As Christmas slowly (yeah, right!) approaches, my thoughts often turn to the kitchen.
I don’t feel rushed or pressured when it comes to food. Rather, it relaxes me and forces me to take time out from the bustle of the holiday season to do something I really enjoy.
Our kitchen is my favourite place in the world and probably the one area where I am an organizational wizard. I can maneuver it like no one else can and I hate to hand over control. I have easy access to my gadgets and appliances. I prefer shiny and beautiful utensils that I almost hate to use because they are such a nice display. Our cutlery is heavy and functional - you really feel like you’re lifting your food and working for it.
It may seem like someone with such a kitchen would balk at unmatched coffee mugs, but my mugs don’t come close to matching. You’d be hard pressed to find two alike. I appreciate how different they are. Large and functional for big coffee drinkers, like me. Small and adorable for mugs of hot chocolate after sledding in the yard.
I’ve made no secret of the fact that my favourite addition to the kitchen is the new KitchenAid Stand Mixer my husband finally bought me last Christmas. As someone who loves to cook, I felt beyond entitled to that wonderful piece of machinery. It takes a place of honour on our counter and gets shined quite regularly. To me, it finishes the room and gives it a rich and luxurious look I always envisioned in my adult kitchen. If it’s wrong to love a piece of machinery, I don’t want to be right!
I love heavy cast iron skillets and copper bottom pots. A bright chrome tea kettle graces our stove. Heavy antique ceramic pitchers hold my favourite ladles and spoons. There seems to be a theme of jadeite and cobalt glass, for which I have a fetish, but I can’t help but feel slightly elated when I pour sugar into my cup from my favourite jadeite sugar shaker.
But the best piece of all? It’s tiny. If you’ve been in my kitchen you’ve probably never noticed it. One summer, I was determined to entire an apple pie contest at a local farm fair. I toiled and sobbed over many failed pastries and my family ate so many test pies they still can’t stand the smell of cinnamon. Finally, I got the flavour right, but the pies lacked a polished look that I felt they needed for presentation. I tried to flute, crimp and cut, but nothing looked right. Then, a few days before I had to submit my final work, my husband brought home a tiny apple-shaped copper cookie cutter. I cut a piece of pastry in the shape of that perfect apple and placed it on my pie. I didn’t win that contest, but I still maintain that pie as the best looking pie I’ve ever made - and that cookie cutter will always be one of the first and most favourite things I see in my kitchen.
Tell me about your kitchen. Your favourite gadgets. Appliances you rub as you walk by. Your favourite spot. I would love to hear about it!
[tags]home, kitchen, cooking, food, tools, gadgets, utensils, KitchenAid, mixer, favorite, favourite, holidays, Christmas[/tags]
Photo graciously provided by limonada, through a Creative Commons license, some rights reserved
3 responses so far ↓
Erica // Dec 13, 2007 at 11:52 am
I love my granite pestle and mortar, and knive, strong quality knives
holly // Dec 16, 2007 at 7:20 am
I covet the kitchen aid mixer. But, my current favourite kitchen thing would have to be…hrrrmmm…I really don’t know. Gotta think about that one!
STL Mom // Jan 3, 2008 at 11:33 am
I received a stand mixer for Christmas 2006. It sat in its box until November 2007, because I kept thinking it was too big and not useful enough, and I should probably return it. Now that I’ve used it I love it.
But I have to say that my favorite thing in my kitchen is my stovetop with induction burners. They heat up fast, cool down fast, don’t warm up the whole kitchen in the summer, and can’t set your sleeve on fire. Plus they are energy efficient — what’s not to love?
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