Welcome to My Kitchen

While I am roasting beef bones in preparation for making beef consomme (thanks Rosie Hawthorne!), I thought I would give you a tour of my kitchen. Since moving here 9 years ago, the only major thing we have changed in the kitchen is the flooring. I have dreams of doing more, but for now...

The original trip-inducing, badly installed, gouged, impossible-to-clean, ugly vinyl flooring. Can you tell I hated it?

The new Brazilian Cherry hardwood flooring two years after it had been installed. The wood started out the same color as the cabinets and steadily deepened in color. I love it!

The work space in my kitchen is the island. That means I have roughly a 2 x 2 foot area in which to prepare my food. I have more counter space, but it is not as useful or convenient. Do you notice something strange in the kitchen? All of the appliances are either stainless steel or black. Except... for the huge white refrigerator. I am trying to convince my husband that he needs to buy me a new stainless steel 25 cubic foot side by side refrigerator and retire this one to the garage.

The sink area. I have a great view out to the woods behind us from the window.

I am not ashamed to admit that I do a lot of cooking in my microwave and the toaster oven. But look what is directly beneath that. The dishwasher. As in who would put the dishwasher right in the middle of the work triangle? (That is the refrigerator just to the left and the stove is opposite the fridge.) And why does my family insist upon cleaning out the dishwasher when I am trying to cook? Yes, I know, I should be grateful they actually put the clean dishes away, but...

You may have also noticed that my spices sit out on the counter. Not an ideal situation, but this is why. My spice cabinet is a mere 6 inches wide. That means that if I want anything in the back, all the things in the front must first be removed.

Here's another counter space, but my husband insists upon completely covering it with bills and mail. Also, anything that will not fit in the pantry ends up on the counter.

Yep, the pantry is full. How can three people and one cat need so much food?

I'm so proud of myself. I recently installed this sliding tray in one of the cabinets. Let's just say that the contents of this cabinet fell out at me one too many times.

And this is the center of the kitchen. My stove. Notice that I only have 2 burners to work with. We don't use the grill much because it is a pain to clean. I have been wanting to get a new cooktop insert, but that is still a distant dream.

Tired of the cabinets overflowing, I recently annexed the coat closet and put a shelving unit in there to hold my small appliances.

I thought you might like to actually see the view I have from my kitchen window. The flower in the foreground is my orchid that sits next to my kitchen sink.