Last year I spoke on the design blog panel at the Kitchen and Bath Show in Las Vegas. I joined a couple of my good friends including Chris Phillips of Apartment Therapy, Susan Serra and Megan Arquette.

KBIS is back in Chicago next year and I look forward to attending and hopefully speaking again.

Here's the video and yes, I do like to make the same hand gestures over and over.

When it comes to kitchen safety while preparing a large meal, keep these tips in mind:

*Don't let clutter pile up on the stove or range. It's hard to do, because you probably have several dishes going at once, along with their accompanying mixing bowls and utensils. Yet make sure you only have pots and pans on your stove. You'll lessen the risk of knocking something over or accidentally pouring grease on the surface, which could easily catch fire.

*In the event of a grease fire, do not pour water on it. If the fire is in a pan or pot, put on an oven mitt and put a lid over the pot to smother the fire. If the fire is in a more open area, smother it with baking soda. You may also want to keep a fire extinguisher handy, too, which is an ideal tool with which to put out any fire.

And speaking of fires, I have a quick tip to share with you (sadly enough, from personal experience.) Take a few minutes in the days leading up to Thanksgiving to give your stove burners and oven a good scrub. If you have an electric range, take off your burners, remove the burner pans and thoroughly wash them with soap, water and steel wool. While boiling water at a high heat, one of our range pans caught fire. It was completely unexpected -- and took a few minutes (and the calm thinking of my rational husband) to extinguish. Since you'll likely have your stove on for a prolonged period of time, it's best to start with as clean an appliance as possible.

When we saw the cheese grater chandelier featured on The Kitchn, we knew this would go straight into the inspiration file. Located at a new grilled cheese restaurant on NYC's Lower East Side, the chandelier is an architectural marvel. Who knew cheese graters could be so chic? So modern? So eye-catching?

If you're the daring DIY type, you could likely replicate the cheese grater chandelier in your own abode. Your biggest problem would be collecting enough cheese graters, although perhaps a day spent thrifting would yield enough supplies. And your in-home version would likely be smaller than the one featured in the restaurant, meaning you wouldn't need quite as many graters.

If your kitchen is in need of a little pre-holiday update, don't worry -- you have plenty of time to make changes. We've compiled a list of common updates to help you plan your to-do list and timeline.

1. Replace appliances. If your appliances are outdated, now's the time to replace them. According to a chart published by This Old House, here is the life expectancy of most major kitchen appliances:
Gas ranges (15 yrs)
Range hoods (14 yrs)
Refrigerators and electric ranges (13 yrs)
Garbage disposals (12 yrs)
Freezers (11 yrs)
Dishwashers (9 yrs)
Microwave ovens (9 yrs)
Compactors (6 yrs)

2. Clean. Cleaning isn't high on our list of favorite things to do, but a thorough deep cleaning will help keep your appliances in proper working order. Plus, who doesn't love spending time in a sparkling room? Wipe down your oven, stove and microwave. Unplug your fridge and clean the condenser coils. And while you're working with the fridge, remove old food and leftovers from the fridge and freezer so that you have plenty of space to store new leftovers, groceries and edible gifts.

From the ever-fabulous Fred and Friends company comes these two cutting instruments that might cause guests to take a second look at how you're serving the night's entree.

On the left is the PIBOSS Pizza Boss Pizza Wheel, perfect for cutting up that traditional deep dish pizza on Thanksgiving, or, if you'd rather, Grandma's pumpkin pie, all with the finesse of the most seasoned woodshop veterans. Shaped like a circular saw, the pizza wheel is built from tough, engineering-grade plastics with a laser-etched stainless-steel blade and has a removable shield for easy clean up, all while being dishwasher safe as well.

Courtesy of Dornob, we saw this little KitchenAid wunderkind and stopped dead in our tracks.

Chef Marcus Samuelsson (the winner of Top Chef Masters season 2 - love that show!) has teamed up with BlueStar to auction off a pink gas range. The striking piece has a retail value of $4,700, Plus, BlueStar is including an 8-piece cookware set, too, so you'll be ready to prepare a culinary masterpiece.

The professional-quality range includes:
*Extra-large oven capacity
*ULTRANOVA power burn that delivers a scorching 22,000 BTU of heat
*Ability to accommodate a full-size commercial baking sheet
*24" depth that's compatible with standard kitchen cabinetry

Using coffee as a wood stain will certainly smell better than your conventional options--and you won't have to worry about harsh fumes, either.

Here's How!

1. You'll want to pile your coffee grounds into a large French press or glass jar. Then pour hot water over the coffee and allow it to steep at least a few hours, but preferably overnight. Feel free to tweak your stain color--the more coffee you add, the darker it will be.

And keep this in mind - one gallon of coffee stain will cover about 100 square feet of cabinet or surface area.

2. Once the coffee is ready to apply, strain it so all of the grounds are removed. Remove your cabinets and lay them out on newspaper to protect the floor. You may want to coat the cabinets with a paint stripper to remove the current color. If you want to skip this step, make sure the cabinet surfaces are clean before you apply the stain.

3. Use a lint-free nylon rag soaked in stain to apply it in even strokes on the cabinet. Then you can gently wipe the stained area with a clean rug to remove excess stain. Once the stain has completely dried, apply a clear sealant to protect the cabinet's surface.

What do you think of this project? Will you be whipping up a batch of coffee stain?

Coffee grounds are also great for gardening.

Photo: Flickr.com/ayelie

Single serve coffee has been an amazing invention for us and we've tried a few of them. We had a poor experience with a Cuisinart single serve that almost soured us on using them at all but when we saw the latest coffee system from Keurig we thought we'd give it another shot.

We came across a great Kitchens.com post on refrigeration trends and it made us realize just how far this mighty appliance has come. The post also looks forward to several trends that will continue to change the way refrigerators are purchased, installed and used.

For example? Expect to see an increase in modular pieces that will allow consumers to separate refrigerators and freezers as needed, and place them throughout the kitchen as space allows.

The idea is simple -- most standard built-in cabinet systems actually sit on a riser of sorts, leaving a good three- to four-inch average gap of unused space under the interior shelves. This project from The Family Handyman helps to actually utilize that space for narrow storage items -- think cutting boards, cookie and muffin pans, or even things such as storage bags, reusable grocery bags, and kitchen linens.

If you're doing some financial planning for your own kitchen renovation, you might want to consider average costs to which you can compare your own expenditures. Of course, your project is all about your goals and budget, so research of this nature is best used as a general guide, rather than a hard-and-fast rule.

Kitchens.com reports that in 2010-11, the national average price of a mid-range minor kitchen remodel is $21,695, with an average return of 72.8 percent. According to Remodeling, a minor kitchen remodel is "a 200-square-foot kitchen with 30 linear feet of cabinetry and countertops." Specific project components include a refacing of the cabinet doors, drawers and hardware; replaced and updated laminate countertops and vinyl flooring; and a new energy-efficient wall oven and cooktop, a mid-priced sink and faucet, wall coverings and newly painted trim.

When I saw the Sharpie floor featured on Apartment Therapy's round-up of bold kitchen floors, I knew I had to post it for you! You could certainly attempt your own Sharpie masterpiece. From my (extremely) limited experience? Make sure you really, really want to finish the project. Or have my husband's discipline. Because it takes quite awhile, especially if you're doing a detailed design!

How amazing is that floor? And can you imagine the conversation it must inspire when people come over? I think I could stare at it for hours! You'd have so many options, too, when picking your Sharpies. Black and white is classic, but you could also inject pops of color--or maybe even go metallic?

Samsung has introduced a refrigerator complete with an 8-inch WiFi-supported LCD screen that features 8 apps: Memos, Photos, Epicurious, Calendar, Weatherbug, AP, Pandora and Twitter. Jordan Crook has the full scoop for CrunchGear, including her thoughts after testing the fridge at a launch event.

The memo function is great for writing notes, grocery lists and other handy reminders that you'd normally post on your refrigerator. And with Epicurious, you have a huge recipe library at your fingertips; never again will you be stumped by that constant question, "What's for dinner?" You can search by ingredient, cuisine, meal, dietary preference and other parameters. Sounds simple, right? Now we just need an app that will actually prepare the meal!

It seems like a minor detail when compared with the rest of the features and amenities, but one of the things that struck me most in the condo was the kitchen's stainless steel backsplash. We've talked before here at C&H about using metal tiles to add a dose of oomph to your kitchen's walls, but this was a solid sheet of stainless steel--and it made for an impressive, functional look that seamlessly blended with the kitchen's stainless steel appliances and the home's modern surroundings.

I've quickly realized that touring open houses and model condos/lofts can be a great way to glean inspiration for your own space. They typically display a variety of features, including upgraded options, and are so perfectly decorated that it's like stepping into the pages of your favorite shelter magazine.