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.