A & E

Anyone who has ever leafed through a cookbook knows that with a little creativity, one set of ingredients can be used to create a wide variety of recipes. The same is true of kitchens.

The stylish kitchens on the Westmoreland Museum of Art's 16th annual "Art in the Kitchen Tasting Tour" on Oct. 3 demonstrate that a similar selection of cabinets, countertops and appliances can be used to create kitchens as individual as their owners.

"This year's kitchens are lovely," says museum women's committee president Kathy Hollahan, whose group organizes the tour. "People taking the tour will get good ideas for re-doing their own kitchens. It opens their eyes to what's available."

As a bonus, each of the six kitchens will offer a sample of food prepared by the museum's women's committee members from their 1995 cookbook. Planned offerings include barbecued water chestnuts, basil cherry tomatoes and hot ham and cheese sandwiches. Recipes for the prepared items will be printed in the tour guidebook.

Homeowners Nancy Shaler and Tom Ferree used ideas from past tours when planning the kitchen of their new house on Whitehead Road in Hempfield. "I had gone on kitchen tours in the past, and I really enjoyed them," Shaler says. "We built our house in 2005-06 and we got a lot of ideas."

Their open, high-ceilinged French-country kitchen features stepped maple cabinets topped with crown molding and tinted with a champagne glaze.

Shaler's favorite part of her kitchen is "the center island with a prep sink and electrical outlets. I like to bake, and baking on the granite is really nice. And cleanup is easy." Her husband's favorite feature is the wine chiller in the center island that stores up to 50 bottles of his homemade Zinfandel and Cabernet.

Rachel and Alex Byers also chose glazed maple cabinets to update the kitchen of their 1925 house in the Underwood section of Greensburg. Designed for family living, their kitchen has stainless steel appliances, a granite-topped island and Italian floor tiles.

Murano glass pendant lights and an electric-candle chandelier personalize the space, while the exposed chimney adds texture.

The renovated kitchen of graphic artist Melanie Alexander on Barnhart Road outside Greensburg reveals her love of the color blue. Country oak cabinets, some with leaded-glass doors, are set off by blue countertops. The step-down kitchen welcomes nature with a view of the surrounding woods.

In Latrobe's Palmer Place development, the kitchen of Janine and Terry Hatten's 2007 home was designed in the French-country style. Its glazed maple cabinets and stainless-steel appliances contrast with dark, hardwood floors. The island features plenty of storage space and an under-the-counter microwave, while a wet bar with wine rack makes entertaining a breeze. Another kitchen in Palmer Place, at a Pellis Construction spec home, also will be on the tour.

The oldest house on the tour is Susan and Fred Schultz's home in Ligonier's Rich Hollow. Once owned by Arthur St. Clair, the property was bought by the Schultzes in 1989. Their white farmhouse has a Mission-style kitchen with cherry cabinets. Black cabinets above the stove add a dramatic accent. Artistic touches include a bronze mural inset in the tile and Susan's handcrafted stained-glass windows.

Copies of the women's committee cookbook can be purchased during the tour at the Byers house in Greensburg and the Schultz house in Ligonier. They are kept in stock at the Westmoreland Museum of Art on North Main Street in Greensburg.

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