Don’t you sometimes think, “yeah, I bet they can fix that easily.” “They probably have a gourmet kitchen they are working from”? Well, I have thought that. Then I saw that Dori, of The Bakehouse, posted a tour of her kitchen online and I thought “what a great, comfy kitchen to work in”! But, it wasn’t a top of the line, gourmet kitchen….and she grows family and friendship in her kitchen, just like I do! Also, Dori, I wouldn’t mind winning a new kitchen off of HGTV either, but since that isn’t going to happen (you have to enter to win), I’m just going to keep growing things in the one I have.
So, I thought some of you might like to see my kitchen. It is not a gourmet kitchen, the floor is straight out of the 70’s, it is wavy, the walls are uneven, but what this kitchen has is a ton of memories, and when I get going in this kitchen, I can do some buzzing I’m telling ya!
This is the house my husband, Ken, grew up in. I can almost say I grew up in because we have been married since we were 17 years old so this house has been in my life a long time too. This house is the only house my children knew their Grandma and Grandpa Vetter to ever live in, where aunts and uncles, brothers and sisters, cousins and in-laws, friends and acquaintances have come together over many years. This kitchen has many memories. One of my favorite people in the world was Ken’s Aunt Mary Ann. She was married to Uncle Robert. She passed away a few years ago, but it was in this kitchen that I fixed the last meal for her that I would fix her. I remember that it was Tilapia, baked in the oven. She loved it the way I fixed it. As she walked out the back door, she turned to me and said, “Have I let you know that I love you?” She had indeed, many times, but I never got tired of hearing her say it or seeing it in her eyes. So, yes, this kitchen has many memories. Some I hope never leave.
My family comes here for Thanksgiving. What a day of Thanksgiving it is. I still have both my parents, Ken still has his parents, for us to be together is Thanksgiving! I can’t wait for Thanksgiving dinner this year and all the great stuff we will prepare together.
So, again, you get to be a part of my “stuff” I’m working through evidently today….Memories!
So, here is my kitchen.
This is the dining room end. Ken just finished fixing up my spice rack. The big black thing on the left. I love it! My spices have always been stuffed into a little cabinet, I couldn’t see them, I’d have to take everything out! Not anymore. Cooking today was a breeze! The extra refrigerator is for the organic produce co-op I have in my home every other week. The pictures were painted for me by my father-in-law, and the wallhanging was done by my daughter, Rosemary. See…familiar stuff…Memories.
This is the Working End of the kitchen. The shelves on the right were just a regular bookcase that I took out of my living room and made it into shelves to store my small appliances that I use on a regular basis, but couldn’t have them taking up my counterspace.
This is the area that we use for making smoothies and juicing. This Champion Juicer has been in the family for many years!
This is the space I use the most. The black container is my compost container, the squash was from our garden and my mother-in-laws garden.
This is my refrigerator, covered with pictures, recipes and magnets. My friend, Rebecca, owns Claycritters I love her magnets! Aden loves the alphabet magnets and the dinosaurs!
Today was Friday, so my brother, Rusty, came up for a massage and lunch. We had an especially delicious lunch.
First and Second courses were from the cookbook,
Real Food Daily Cookbook: Really Fresh, Really Good, Really Vegetarian
by Ann Gentry. I love this book. Ann has a tremendous story. I cannot post the recipes here, (they are copyrighted), but buying the book is well worth it.
Country Miso Soup for a starter.
Second Course was
Yin Yang Salad with Peanut Sesame Dressing and Gingered Tofu
For Dessert we enjoyed what was supposed to be the Peach Upside-Down Cake from Susan V at Fat Free Vegan Kitchen, however, somehow I must have used too ripe of peaches because we had a lot of liquid (it was delicious) but it was more like a cobbler. I also used some tart cherries.
What a wonderful, glorious day. My kitchen is full of produce again, I have lots of dishes to do (we’re not taking pictures of the mess I made)!
Happy, Healthy Eating
Jackie V
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