Small Kitchens, Big Dreams

I love having my own kitchen, even though I joke that it's the smallest kitchen in America. (I'm sure it's not, but for the record, my counter space is smaller than my desk -- and that's not very big.)

When I finally moved into a place where I wasn't sharing someone's dishes, or using tea towels that I hadn't picked out (read that lament here), I was so ecstatic the space was mine that I didn't care how big or small the counter was -- I would make it work. 

I acquired my own tea towels, found nooks and crannies in cabinets for the ever-growing Pyrex collection, and I managed to cook an astonishing amount of food in such a small space.  

Occasionally, though I feel like it's not working. When I burn something, I have to open the front door -- which is only a refrigerator's width away from the stove -- to let the smoke out before the detector blares again.  
 
My tiny wooden doll from Bulgaria seems to stare down at me from the spice rack, as if to reprimand me for cooking in such a small space to begin with. 

Perched next to the Hungarian paprika, she herself is a size more fitting for my doll-house like kitchen. 

I have to remind myself that my kitchen is still much larger than many people around the world. My friend Natasha taught me that anything is possible -- even in a doll-sized Ukrainian kitchen. She has one of the tiniest kitchens I've ever seen. Yet I've eaten some of the most delicious made-from-scratch food from that kitchen. 

A while back, I saw a photo essay on kitchens in various parts of the world. I wish I had bookmarked it, because now I can't find it. 

I did however, find this gem during my search: a photobook project by Gabriele Galimbert, featuring grandmothers from around the world with their favorite recipes. There's some serious inspiration in many of those dishes -- and most of those kitchens don't look enormous to me.   

Over the years, I've also been inspired by the kitchens I've eaten in around the world. It's made me realize that we have fallen for a great lie in America in believing that the bigger the kitchen, the better the cook (I blame the Food Network, even though I too drool over their kitchens...) 

I don't think there is anything wrong at all with having a big kitchen. In fact, I'd love one myself. I dream of counter space that I can actually keep appliances on top of, rather than in boxes in the closet. I think it would be grand to have a place for all of my pots and pans so that they're not on the stove top 24/7.  

However, I don't think having a small kitchen should stop you from cooking, experimenting and generally enjoying the culinary process. My kitchen and I have made a mess together of homemade ice-cream, dehydrated apples, yogurt, bundt cakes, cupcakes, beef and chicken pies galore, stir-fries, French fries, brewed kombucha, soups from scratch and so much more.   

I think small kitchens can sometimes wield the most miraculous outcomes. So rather than dreaming of a larger kitchen, I'm dreaming up new dishes to make in my small one.

Later this week, I'll be posting some small kitchen organization tips. In the meantime, happy cooking!

Bloglovin' and Virtual Organization

I like being organized.

I like things put away, in their proper place.

I like all of my ducks in a row. Or at least the (chicken) eggs. 

I see patterns and order daily. 

Most everything in my small apartment has its own place. Chaos makes me a little crazy.

My blogroll though, was a different story. 

Until about a month ago, the list of the blogs I read and wanted to read, looked like this: 

My bookmarks, especially, were getting the better of me. I had so many bookmarks in different categories: yarn, cooking, paper, photography. I finally just created a folder called: 'blogroll' in my bookmarks. But then I'd forget to check the folder and therefore, I'd forget to check the blogs I wanted to follow.

With some blogs, I signed up for email updates. These are great, if you only follow one or two blogs (and a special shout out to you email followers who have been with me from the start... you know who you are!) But if you follow lots of different blogs, it starts to clog your inbox.  

Thankfully, I discovered Bloglovin'. Bloglovin' is a user-friendly site that lets you read blogs, search for them, sign up to follow them, and then get as many or as little notifications as you like when those blogs update. 

I didn't need much convincing. I signed up right away and got busy following other blogs. 

Now, once a day, I get one email update that combines ALL of the blogs I follow on one page, with a little blurb and thumbnail photo from each. To read the rest of the post, I just click on the link. 

When I login on the Bloglovin' website, it lists all of the blogs I follow, in ONE place. 

Sheer brilliance. 

Seriously. This may have revolutionized my virtual organization skills.

I noticed this week that I got a little giddy when I described the site to a few friends. I decided you all needed to know too, in case you weren't already a fan of Bloglovin'.

You may or may not have your own way to organize the blogs you read. Maybe you like getting 28 emails twice a day from other bloggers. Perhaps you enjoy the hunt of checking your favorite blog daily... trying to guess which day it will actually update. Or maybe you like sitting down with a nice cuppa' on the weekend and reading the latest 14 posts from each of your favorite blogs. 

If you're anything like me though, then those ideas weren't working out for you. Sign up for Bloglovin'. Post your own blog so people can follow you there. And say hello to virtual organization. 

(Disclaimer: I received no compensation from Bloglovin' for this post -- I simply think they rock.)

BBQs and Spring Sunshine

These past few days have been glorious in my part of the world. (I'm so sorry Minnesota, for your springtime snow...)

It was so glorious that I decided the sheep and I needed some Vitamin D, so we spent the majority of the afternoon sitting outside. 

He didn't stay in his basket the whole time. In fact, now he has a head. It's amazing how motivated I get with a little sunshine.  

 

All afternoon though, I smelled someone barbequing. 

No matter what I have planned to eat or what I already ate... if I smell something on a grill, I want to drop what I'm doing and fire up a BBQ. 

It's the time of year when my own carnivorous cravings kick in and I too want to throw meat on the grill. A few weeks ago, I did just that. Well, actually, my mother threw the meat on, and then we tag-teamed for the final result.

Sadly, the results weren't pretty. The steaks didn't taste terrible, but we nodded our heads in agreement, in between chewing, that the Sailor was much more of a grilling champion than we were.

Today, as the BBQs wafted through the air, I once again counted the days until the Sailor arrives home.

In the meantime, I'm brushing up on my grilling skills, because I'm not sure I can wait until he gets home to make myself a steak again. If you missed the Sailor's South African braai (BBQ) rules earlier, you can find those here. 

What are you grilling this weekend?

Gravy Boat Winner and Fire King Chilli Bowls

I had a lot of fun doing my six-month blogiversary Great Gravy Boat Giveaway. Thank you so much to everyone who entered -- I enjoyed reading responses from all over the world! I wish I could send all of you a gravy boat... everyone seems so lovely! 

I only have one to giveaway this time though... and the winner is:  

Emily Vannah!  

Congrats Emily -- send me an email TypingSunflowers(at)gmail.com with your mailing address and I will get your gravy boat and plate in the mail for you! 

I did the giveaway old school style and put the names in a bowl (Pyrex, of course) shuffled them, handed the bowl to my mother, who closed her eyes, and pulled out a card. 

I recently thrifted the white bowl that goes with this big Butterfly Gold bowl above -- see the photos here on the Pyrex Collective III blog. 

I also ranted a little about my local Salvation Army on that same post. The non-priced mixing bowl I wanted to purchase last week is nowhere to be found... but I did find these chilli bowls. I promised myself that I wouldn't collect Fire King anything (I have enough Pyrex, clearly...) but for 99 cents each, these little cuties were too fun to pass up. 

They are great sizes for children and it makes me think that whoever owned them previously may have used them for a son and daughter. 

I think we'll just use them as HIS and HER ice cream bowls for now. 

(Use your imagination. I didn't have any ice cream in the freezer...)

That Salvation Army is slowly redeeming itself. 

Thanks again to the giveaway entries!

(And stay tuned -- I'm sure I'll have more giveaways in the future. Pyrex will probably be involved. What a surprise.) 

Kitchen Disasters II

Last week, I found a can of pumpkin during a cupboard clean out. I know it's not pumpkin season, but it was still in date, and wouldn't make it until next Thanksgiving. Plus I had a recipe for sour cream pumpkin bundt cake that I wanted to make to bring to a friend's.

I dutifully got the ingredients together and taped the recipe onto the cabinet (my fail safe way of getting it out of my way while still being able to read it.) 

Where I put the recipe doesn't seem to make a difference, because apparently I can't actually follow directions. I accidentally stirred two sticks of butter into the streusel mixture, instead of two teaspoons. (Don't you hate it when there are two separate ingredient lists in a recipe and you read from the wrong one?)

I thought the mess in the bowl looked a bit funny. 

I like to think of myself as a fairly decent cook, and I have gotten better over the years at trying out new recipes and techniques. But I still have my share of kitchen disasters.

This time, I thought I could possibly salvage the operation. I really didn't want to throw out an entire cup of butter, and all of that brown sugar, so I looked up what I could do with it. 

I just discovered Super Cook -- a search engine for recipes based on what ingredients you already have.

Wouldn't you know... there's a recipe for brown sugar shortbread right here. I added more brown sugar, the required flour, and left the all-spice and cinnamon right in mix. I also dispensed with the idea of adding granulated sugar to the top of the shortbread. Really, the brown sugar in the mix was plenty.

An hour later, voila. 

I'm definitely keeping this recipe in my repertoire. You never know when I'm going to accidentally use too much butter again. 

The sour cream pumpkin bundt cake was also a roaring success, thanks to the fact that I had extra butter on hand to actually finish it. (It was also cute... how did I not get a photo of it?!) 

I love it when kitchen disasters have a happy ending. Let's hope this trend continues!