The Kitchen in A New House on a New Landscape

What a week to get to the kitchen of this house! It’s Thanksgiving in a few days, and a day spent in the kitchen putting together a huge meal for a bunch of people if you are fortunate to have family and friends in your life. I love this holiday, it is my favorite. I think I love all holidays, but this one is fun to plan out and enjoy.

They say the kitchen is the heart of the home, and that seems plausible. I say it’s the stomach of the home, and truthfully those two organs are in close proximity in our bodies. One can make the other miserable in most ailments.

I close my eyes and think of the kitchens in my life. My two grandmothers, and their different kitchens. My paternal had a kitchen/dining area which served our gigantic family over many years. Today, a cousin bought the house and rents it out, and the kitchen has been renovated to bring it up to more modern standards. It was a country kitchen, with the old metal cabinetry and fixtures. Straight out of the late ’40s. It was a warm place to be, though, and filled with happy memories. A cousin posted a picture awhile back of family, and I was more interested in looking at the kitchen how I remembered it! Today I can’t just go over there, and that’s one of the hardest things about aging; the places we were once welcome and part of have moved on, even if our hearts haven’t.

My Grammy had an suburban kitchen, done in ’70s avocado. It clashed smashingly with my Mom’s kitchen done in harvest gold. Ugh the colors of the ’70s gross me out, but given the limited choices, I lean toward the green rather than gold. Grammy’s kitchen also had a dining area, making the kitchen so very cramped in her one and a half story little house. It was so atrociously tiny, I marvel at how she raised four kids and cooked so well in it. No counter space, but it had all the modern stuff. I’ve known two more kitchens which belonged to Grammy, both were far more adequate, but this one is where I spent the most time.

Something that gets on my nerves is that I’ve never had a dishwasher in my life. I’m the dishwasher. I HATE washing dishes. I would rather clean the bathroom than wash the dishes. I’d rather do laundry than wash dishes. I would rather run around the front yard in the middle of winter in my underclothing than do the freaking dishes!

My own kitchens have been functional, and for that I am grateful. I have what I need, and that is what matters. Over the years, I have found that I have to clean things out every couple of years or get overrun with gadgets I don’t use. I appreciate gadgets, though, as they have made meal prep a lot smoother. I love to cook, and I love to eat. In this new house in my head, the kitchen is fully functioning, and open to guests. Since it’s a southern kitchen, you serve yourself, for we never think it’s odd for company to get themselves a drink.

I hope this holiday season is great for you and yours