June 4, 2010

goodbye to a kitchen

We're moving tomorrow.

It's one of those momentous moves; we're leaving our apartment and moving into our first house. It's been a big year for us, to say the least; plenty of life changes (not the least of which was turning vegetarian, I'll add, just to keep this on a food track) have kept us on our toes. Hence the great swaths of time between blog posts here.

I really did not anticipate any feelings of nostalgia for my little windowless apartment kitchen. But this week, as I packed up a seemingly endless cupboard-full of kitchen supplies, I realized that this was the place where food came to mean more to me than so much else. Somehow, in about ten square feet of counter space, I discovered something very important: I love to cook. I went from being a mediocre-at-best home cook to a food blogger, all in this tiny galley kitchen. There, I learned how to caramelize sugar and make fig preserves; in that kitchen, I began to roll sushi for the first time and made some of the very best chicken stock I've ever tasted.Our apartment kitchen held my hand as I began a more natural foods journey. I made homemade yogurt, homemade pasta, homemade crackers, homemade tortillas, and even homemade caramels.

I did not, however, learn to make homemade bread.

But more than that, I discovered a deep connection to food and the way it is prepared. I journeyed from junk foods to food junkie. In this kitchen, I learned to respect food and what it can do to our bodies, minds, and spirits. I connected in exactly the way I had hoped when I started this blog: I found ways to weave sustainability through all these facets of life.

What, then, I have to wonder, is in store for our new kitchen? It's about the same size, and the very same layout, minus one very important appliance: the dishwasher. But I'll take it any day, because what it lacks in modern conveniences it makes up for with a full-size window and a gas stove.

I am so excited about the edible escpades that are going to take place in our home's kitchen. For one thing, this summer I plan on meeting our neighbors, becoming the beneficiary of their over-productive peach tree, and making homemade peach preserves. I also plan on trying my hand (again) at sprouts, to make loaves of sprouted grain breads.

Big plans are in store for this kitchen of mine, so please stay tuned for the ride. And in the meantime, help me bid adieu to my beloved apartment kitchen. It has been the backbone for this whole site, and I think we should all wish it well with its next family.

5 comments:

Claire Jain said...

Uhoh. Gettin' a little misty over here!

~Molly~ said...

We had a tiny kitchen like that once and I LOVED it(except for the storage). Now I've got a longer galley kitchen that I'm even more in love with!!

Have fun with the moving in and getting to know your new surroundings!!

Katie Berry said...

I just want to let you know about an exciting appliance that I did not know about until I moved in with my most recent roommate... the portable dishwasher. It is like a normal dishwasher, but on casters and you hook it up to the sink faucet. Ours sits in the corner and then we hook it up before we go to bed and let it run. The dishwasher works super well. I would highly recomend getting one. I went without a dishwasher for the past 6 years. But, now that I know about the portable dishwasher... I wouldnt go back.

P.S. I love your blog!

Jessica said...

I had similar feelings for my old apartment kitchen. And then when I moved into our new house and I had so much more space- I got over it, ha. Good luck with your new home and kitchen!

Unknown said...

But you'll be cooking with gas in the new one! So much to look forward to!