Creating Order Out of Chaos

Day Seventeen - Thirty Days of Thanksgiving

 

We've been in our new home, a small two-story townhouse, for eight full days. It's been almost as much a challenge unpacking and finding places for everything as it was to pack it all up. I grossly over estimated how many books would fit into two seven foot tall, three foot wide bookcases. Oops! I've struggled to put things away in the kitchen with so few drawers, there are three tiny ones, and cabinets that are narrow and deep with a half shelf at the back, except for the one in the corner which is shaped like a piece of pie with the wide end at the back, (who designed that abomination?), and the merry-go-round bottom corner cupboard. Not such a great kitchen for a senior citizen, but I'll get in some good exercise anyway. 

Today I finished putting away the mixing, serving and storing pieces in the kitchen. Then I moved on to setting up the living room which meant putting books on shelves, music cds on shelves, and dvds on shelves; then arranging the couch, ottoman, end tables and lamps, and chair. I even hung up two pieces of art.

I'm so grateful to have been able to create order out of all the chaos. It is now an inviting room--living, dining and kitchen all in one. Not my favorite layout, but I'm pretending it's a large RV and that makes it more acceptable. I'm grateful to have drywall walls instead of plaster, and tightly fitted windows that don't leak, and a heater that's powerful enough to warm the whole place, and a lovely counter in the bathroom to put my lotion on. There is much to be grateful for here.

Moms' Cafe

When our children were very young we lived in a suburb of Washington DC in Northern Virginia. Often we would meet Daddy after work and stop at a fast food place for supper. Our children became VERY familiar with them. However, as our family grew to five children we decided that eating out was too expensive. The first time we chose to eat at home the children asked, "Where are we going to eat tonight?" And we answered, "At Mom's Cafe!" They were so excited to try a new place. Ha ha! We pulled into the driveway and they were totally puzzled. It only worked a few times before they caught on and didn't want to go to "Mom's Cafe". But we didn't care, we went anyway.

Hence, my kitchen became known as Mom's Cafe.

Fast forward many years and all the children are leaving home. They asked me to put together a cookbook with all the family favorites. I promised, worked on it a bit, procrastinated and promised some more. 

This summer I decided to get it done. 

Tah-Dah! (And yes, I'm inadvertently revealing my true identity, but hey, we're among friends here.)

Each child got a different colored book.

Each Section is labeled and on the other side (sorry no photo) is a list of recipes in the section.

On a few recipes I included photos.

The Housekeeping section is to remind them of what I taught them, plus a few things for grownups

such as defrosting a chest freezer and cleaning an oven.

That's a huge project completed and crossed off my list. Now on to some T-shirt quilts and photo albums. 

Oh my. I'm tired already!

Are the Dishes Done?

Not yet!

Now they're done! A place for everything, and everything in their place.

I prefer to dry and put away everything so I start the day with clear counters and everything in its place and easy to find or get to. I love a clean kitchen with cleared counters!

Autumn Update

A clean kitchen is a happy kitchen!

Uncluttered counters leave room for food prep!

I took the white chair rail off the walls and like the look better. Eventually I'll remove all the wallpaper and paint the walls my favorite pale pink.

TopDad surprised me with a bouquet of gorgeous flowers!

Our first snowfall on October 14.

It began to look a lot like Christmas! And I'm not ready.

The cold, gloomy weather called for a pot of "Cowgirl Stew".

This image of the dining room ceiling is proof of why I can't just quickly paint. There is tons of prep work to do and I'm not sure of how solid the plaster underneath is. In other places the plaster is actually falling down!

The painted over wallpaper is cracking and separating from the wall. I had hoped to paint over it, but in the spots where I tested paint, it looks terrible so it must come off.

More cracks and separation in the dining room.

The living room is even worse!

No way I'm going to paint over this mess. It has to be removed.

More of the living room.

The walls are over nine feet tall, and the middle of the ceiling is almost eleven feet tall. It makes me tired just to look at it! I'm a slow worker so I'm not eager to tear into it and live in a mess for a year or two. I have to "gird up my loins, fresh courage take" and proceed! Anyone want to come over and help?

I love the space of this home. It is what I wanted for our family. Just have to get rid of the soul-sucking decor and paint it the colors that enliven my soul, put up my artwork and pretty plates, and then it will be as close to perfect as I'll get in this life.

Friday's Frugal Roundup

Favorite Tools in the Kitchen

Many who advise on de-cluttering, or minimizing will say something like "Get rid of duplicates." "Have multiple use tools, instead of single use ones." To which I say Hogwash! At lease for me in the kitchen.

I spend too much time in the kitchen to have only one spatula that has to be washed or rinsed off so I can use it on the next task. I enjoy having multiples of my favorites, different sizes, different flexibility, different uses. I like having lots of wooden and bamboo spoons and implements. I really like having the correct knife for the job at hand.

I have lots of measuring cups (gotten at yard sales and thrift stores), lots of measuring spoons (acquired similarly) and plenty of metal mixing bowls in all sizes.

Acquiring things at thrift stores and yard sales means I can have the finest quality tools in my kitchen (patience in a factor here, don't settle for less than the best) at a fraction of the price.

Confession here: The only exception to that in my kitchen is my Cutco knife set. I bought that brand new twenty years ago from a niece who was earning money for college. (Not sure I'd do it again, but they have served me well over the years.)

Another confession. My husband worked while going to college at an upscale cabinet shop where he built cabinets for million dollar homes. He'd come home and describe these lavish kitchens he'd worked in. Once in a while he'd meet the owners and usually would ask the wife if she liked to cook. Not one of them said yes. They didn't spend much time in the kitchen at all. Generally they just used it for making coffee and microwaving something. I had to tell TopDad to stop telling me about these spoiled women and their fabulous kitchens. I enjoy cooking and baking, and throughout our marriage have put three meals on the table each day, especially when we were homeschooling and all five children were around. I've had to make do with some pretty cramped and humble kitchens.

I'm optimistic that someday (maybe my mansion in heaven, if I ever get one) I'll have a well laid out, commodious kitchen fit for entertaining all our children and yet to be, grandchildren. A girl can hope!

Giveaway Link

Quinn over at Reformation Acres is hosting a giveaway of a Lodge 5 quart Dutch Oven. Mosey on over to take a look, she has wonderful website, and enter for a chance to win this fabulous piece of kitchen equipment.

Science in the Kitchen

I mentioned that my oven is still not working properly. We have had to eat less than lovely cookies, oven fries and pizza.

Yesterday I conducted an experiment to see what the actual temperature is in the oven.

First I turned it, the oven, on to 350 degrees and waited for the beep to tell me it is up to temperature. Well actually, first I put the new oven thermometer into the oven and THEN I turned it on.

When it beeped I turned on the oven light and looked at the temperature through the window. It read 325. That's 25 degrees low, but I can compensate knowing that. Let's try a higher temp. I turned it up to 400 and waited for the beep, then looked again and it read approximately 375-380 (hard to tell). Okay, it's fairly consistent. Now, let's turn on a timer and see what the temperature reads after 15 minutes. I puttered around the kitchen for 10 minutes and then looked and saw it read 325, and when the timer dinged at 15 minutes the thermometer read 300. No wonder the pizza was practically raw!

This is not good. TopDad already replaced what he thought was the problem, the thermostat. But it still was not working right (I mean 30 minutes for cookies?) so I bought a thermometer and finally got around to testing it. IT failed.

I can do without a lot of things in a kitchen: dishwasher, disposal, counter space, cupboards, I'd even be willing to give up my microwave. But I CAN NOT do without an oven. For very long, or very happily.

It really is true that you never know how much you use something until you don't have it. I never realized how many times a day I washed my hands until we were five days without running water. YIKES! I didn't think I planned so many meals around baking until I can't do it anymore. YIKES!

And just when we think we're getting ahead and going to have some breathing room in the budget and actually put something away for savings, the darn oven goes. Well, who said life was supposed to calm and easy. How boring would that be anyway.

Have a great weekend! And I'll just enjoy the rain without cookies to go with my hot chocolate.

My Kitchen - The Rest of the Story

I like to think of myself as an honest person which is why my conscience demands that I tell the rest of the story of my kitchen. I've given you tiny glimpses but not the big picture. Today I'm sharing that.

Join me for a tour of my totally inadequate humble kitchen, little changed from when it was built in 1922.

View from the door of the Dining Room into the Kitchen

We'll begin at the sink, and make our way around the room
These were the only cupboards, and counter, in the room when I moved in.
Next to the sink is the door to the Laundry room, and then outside.

Can you count the doorways? Left to right: Laundry room, Pantry, Dining Room

Next to the door into the Dining Room are some shelves and the stove

Another view of the shelves, with a corner of the work table - such spaciousness

Next to the stove is the original chimney, then the freezer/workspace, with cupboards installed this year
and the refrigerator placed in front of the door to the Living Room.

And here's the fifth door which goes down to the basement.

In front of the windows are the other set of shelves for all my pans and appliances.
The work table takes all the floor space.

This is probably not the worst kitchen in America, just the worst I've ever lived with. In spite of all the inconveniences I will count my blessings--I have hot and cold running water, lights, a fridge, and a stove (although the oven still is not working properly). I have a vintage dishwasher, I mean, I am the vintage dishwasher, 1957 model. I have an ice cream bucket for collecting scraps for the compost pile instead of a disposal, and I have a ceiling fan and windows for cooling and ventilation.

What more could I ask for? By the way, I read another blog where the engaged young woman talked about the log home her man was building for her and the open shelves she designed and how wonderful they were going to be. HOGWASH! Open shelves are the worst! All the grease, dust, dirt, cat hair and other disgusting floaties land on everything on the open shelves and you have to wash anything you want to use. It makes for a horrible lot of work. Give me cupboards with doors, please!

There you have it Rozy's Kitchen, in all it's cluttered glory. Doesn't this make you grateful for the kitchen you have?