Alphabet of Daily Life - K

K is for the Kitchen...

This is the heartbeat of our home, where just about EVERYthing happens. When we first moved into our house, the kitchen needed our immediate attention. We had to get rid of the faux flagstone floor, the pink countertops, and the pink, black and cream striped wallpaper scattered with pink flowers. I also did my first tile install, including use of a wet-saw, by putting in a tile backsplash over the counters.

Cooking

Obviously, all of the cooking takes place in the kitchen. After a long day at work, it's nice to just pour a glass of wine, put a good CD into the under-cabinet player, and set to cooking.

I have a beloved cookbook collection (they MUST have pictures...after all, how would someone know how the end result should look without a photo?). And, the cookbooks are used to plan out menus, both for our weekly repasts as well as for parties and holidays. We try to eat something new as often as possible. It's also not at all unusual for us to serve a completely new dish that we've never tried before to guests. So far, everyone's lived.

Canning

Yup, love to can (but not fruits and vegetables). I make chutneys or preserves. My all-time favorite is Victoria Sauce which is a rhubarb chutney; we use it on ham and pork, and also give it out (very parsimoniously) as gifts. I used to have a fabulous old canning set, but gave it to Goodwill in the midst of our moving-into-our-new-house frenzy. So, I now use a large stockpot. It does the same job, but without quite the same degree of convenience.

Homework

The handy counter height table and chairs we added to the "empty" side of the room make great homework and other writing or creative work space. My daughter will often do her homework here while I'm cooking.

Holidays

For some reason, during holidays, EVERYONE ends up in the kitchen. I'm cooking away, usually handing out cooking tasks to others, and everyone mills about or sits at the table, chatting and sniffing the good scents. We're wondering if our recent living room remodel will entice everyone to move into that room or if they'll still stay in the kitchen?
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