In the Kitchen, Everything is Illuminated
Apr 23rd, 2009 by Marilyn
We spend inordinate amounts of time in our kitchen. Since I’m the only one who really cooks, what’s everyone else doing? Well, first there’s Josie, frequently staring in the fridge, giving me a half-second eyebrow before swigging milk from the bottle. Greg shuffles envelopes, crunches salty almonds, or pours coffee while I circle the island. Cleo licks a path across the floor.
Lately I’ve tried to change the scenery, to write and do other non-cooking tasks outside the kitchen. Why? Certainly it cuts down snacking. Working elsewhere puts baguettes and Nutella out of reach, and keeps me from drifting toward the what’s-for-dinner zone. But other rooms must be dull, because I am still glued here, with a messy bun that redefines messy bun. I am peering in the oven or upright at the stove, with one ear to the phone, two hands in a bowl and a lightly breaded keyboard.
Greg certainly benefits from my base. The other day I was about to throw steak over arugula for lunch – but decided to save the steak for dinner. Instead I grabbed a few linen-shaded eggs, a fresh gift from a brave chicken-raising neighbor, and they took a star turn on the salad – poached – with parmesan, pepper, and mustard vinaigrette.
The next night we had roast chicken, and I’d planned a little spinach-ricotta souffle on the side. When I found more arugula than spinach, it became arugula-ricotta souffle, vividly green and equally good. You can mess around in the kitchen; you can mix and match and literally think on your feet. You can teach tired old tools brand new tricks.
Like the cheese shaver, which loves butter. Who knew?
If you like to play with your food, do as you please: add that vanilla, take out onions, toss the recipe, make your fine-rib shirt an apron. It is, after all, your kitchen. Late afternoon in my kitchen, light barges through panes above the sink, rays strong enough to blind the cook, but I like it.
I like the gleaming faucet. I like stirring in bright shadows. I don’t mind squinting or pushing back hair or tripping on Cleo, in dreams on the floor. I am always in the kitchen, a room where I taste honey, correct sauce, know the answers. Anyone can triumph there, or fight, or get engaged, or take a call that stops you cold; in the kitchen, you may fill the teapot and go on. A reporter once asked my favorite teacher, a chef, do you eat your mistakes? He looked stunned. “No,” he smiled, “we fix them.”
I really like this post. My kitchen’s the center of my house, too, and used not just for cooking. Corner brackets for the porch are spread out on a big piece of cardboard (the flattened box from the new kitchen sink) as they’re being painted, the kitchen table holds rolls of wallpaper (for the kitchen), a sewing machine and some fabric (if I ever finish making the slipcovers for the wicker porch furniture) and the wedding present wish list my son and his fiancee wrote. I do think better in that room than in any other.
Great post Marilyn. We live in our kitchen. One day….maybe it will be finished. Other than the sunroom, it is the best room in the house.
I love this post. So true.
I, too, play with my food, and for precisely the reasons your lovely post illustrates in those gorgeous photos: sensory delight. The Medievalists had their illuminated manuscripts, I have my stainless steel slow cooker. In both we see what we want to see.
Such beautiful shots and so true. Sometimes I think we could just simplify our life by living in this one room
Great idea on the cheese slicer! I read somewhere that slicing butter is a great way to get it softened for baking. I bet this would work great for that!
What a lovely post. And such a lovely light filled kitchen. I too am always in our kitchen which has all the makings of a “gourmet” one except that it is dark. We have an open floor plan so the kitchen blends with everything else which is nice, but the windows from the great room don’t give enough light. Even on the brightest sunniest day, I have every light in the kitchen on. Still, it is the heart of our house and where we spend the most time. Thank you for the beautiful photos and sentiments.
You’re a wonderful writer! Your food looks gorgeous, too. I always feel truly sorry for people who do not enjoy cooking. It’s one of the best escapes!
What a lovely post—and gorgeous photos! It recently occurred to me that the kitchen is where I feel most at home in the world. I always know what is what in the kitchen—and if I don’t, like your chef, I can figure out how to fix it.
Thanks.
Jayne – I think better in that room than any other, too.
Jenni – hope all is well. Does Puppy sunbathe on the floor, too?
Sally – Thank you, and I take it you hang in the kitchen, as well. Who doesn’t?
Marion: I love the word illuminated; broken down or all-in-one, it holds so many things. Including the comfort of stainless steel. Thanks for coming by – come back and see me, soon.
Jane (modernemama): when we were living in that apartment between the old house and the new one, we were practically sleeping in the kitchen. Had it been usable, it might have been the perfect life. How goes it with your kitchen?
Francie: the cheese shaver-planer-thing absolutely glides through butter, it’s beautiful. And yes, cutting it up helps soften for baking, without fear of melting. Try it!
Dana: there are dark corners of my kitchen too, but no matter – it’s still where the action is. Thank you for coming by!
Shannan: such sweet words. I can understand that some cook better than others, but never understand when people say they “hate cooking.” Maybe “hate deciding what’s for dinner,” yes, but not cooking itself. Especially by yourself at a sunny counter. What could be bad?
Tea: as usual, you’re at the heart of the matter. It’s where I feel most at home in the world, too – unless you count the coffee shop. Take care and keep searching for wonder over there – it’s lovely.
Confessions of a non-cooking-type. I almost didn’t post here, feeling out of place with such exquisite culinary company. (I’m sure I’d love to eat at each and every one of your tables!) I don’t know if it’s my upbringing, my lifestyle, my temperament, my children… but cooking just doesn’t feed my soul in the same way it does yours. So I won’t say that I “hate cooking,” but unfortunately it does feel like a chore more often than not. Lord knows I *wish* I could perform such luminary magic.
Sadly, I am with Michelle on this. I am so insecure in the kitchen. I don’t eat my mistakes – I throw them out and cry (or feel like it). You are so gifted, Marilyn. I can’t wait until some genius finally gives you your own talk/cooking show so I can watch it. When you do a segment on people who are scared of the kitchen, I will be your guest.
I have nothing more of value to say than: I love the way you write
lovely post…the heart of this home.
Michelle: where’s your magic, pal? All on the page. Lucky for everyone else.
Laurie: this from the girl who made me laugh every single day of 1982! Don’t be scared of the kitchen – there’s never been anything you can’t tackle, even in there.
Giff: a valuable and kind thing to say. I love the way you cook!
Theresa: have you photographed your kitchen? Your pics are so beautiful.
Eggs on the salad, you’re killing me. I’m starving.
Semi-long time reader, first time commenter – but I had to leave a note that I love the lighting in your kitchen! I’m lucky enough to have a west-facing kitchen which also gets beautiful light in the early evenings, right here in Lawrence, KS no less! I love reading stuff from a fellow Lawrence foodie (much more gourmet than myself however), its inspiring!
Love this post! Wandered over from a follow friday from @chezus1. Glad I stopped by. I love that you play and improvise. It’s wonderful and liberating to throw caution to the wind and Just Cook!
In my kitchen on any given night: tripping over dog on way from counter to stove, tripping on husband on way from sink to counter, tripping on cat on way to pantry (I should change the name of it to the tripchen). Still, favorite room in the house. I even write at the kitchen table, despite the lovely office AND a library down the hall.
those last 2 photos are lovely……
Gorgeous photos. This is a wonderful post. I love the sentiment and inspiration.
what nice writing, marilyn. sigh. really nice.
there is something so deliciously, wonderfully creative about being in the kitchen, about being around food and the fixings for meals. so nice reading someone who gets that. we live in a house with 13 rooms on three floors – and i’d trade the kitchen for all of them. bet you would, too. thanks.
susan
Your writing is lovely. It was good to see you yesterday. I used my small grater to grate butter on a bunch of bread I was toasting in the oven…..why haven’t I been doing that for years?
I’m trying to hatch an evil plan to convince the blogosphere that you’re my alter ego and that I’m actually responsible for your lovely writing and aesthetically pleasing pictures. However, my limited intelligence hasn’t figured a way to do this.
Maybe I should just put my evil intentions back on the shelf and hang out in the kitchen.
Thanks for the inspiration.
I just love your camerawork. Amazing stuff.
Jean (RT): You got my step-by-step tutorial on pan-poached eggs. Let’s see ‘em!
DrDomestic: Love seeing the locals! Thirteen years later, I am still taken by the late afternoon light here (except on tornado days, of course.)
Jenni: Welcome. Improvising is just a way of life in the kitchen, isn’t it?
Sara: Writing at the kitchen table is the best kind of cliche – it actually works! It’s certainly working for you. Take care.
Pat: I’m pretty sure if you love whatever you’re photographing, it comes out good, whatever your skills. Thanks for coming by.
Karen: Nice to see you again, and hope all is well! I’ll just bet you’re at home in your kitchen, too.
Susan Schwartz: Always happy to see you here. Thanks for such kind words; isn’t it amazing that no matter how many rooms you have, everyone ends up in the kitchen?
April: Next time you stay for lunch. Grated butter? Now that’s a butter delivery system I can use. Off to make some toast.
muddywaters (Mike): You’re always hanging out in the kitchen, using your skills for good. What’s your latest project?
12th Man Training: welcome, and thanks! The camera does all the work.
Marilyn you are truly blessed! You also have some mad kitchen skills and I love learning from you.
Marilyn…Great post! The kitchen is the center of things even for me, and I don’t cook! Everyone always ends up in the kitchen, no matter what. I have 2 friends that come over every Wednesday night…we never seem to make it past my kitchen counter
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Really really loved this post!
it looks like a beautiful kitchen, I love carrera marble… and what a great idea for using the cheese slicer to make butter curls, you’re a genius!