2008.11.24
One can always dream...
All this speculation about White House chefs has me thinking about what it would be like to cook in a kitchen like that. Then again, what is it like to eat in a kitchen like that?
I haven't seen the First Kitchen, but I can't imagine that it's cozy. Can the kids run in and put their elbows on the counter and beg for a cookie? Would it be a stainless steel counter in a huge, commercially bright kitchen?
I'm just glad the pedigree and style of a kitchen isn't necessarily related to the quality of the food. With my Paleolithic-era knotty pine cabinets and my unintentionally knotty fake wood grain countertops, it's a wonder I can make a sandwich. But it is cozy.
My kitchen can wait for a full makeover, but I do dream for accessories and accoutrements to make cooking easier and more fun. If I had a fantasy Christmas wish list, it would include:
* A Kitchen Aid mixer. In red. Unfortunately, my husband doesn't read this blog.
* A new kitchen table - something higher and darker.
* A personal painter to turn those cabinets white.
What would you put on your fantasy holiday kitchen wish list? To get entered in a chance to win two free cookbooks, send me your wish list and, if you want, a picture of your kitchen (e-mail pic to lindsey.nair@roanoke.com). And hey, Seth! You never e-mailed me to get your book! Give me a shout.
Spice Fruit Bars Christmas Cookies
By White House Chefs Walter Scheib III and Roland Mesnier
Makes 90 bars
Cream together:
1 lb. sugar
6 1/2 oz. butter
8 oz. molasses
Pinch of salt
1 tsp. lemon rind
1 tsp. mace
1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
Add to mixture:
1/2 oz. baking soda dissolved in 1/3 c. water
4 eggs
Mix 6 cups bread flour into above mixture.
Add the following:
3 oz. sliced almonds
3 oz. currants
2 oz. candied lemon peel
2 oz. candied orange peel
Allow mixtures to rest overnight in refrigerator.
Using a number 8 tube, pipe 6 strips of mixture on parchmentpaper, 4" apart.
Bake at 350 degrees until firm. Allow to cool.
Brush on chocolate and decorate with nonpareil.
Yield: 6 strips, each cut into 15 pieces.
Don't you dare paint those cabinets!
Comment by Freddy Bartholomew — November 24, 2008 @ 7:34 pm
Lindsey, all you need to do is sand and paint your cabinets. I refer you to all the home fix-up shows on HGTV. It is so easy....just invite friends over, offer suddsy beverages and delicious eats made by you... I am so there.
Comment by Greg Prillaman — November 25, 2008 @ 6:38 am
I cannot send a picture, but my dream kitchen makeover is fairly simple. New cabinets, countertops, paint, appliances, floor, table/island. Wait ... maybe it IS simple. Just gut the whole thing and start over!
Comment by Wishful — November 25, 2008 @ 9:22 am
My fantasy Christmas List would be new cookware, not just the set of 3 you get in the "complete set" but a set of large pots and frying pans that can go from the stove top to oven; A large variety of bowls in all sizes and shapes and the perfect spice rack, one that is large enough to get all of my spices out of the cabinet so that I don't have to remove 50 bottles before finding the right one. It's funny that this is your topic, my daughter and I had this very conversation Sunday.
Comment by Tammy — November 25, 2008 @ 9:57 am
On the wish list side, I would like to have the wall taken down between the kitchen and the formal living room(needs a steel beam to support roof line), a eating bar made with cabinets underneath, the carpet ripped up to expose the hardwood under it in the living room, a flat screen 47+ inches for the new entertaining area, stone counter tops for the new bar and counter, and a white Kitchen Aid mixer. Got a extra $20k laying around.
Comment by Greg Prillaman — November 25, 2008 @ 10:06 am
I LOVE THOSE CABINETS!!! I wouldn't trade them for the world, Lindsey. But, of course, I don't live with them. You could put a light "wash" on them to keep the look of wood and lighten it a bit. I don't have a photo of my kitchen, but right now my wish would be to get the floor redone. The floor is wood laminate, which was great until the dishwasher leaked and it warped. Ah well. I re-did my kitchen a few years ago with cabinets from Home Depot that they had taken down off display. Got a FABULOUS deal on them, but it was a bear putting them up ourselves. We did get someone to make and install the counter top and the base cabinets. I'd love to have an island and a bar eating space. Of course, my husband would simply like it if I COOKED. Hey, I work and drive an hour each way, so cooking is simply NOT high on my "to do" list (along with housework...).
Comment by Susan — November 25, 2008 @ 10:51 am
I just changed the entry to say if you want to send a picture, you can. If you don't you can still send your wish list and get entered in a drawing to win the books. I'll draw for them on Monday.
I was curious about whether anyone would say I shouldn't paint the cabinets. Haha! We're still in the deciding phase. The problem is, they DEFINITELY need new hardware, but the hardware is such a funny shape that we can't just take those down and put something else up without having to refinish all the doors, at least. Sigh. The joys of home ownership.
Comment by lindseynair — November 25, 2008 @ 11:05 am
Oh, how I wish, wish, wish for a new kitchen. To call mine cozy would be a definite overstatement. It is quite tiny, too narrow & old. But somehow my husband I manage, although we dream of the day we can upgrade, renovate & enlarge. Knock out the wall between the kitchen and the dining room, new appliances, lighting, flooring, cabinets, on & on & on!!! We love to cook together so much, but it is a challenge in our closet of a kitchen!! Dear Santa ...
Comment by Pam — November 25, 2008 @ 11:28 am
My kitchen wishlist would include STORAGE!!!! I have a small kitchen with very few cabinets but one very long counter with empty space under it. Currently, I have a $20 bookshelf from WalMart sitting under that counter and that's where my crockpot, electric skillet, waffle maker and large family skillet are stored. Looks very odd...but hey, I have to store them someplace! Oh, and a window over the sink (but unfortunately, the sink wall is backed to the bathroom wall so a window would only allow me to see into the shower...not such a great view).
Of course if I could wish really big, I'd just have the kitchen remodeled with light oak cabinets everywhere!
Comment by Susan Compton — November 25, 2008 @ 11:51 am
I'll trade you your kitchen for mine!
Comment by Mason — November 25, 2008 @ 12:01 pm
Storage... that's a great one. I've got spices jumping out of every nook and cranny in my kitchen. It's absurd!
I am lucky enough to have my own windows. So that brightens up the kitchen quite a bit. Mason, you have a great kitchen for a bachelor pad! At least you keep it clean!
Comment by lindseynair — November 25, 2008 @ 12:22 pm
Oh, wow. I want new cabinets. Ours are very dark wood. Our kitchen is also small and narrow and it, too, is a wonder my husband and I can cook together in there. I guess it's a testament to our relationship! I'd replace our floor with a cork floor. We have a buff colored laminate wood floor that shows every speck of dirt and grime. I also want to rip off the wallpaper that covers half the kitchen and put up chair rail. I'd paint the top a soft buttery yellow, and paint the wainscoting a brick red. I want a new dining table that matches the beautiful mahogany hutch we currently have in the office holding books (I'd display some crystal & china). I suppose if I'm dreaming, I'd expand the kitchen, too. Oh, and I want a double bowl undermount sink. New Corian countertops. Definitely more storage, too. While our cookware is good, I'd love a set of All-Clad hard anodized cookware. And Wusthof professional knives.
Thanks for letting me dream, Lindsey! I could really go on & on!
Comment by Lori — November 25, 2008 @ 2:03 pm
My husband & I moved in April from a house with a large kitchen/dining area to a much smaller eat in kitchen with hardly any storage. When we moved we added a Pantry cabinet, added cabinets over the washer/dryer did away with our table and had an island w/counter height stools. This gave us storage plus counter plus eating area. We did away with our dishwasher(yes that's right, my husband is very very good about doing dishes) so we could have more drawer space. We inherited a flat top stove which I absolutely hate! My husband is wishing for a gas cooktop and electric oven. By the way my husband came with a Kitchen Aid mixer, wow I never knew what I was missing, I highly recommend one!!!
Comment by Becky — November 25, 2008 @ 2:27 pm
My kitchen is DEFINITELY on the cozy size... aka SMALL! But it's all good! It's still my favorite room in the house! The best part of our kitchen is that in the mornings the sun shines brightly and it's just warm and homey. One day in our dream kitchen we'll have room for a separate laundry area, a bar space or island, and we'll have enough space to have a larger kitchen table and a den/hang out area within feet of the open kitchen!!
Comment by carrie — November 25, 2008 @ 2:35 pm
I don't mind my actual kitchen...what I would like is more storage so that I could have all the appliances and gadgets that I drool over whenever I go to fancy kitchen stores. I too would like a Kitchen Aid mixer, a sandwich press, and a complete set of pans that you can transfer from stovetop to the oven.
Comment by Tricia — November 25, 2008 @ 3:26 pm
... a dish fairy? Or a magic dish wand? Well, I guess I'd settle for a husband that finished more dishes than he started.
Comment by Amy Hanek — November 25, 2008 @ 7:50 pm
I like my flat top stove for the most part, except the cleaning. But given my druthers, I'd rather have a nice gas stove & oven with the grill section in the center of the stove top. I used to go to the home shows and drool over the beautiful Jenn Air stoves.
I like that our kitchen has a window over the sink and I can look out over the back yard. Ours is also has sliding glass doors that go out onto the patio and I love opening the blinds to let the light in, and when the weather is nice to open the doors and let in fresh air. I wouldn't change that about my kitchen!
Comment by Lori — November 26, 2008 @ 10:46 am
Hi Lindsey, I'm with Freddy B.! I love those knotty pine cabinets! You could probably refinish them w/o much more effort than painting, since you would be dealing w/ flat surfaces. You can also clean and paint the hard ware to make it look like new. If I could I'd trade you my ugly painted-white cabinets for your pine ones! My wish list would be more room in the "work area" of the kitchen. It's a pretty big kitchen counting where the table is, but the work area is tiny and very little open counter space. Very hard for two people to work together. We have our spices on a lazy Susan in a cabinet, and a pantry for storage that is down four steps from the kitchen. Also a window over the sink and a door that opens onto a deck. So, lots of good about it, we are lucky. We have an electric stove top and a wall oven. When we remodeled we learned that new wall ovens cost a TON!! I'd love to have room in there for a work island, and a small bar type eating area w/ stools.
Comment by Dennis — November 27, 2008 @ 7:33 pm
Oh, all right. I'm thinking about the cabinets now. Sanding is quite a pain in the rear, but maybe it wouldn't be too bad. It definitely needs new hardware, though. Since this thread began, I purchased a little accessory I'd never heard of before -- a metal ring that covers just the rim of the pie crust to prevent overcooking during baking. Genius. It came from one of those outlet mall kitchen shops.
Comment by lindseynair — November 30, 2008 @ 9:02 pm
I bought one of those from Pampered Chef to use on my pumpkin pie this year, but I ended up making a crust from ginger snaps and pecans. My intention was for it to be 100% crushed ginger snaps, but once I processed them in the food processor, I didn't have enough for the crust. I got to looking in the cabinets and saw the pecans. So I measured out enough to fulfill the recipe requirements, added 2 TBSP of sugar, and processed it all with the ginger snaps. I then added melted butter, molded it in my pie plate and baked for 5 minutes before adding the pumpkin pie filling. We enjoyed it on Thanksgiving, and it was SO GOOD!
Comment by Lori — December 1, 2008 @ 11:12 am