Welcome To My Kitchen

No, I am not Julia Child, but God I love her! So today I got up ever so leisurely and headed off to the market to do some grocery buying. Mick is off at the Country Fair and so we will not be having our usual breakfast. I have come to enjoy shopping early on Saturday at the QFC either up on Magnolia or over off I-90 in Factoria. Like the layout of them and the produce is lovely.

Usually have wonderful flowers, but today they were a bit over-bloomed and so passed. That is just fine as I like having a clean table for a change and simple look throughout. Since my day was none to busy I decided to indulge and do some cooking ahead so that should those dreadful hot days return all too soon, I could just pull food from the fridge. It also helps when you arrive home and are just too hungry to wait. So instead of going and getting something that is not good for me, I can eat on the healthy side and keep on my new fooding path.

In doing my cooking I had a fun idea, why not take you the casual reader on a bit of a tour of my home over the next weeks. No, you will not have to sit through a picture of a refrigerator or stove, but rather show you highlights of the place and share some stories if you will allow me. Well, it is my blog I guess so you will just have to read or walk away. Your choice.

So up first is the coffee nook in the kitchen. As you enter the square kitchen it is off to the right. The cabinet above hold most of the dishes I use on an everyday basis and lord knows I have more glassware than Carter has pills (boy, did I just show my age there with that statement!). On the counter from left to right is a fun trivet that a dear friend Lisa gave me years ago and use it ofter. Next up is a daily calendar that I first saw at Mama Mia Trattoria in Portland and when I saw it again in a shop I had to get it. Have used it for years. Oh my it is still on Thursday, need to get it current...done. OK, so now we can continue, yes, do you think I can be just a bit compulsive at times? Holding the calendar in place is this really cool triangular bowl I have had for many years and it is filled with these little pebbles from a miniature herb garden I got from Don & Mary years ago. The clay pot broke in the move up here, but I loved the little rocks and they hold a wine bottle stopper my nephew, Kevin, made and it sits there when not in use.

The little wicker holder serves a dual purpose of coffee filter holder and napkin holder. A lot of things in my home serve more than one purpose. I like things that can do more than one thing at a time. Hanging in the corner is my Barresta Action Figure that Chuck gave me for Christmas years ago. It makes me laugh and I do enjoy doing that. While I really like having nice things, I like to have a bit of whimsy in my living space to catch you off guard. In front of it is the coffee maker. During the summer months I make my coffee in the evening so I can then have it cold the next morning. And come late September I go back to the usual.

Then moving past the outlet there is a ceramic canister. It has on it a stylized print in that it was offered for a period of time by Starbuck's. It is based on Nighthawks, is a 1942 painting by Edward Hopper that portrays people sitting in a downtown diner late at night. It is considered Hopper's most famous painting, as well as one of the most recognizable in American art. It is currently in the collection of the Art Institute of Chicago.

On top of the canister is a coffee mug from Tadich Grill in San Francisco. Amazing place that has been around for over a hundred years. If you are EVER in San Francisco, you so have to go there! Plus, it is quite funny that our office for E&A is oh, about a block away and no it was not of my doing. Seriously, we are at 350 California Street and Tadich Grill is at 240 California Street. The mug holds my Splenda for my coffee. In front of the canister is a red knife which is a special vegetable knife that Steve and Karen gave me several years ago for Christmas along with a bamboo cutting board that gets quite a bit of use. So there you go.

Tomorrow, I might look to the left of the stove and see what awaits you...Cheers!