classics like a Wolf stainless gas range never go out of style. If you are remodeling with resale in mind, this is how you want to consider your investment. The latest trend may not be the smartest option, but a functional, energy-efficient space that preserves your food, wine and the health of your family will always be desirable whether you stay in your home for two decades or sell in three years. Investing in your home is still a very sound idea.

When Emmy-nominated Chef Ming Tsai offered a cooking event last month at our Milford showroom, the crowd of 60 guests were both enthusiastic and at ease, seeming as if they were all having a  personal conversation with the celebrated chef. Ming was extremely at home in his television studio kitchen at Clarke, where he’s cooked for his PBS for now nine seasons. He entertained the crowd with stories of being on “Iron Chef,” what it was like behind the scenes and said that the task of single-handedly creating the buffet for 100 people on the show might have been the hardest thing he’s ever done in his life.

For two hours, he whipped up selections from his One-Pot Meals cookbook, offering that when he cooks at home (without the luxury of sous chefs and dish washers), he likes to create things simply, and often using only one pot. “That’s real Chinese cooking, you know,” he said. “Less is more and you put together wonderful ingredients and then put the pot right on the table to serve the family.”

During the evening, Ming offered these morsels of culinary wisdom:

• The secret to great polenta is to shake it a little at a time when putting it in to the pan; don’t dump it into the pan all at once.
• Be careful when taking your first taste of polenta. It’s so hot; “pizza burn is nothing compared to polenta burn!”
• Always season from very high up, never sprinkle salt, pepper or any spice from right over the pan or dish…always drop from a few feet above the cooking surface. If you scatter beyond the pan or plate, that’s fine. It will eliminate over-seasoning.
• Ming’s favorite cooking smell? Garlic and ginger. Second favorite? Onions and butter.
• He suggested that you have to train your children’s palettes so they like healthful food; his children LOVE vegetables…they learned from a young age and the cooking smells are so great!
• Always grind your own pepper.
• Always use Kosher salt, not iodized.
• When cooking with ginger, make sure the ginger is hard, smooth and has no soft spots.
• Miso is actually a great form of sodium.
• When working with scallions, cook the white end and use the green end for garnish.
• When cooking with wine, use the same wine in the dish that you’ll be drinking with the meal.
• When cooking tomatoes, you’re best to use canned Roma tomatoes. Most professional chefs actually use canned for cooking.
• To heat pans, use medium high heat and make sure your pans are good; they should have at least three layers of metal.
• He uses gas ranges whenever possible, but always induction cooking for his events where gas isn’t available.
• Never, ever stick your finger in the pot to taste (even if you think your hands are clean)…this introduces bacteria and toxins.
• When oil flares up in a pan, simply put a lid on it and turn off the heat, then clean the pan and start over.
• It’s not cheating to buy stock. Use low- or no-sodium stock, so that you can control the amount of salt.
• There is no word in Chinese for diet. The ideal is to never eat after 10PM and just to move your body!

It was a delightful evening watching Ming in action and we look forward to having him back to The Clarke Culinary Center in 2012 to teach us more great secrets. Don’t forget to watch the new season of his PBS show, Simply Ming…Cooking on the Fly. In the Boston area, it can be seen Saturday afternoons on WGBH.

It is that time of the year again, when Clarke invites the New England Design Community to show their best work incorporating Sub-Zero and Wolf appliances. We’ve just posted a landing page at www.clarkedesigncontest.com to begin the  process for our third Clarke Sub-Zero and Wolf Design Contest. As in the past, there will be three design categories: Traditional Kitchens (top prize is $4,000), Contemporary Kitchens (top prize is $4,000)  and “Other Room,” which might be a bath, wet bar, family room or other residential space that includes Sub-Zero and Wolf appliances (top prize is $2,000). In addition, this year we are posting all entries online starting in January, and will be adding a “People’s Choice” award category. We’ll invite the public to visit the site and they will vote on their favorite project among all entries and the winning designer will earn a $2,000 prize.

This is always a very exciting initiative for Clarke. We are so grateful to the design community for embracing these fine high-performance appliances and know that showcasing great work can inspire both designers and homeowners to think about Sub-Zero and Wolf in a whole new way. Our 2010 judges (Len Casey, kitchen industry educator, entrepreneur and leader; Certified Kitchen Designer and past NKBA president Gail Olsen, of Ducci Kitchens in Goshen, CT; Janice Costa, editor of Kitchen and Bath Design News; and architect David Andreozzi of Andreozzi Architects in Barrington, RI) said that they were extremely impressed with the talent and innovation exemplified by New England’s designers. They believe New England poses unique design challenges including great seasonal changes, very discerning homeowners, a wide variety of home styles and architectural history, and a breadth of residential living settings including seacoast, mountains, urban and country. According to our judges, all of these challenges inspire New England’s designers to go beyond the norm, to create new and exciting spaces.

We invite all of New England’s designers to come join us in this exciting competition and look forward to heralding the winners in March 2012.

Here’s a look at last year’s winners:

Traditional Kitchen – First Place: Gerard Ciccarello of Covenant Kitchens & Baths in Westbrook, CT

Traditional Kitchen – Second Place: Amanda LaRose and Michelle Kelly of Venegas & Co.

Contemporary Kitchen – First Place: Marcus Gleysteen of Gleysteen Design in Cambridge, MA

Contemporary Kitchen – Second Place: E.J. Krupinsky of Lee Kimball in Winchester, MA

Other Room: Laura Kaehler of Laura Kaehler Architects in Greenwich, CT

by Guest Blogger
Clarke 2010 Design Contest Winner – EJ Krupinsky of Lee Kimball

Imagine a building in Boston (instead of NY) where characters in the hit series Mad Men might live in the 1960s. Imagine an apartment up in the clouds on the 18th floor, with panoramic views of the city and striking light. Now fast-forward to 2010…our challenge was how to take this architecture and historic heritage and design a kitchen for today.  The new design infuses a material lightness and transparency to work with these strong attributes.

Program features to be incorporated into the new design include fifteen feet of ribbon windows, four passage doors, a thru space circulation route and a new seating banquette. These conditions made it challenging to provide adequate tall storage, refrigeration, seating and ventilation while staying open and spacious.

We had two corners in the room to place large program items. Sub-Zero refrigeration, tall storage and a Wolf wall oven are grouped to blend with other big cabinets with increased storage depth. This move allowed the other parts of the kitchen to be long, linear, low and open to the views. Concealed Sub-Zero refrigeration drawers and a Wolf cooktop were important details infused. Two planes of glass work as backsplashes and define the working area of the kitchen, while staying mostly transparent and allowing the homeowner to fully enjoy the city views. A lone glass doored wall cabinet inches over the window to gain critical storage, but allows light to permeate into the space through it.

We were pleased to win one of Clarke’s 2010 Design Contest awards for Contemporary Kitchen. It was a joy working on this design and we’re looking forward to this year’s contest.

Check out E.J.’s design on Lee Kimball’s site.

Literally as Marketing Director Jim Raftus left Clarke for retirement, he posted his thoughts about Ming Tsai’s 9th season in Milford…we’ll miss you Jim!

Clarke’s showroom once again was a beehive of television activity as Chef Ming Tsai recently filmed his ninth season of “Simply Ming” in our amphitheatre studio in Milford, Massachusetts.  The popular series airs on 150 Public Television Stations across the country. Chef Ming, who is both host and executive producer, has spiced up the  “Simply Ming” menu this year by changing the previous Master Sauces premise to an exciting On The Fly format. This year’s programs will have Ming and his roster of celebrity chefs presented with mystery main ingredients to which they will add their own selection of spices and sides to create two, hopefully, memorable meals.

Chef Ming Tsai recently completed taping his ninth season of Simply Ming at Clarke in Milford

Unlike many shows, it is not a “competition,” rather more a friendly, fun collaborative food adventure with Chef Ming and his guests exchanging ideas, tips, stories and good humor. Watching Ming and the talented team assembled by WGBH, the show’s originating station, crank out three episodes a day is a lesson in cooperative creativity.  The precision which the preparation kitchen crew and the television production team exhibit is a testament to their professionalism and a treat to watch.

Season nine’s roster of guest chefs includes; Andrew Zimmern, Joanne Chang, Jacques Pepin, Jody Adams, Michael Schlow, Jason Santos, Jamie Bissonnette and more.

After completing the cooking segments at Clarke, Team Simply Ming headed to the wine producing areas of California then on to Singapore for more exciting adventures!  The new season will premier in October.

We can’t wait for next summer when they return to Clarke to film season number ten! However, before that, Ming will be offering one of his great cooking classes at The Clarke Culinary Center in Milford…watch www.clarkeculinarycenter.com for details!

To learn more visit www.ming.com