July 26, 2007 — Whats the first thing youre going to make in your new kitchen? Bart Simpson once asked his mother, Marge, after a two-year kitchen renovation.

How about cooking up some money, because this stupid kitchen cost a hundred-thousand dollars, Homer chimed in, bursting into tears.

Oh, Homer . . . $100,000 is nothing.

Its not hard to spend many times that figure on the kitchen of your dreams.

Kitchen design has strayed so much from the basics, says Andrew Heiberger, founder and CEO of Buttonwood Real Estate. It has become disconnected from reality.

What might have seemed like an over-the-top kitchen five years ago is de rigueur today. And even if youve never made a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and have no interest in a splashy kitchen, youre probably going to get one anyway if youre in the market for a new apartment.

Tricked-out kitchens with ultra-luxe appliances have become standard in new condos and conversions. Sub-Zero, Miele and Viking appliances are expected - as are custom cabinets and high-end finishes.

The kitchen is a showpiece, says Elisa Orlanski Ours, vice president for pre-development at Corcoran Sunshine Marketing. But its also functional, as well. So the appliances have to be very thoughtfully chosen.

In some cases, home kitchens rival those in city restaurants.

When I started JoJo, it was a 50-seat dining room and it was $120,000 kitchen that was fully equipped, says super-chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten of his 16-year-old eatery. Now, $120,000 is nothing special for an above-average apartment kitchen.

When Eric Mann, a partner at The Developers Group, moved into his $3 million Fifth Avenue two-bedroom condo last year, the kitchenette was a cramped, tiny space. It had a four-burner stove, a beat-up metal counter and a mini-bar instead of a full-size refrigerator. Mann spent 10 months renovating, took out the apartments

master bath and turned his new kitchen space into a gadget-filled extravaganza. >PAGE 1>

The bodies of a couple and their three young children were recovered yesterday. They died after a section of road collapsed under their car near Somersby in New South Wales, sending the vehicle plunging down an embankment into a swollen river.

An elderly couple died after their car was swept off a bridge by flash floods in the Hunter Valley. A man seen being swept into a storm drain in the town of Newcastle is still missing.

A coal freighter that beached on a sandbank north of Sydney, sparking fears of an environmental disaster, was still intact last night despite being pounded by heavy breakers for more than two days. Carrying 700 tonnes of oil and 38 tonnes of diesel, the 225-metre Panama-registered ship Pasha Bulker, whose crew have been airlifted to safety, was boarded yesterday by a salvage crew which reported that its hull was still intact.

A woman in New South Wales was trapped when a tree crashed through the roof of her house and landed on her while she slept. Fire crews had to cut off the end of her bed to pull her to safety because they were unable to lift the tree.

(03-11) 04:40 PDT AMSTERDAM, Netherlands (AP) —

Shares in troubled mortgage-bond fund Carlyle Capital Corp. Ltd. are plunging after regulators lifted a halt to trading in Amsterdam.

Shares were suspended Thursday after tumbling more than 50 percent on news that the London-based fund was hit with default notices from creditors and that it was unable to meet margin calls.

Shares of the stock are down 21 percent to $3.95 (2.57 euros) Tuesday.

The fund, managed by a unit of Washington D.C.-based Carlyle Group, is in talks with remaining lenders to prevent them from foreclosing on $16 billion in securities.