Kitchen photos

[Blether]

My whole kitchen gets into one shot - I caught it this morning with a loaf coming out of the oven:

 

 

Just last month i finished building the breadmaker cabinet on the left, which i dubbed 'Apollo 18', what with it consisting of several stages and being on a mission to reach the kitchen ceiling (partly so I could anchor it against earthquakes).  Completing the cabinet meant I could fulfil a dream of a bigger fridge.  Now I have to get rid of the wee one...

 

There's a whole series of cabinet-building photos here (click the photo):

 

[Porthos]

Yes, I did clean the kitchen. No, not just for these pictures. It needed cleaning to be ready for having my daughter, son-in-law and his boy over this Saturday night.

 

Tract home about 50 miles east of Los Angeles. Bought it new in 1984 as a starter house with the intent to move on in about 1989. Still here. 1250 sq foot but the kitchen was why we bought it.

 

There is a floor-to-ceiling pantry. As much as I crave storage I wish it was not as deep as it is. Things get lost in the back. Next to that is the adult beverage glassware above, the junk drawer below the microwave and metalic bakeware below.

 

The refrigerator was bought in a time of need instead of planned for. It is a piece of junk.  The Oster Convection Toaster Oven is a dismal failure for toast but very handy for roasting vegetables or roasting smaller amounts of meat.

 

This is our 3rd stove. I wanted it for 2 features. It has a 16K power burner and a convection oven. I also like the solid grill surface. I can get something steaming quickly using the power burner and then slide it over to another burner to keep the steam going. The door to the right of the stove is where some of our pots and pans live. That knife block is for my wife's knives. Also, our utensil forest lives on that counter.

 

Coffee, mixer, food processor and my knife block.

 

Finally, the main counter, pot rack, and some of the storage cubes. Two people cook in this kitchen easily, three with a little bit of coordination.

 

When we moved here we loved the large amount of cabinet and drawer space and never imagined we would fill it all up and then some.

 

Cheers,

 

Porthos

[HungryC]

Love seeing the kitchen pix. After years of a minuscule, dark, 1950s kitchen bisected by a hallway with no more than 24" of continuous counter space in any one spot, we moved into a new house last October. Old kitchen had no storage, no seating, and terrible layout. I now have acres of counter space, a cabinet spot for all my junk, and ultra bright LED lighting. Kitchen and dining are one large space, with door and windows opening to back porch. BlueStar 30" means I can stir fry, and 42" externally vented hood means I don't stink up the house when I do it. It is heavenly

.

[Porthos]

Blether, is it just you using the kitchen?

[gfweb]

Hungry C...Beautiful new kitchen!  You like the Blue Star? It sure is pretty. If I ditch Spock (the Vulcan) a BS might be the thing.

 

Porthos...great stuff. I love the pot rack. That's a lot on one hook!

 

Blether, you get a lot out of a little space. Any room for food storage?

[Porthos]

I love the pot rack. That's a lot on one hook!

 

Yes, it is a lot on that hook. Interestingly it has survived many earthquakes. I am gentle when taking things off and putting them back on.

[andiesenji]

Smithy,that perforated long handled thing is a walnut roaster. Amazon sent it to me instead of the French carbon steel pan I ordered. They said "just keep it" and sent me the right pan in a few days.  Never used it, but it looks so hearthy, so Dickensian, we keep it hanging there as an objet d'art.  We do have walnut trees, BTW, and they are a messy, black staining weed tree that crops up in every garden and wood. Never eaten one of them.

I looks like my chestnut pan, though the handle is a bit longer.

[andiesenji]

There won't be cleaner pictures - it's rarely cleaner!

 

Notice the missing drawer - apparently I put too much into the drawers and it can't support the weight - so contents of the drawer are in a box (two boxes actually) on the living room floor.  Apparently I will be getting the drawer back - of course hell hasn't frozen over yet!

I like the Dutch tea cozy.

[HungryC]

Very happy with the BS. No electronics, simple to operate, built for the long haul. No frills, but solid and the oven in a 30" unit still holds a full sheet pan. ETA sorry I couldn't get the photos correctly oriented.

Edited June 5, 2014 by HungryC (log)

[andiesenji]

gfweb -- love the stove -- it is the same one I grew up using.  My parents had installed it in the early 80s -- a few weeks ago, I went through the house again during an open house -- and there it was, still in working order.  Thing of beauty...with way too many pilot lights...

My big old Garland was like that - no pilot lights though.  I had a container of long fireplace matches hung on the wall at each end of the monster, until I discovered the propane fire lighters. 

[weinoo]

While I'm generally jealous of everyone else's huge kitchens, ranges, fireplaces, bbqs, big green eggs, etc., here's one of the reasons we bought this apartment - the view from our kitchen window...

 

 

Some shots of the kitchen...

 

 

 

 

 

 

And, of course, the coffee area...

 

 

[Blether]

It's just me living here, Porthos.  In fact this side of the table is quite open space.  Three of us managed to cook together the other day.  My next dream is some actual worktop that isn't either the sink or the table.

 

Thanks, gfweb.  I'm attaching some 'upskirt' shots, since I know that's the sort of thing you raunchy young fellas like.  Let's see how this works...

 

 

Bottom half of top right is spices; most of the space under the chopping boards is cans & jars - in the back are my meat grinder and a couple of pickling boxes & a food mill, all of which that I don't use so often.

 

 

 

Under the kitchen side of the table are oats, a bottle of oil and some rices (tucked into the table leg centre-left).  Bags of flour have migrated from here to the drawer of the breadmaker cab.

 

 

Stepping back from the table, this wooden stand used to have another level and sit where the new fridge is.  I've another (simpler!) unit to build once the old fridge is gone, something that has to go down before I'm tempted into an orgy of meat curing.

Edited June 5, 2014 by Blether (log)

[Porthos]

Mitch, I see the scale in the coffee area. Is that just a good place for it or do you weigh you beans and pack your espresso to a certain pressure?

[weinoo]

Mitch, I see the scale in the coffee area. Is that just a good place for it or do you weigh you beans and pack your espresso to a certain pressure?

Oh yeah, I weigh beans and how much I put in the portafilter. Don't do the tamping with a scale, just by feel for that.

[gfweb]

Weinoo and Blether...impressive use of space. My continual bitching about the awkwardness of my kitchen shames me.

[Anna N]

Blether

Just had to share this after seeing yours! My late husband made it for me.

[rotuts]

very inspirational

 

it will help me get out of my rut.  move all the crap treasures not used down to the basement and get the electrician in here

 

so I can use more than one toy electrical assistant at a time.

[Porthos]

That's a lot on one hook!

 

Your comment (this is a good thing) made me take a look at what all is on the pot rack these days. I took down the 2 pans I most rarely use and then noticed a rolling pin sitting on it that I have no memory of putting there (but I know I did) that I took off. That took 4 lbs off of it. The 16 qt stock pot stayed because of no other good place to keep it.

[Porthos]

Kerry, I forgot to mention that I really liked seeing Cambro stuff in someone else's kitchen.

[Anna N]

very inspirational

 

it will help me get out of my rut.  move all the crap treasures not used down to the basement and get the electrician in here

 

so I can use more than one toy electrical assistant at a time.

Yes I am always inspired looking at kitchens belonging to others who I know cook! Model kitchens bore me to tears. I have already started a bit of re-organizing. I try to be my own coach. I ask myself, "How often do you use this?" Or "Do you really need three of these?" But sometimes wish I had one of those professional organizers following me around and forcing me to make decisions about what goes and what stays. I know I have too many toys.

[rotuts]

Ill post a bit more of mine once the SLR feels up to it.

[Martin Fisher]

Lookin' good!

Y'all are far better organized than I am!!! 

 

 

[Porthos]

Martin, I can't stand not to be organized. Every knife in my knife block has a place and I want the handles such that when I pull a knife out it is already oriented to how it is held. I refered to our utensil forest. There are 4 utensil holders and each one only gets the items that belong in it. My bowls are also set up this way. When my younger daughter was a teenager and she was doing the dishes she kept shoving the bowls into the cabinet any old way. I took photos of each shelf's bowls and put them on the insides of the door to try to help. That only worked so-so.

 

The lids for the pans I use most are here

 

and here.

 

In other words, I can't stand to have to hunt for the things I use on a regular basis. That is why I am the one who now does the dishes - so that I can put things away where they belong.

 

edited to add: Credit the TV show Ultimate Kitchens for the idea of using towel holders inside of a door to hold lids.

Edited June 5, 2014 by Porthos (log)

[quiet1]

Blether

Just had to share this after seeing yours! My late husband made it for me.

image.jpg

I love this idea. For some reason it never occurred to me to use the inside of a door for knife storage. I hate having them sit out, so right now they are in a drawer, but the current kitchen has so few drawers that freeing that one up would not be a bad thing. Anyone have tips on making one of these puppies?

[Anna N]

I love this idea. For some reason it never occurred to me to use the inside of a door for knife storage. I hate having them sit out, so right now they are in a drawer, but the current kitchen has so few drawers that freeing that one up would not be a bad thing. Anyone have tips on making one of these puppies?

Here's one but if you google DIY knife storage cabinet door you'll likely find more.

http://community.familyhandyman.com/tfh_group/b/diy_advice_blog/archive/2011/08/16/kitchen-ideas-quick-amp-simple-knife-block.aspx