My Kitchen

To get started, I thought I share my kitchen with you. When it came time to design, I put A LOT of thought into what was important to me as a cook.

1. Sink with a view.
   Growing up, we had a sink with a window and it seemed to make washing dishes a much more pleasant task. I don't exactly have a window, but I do look out of the kitchen onto our deck which backs up to a gorgeous tree line. Our builder's wife had picked up a discontinued farm sink for $200.00 which I eagerly took off her hands!
   
   
2. Double ovens.
   Thanks, again, to my mom because the kitchen I grew up in had double ovens. For those of you who don't know me, at Christmas I go CRAZY baking cookies for my family and friends. This was a must have! I was only familiar with gas ovens and these ovens are convection which takes some getting used to. I can tell you this...muffins and quick breads raise higher in a convection oven.
   
   
3. A forgiving countertop.
   When we remodeled our kitchen in Waunakee, we put in a Corian-like countertop. While it was beautiful, it scratched easily. Just wiping up spilled sugar scratched the surface. Being a baker and enjoying the challenges of cut-out sugar cookies at Christmas, I opted for a butcher block surface on my kitchen island. I figured I could knead bread dough, roll pie crust and cut cookies without feeling like I was destroying it. Besides, isn't butcher block supposed to look "used"?!?!? For the rest of the kitchen counters, we chose a quartz called "abyss black". Looks great against the white cabinets.
   
   
4. Gas range or cooktop
   I have cooked with both gas and electric ranges and prefer to cook using gas. This appliance also had to have a griddle since Mike is "king of the pancakes" which Alex pretty much demands every weekend. That being decided, the next BIG decision was what brand. I had friends who had Viking and Wolf and who were satisfied with either. After much research, I decided on BlueStar. Now, it's not as well known as the other two, but here's how it got my attention. First, it has two burners that heat to 22,000 BTU. What do I need that for you ask?!?!? Well, I like to can and don't want to be doing it all day! Get my waterbath boiling so I can get out of the kitchen!!! Secondly, high heat is a MUST for searing steaks and seafood. The BlueStar also has a simmer burner for tempering chocolate or whatever else you do with low heat. This came in VERY handy when I canned strawberry jelly last week as it kept the seals sterile.
   
   
5. A walk-in pantry
   As you see in my opening blog post, that is me in my pantry. There is little food located in the kitchen. I have a cute bread drawer and a drawer with flour, sugar, baking soda and powder, and vanilla. That's it for staples. Everything else is stored in the pantry. You probably also noticed the wine cubes. Our carpenter, Jamie, made those from a picture I found on the Internet. He even built me a frame so we could frame a section of the wall we painted with chalkboard paint. Great way to keep a list of what's needed for the pantry!
   
   
   
6. Efficient cabinetry
   Wasted space is the enemy of anyone who likes to cook! Base cabinets, in particular, can be wasteful. Our cabinets all have pull-out drawers so you can easily FIND and get to what you need. We also used more pull-out drawers than cabinets. I organized the kitchen in sections...baking, cooking, prepping, and storing. Gone is the unwieldy Tupperware cabinet!!!
   

I'll get some more pictures of some of these things in the coming weeks. This at least gives you an idea of where I do my creating! It's really nothing more than a glorified chemistry lab!!! :)