Tuesday, December 16, 2008

The Set Up, part 1

It seems worth noting that I don't cook in a beautifully appointed kitchen.

On good days, or when I am in a optimistic mood, I can spin my apartment as "funky" and "bohemian"...even, dare I say it, "cute." I have hardwood floors. The rooms are, well, roomy. I live in a great neighborhood. This area is definitely out of my price range, so I traded in things like kitchen appliances that were manufactured post-1980 for an excellent school system. So, I made my choice, and now I'm cooking in it.

There are a few things I do like about my kitchen, to be fair. There is a lot of natural light, for example. In keeping with the rest of the apartment, it is not cramped. I can, if I want to, spin around in the middle of the kitchen with my arms outstretched and not knock things over. That's a bonus, I suppose. And my appliances do work, which is nice.

But let's take a little tour, shall we?

Stove - I have one of those narrow stoves - there are four burners on it, but the width of the entire stove is less than two feet. Really, that is fine, and it's a gas stove, which I prefer, and all four burners fire up, which is an improvement over my last two kitchens. The stove brand is "Premier", which I've never heard of. The oven works. The broiler works, too. 1970s era.

Refrigerator - This one's an old hotpoint. Not an old enough hotpoint to be vintage and cool, just old. The metal shelving inside is a bit rusty (I know, I've never been effective at getting landlords to do nice things for my living space). It has compartments for eggs, and butter. It works, the freezer works, it's fine. Again, 1970s, and I am grateful it's not in the trendy avocado color.

Lighting - I think I am going to install a clip-on reading light above my stove, one that I can turn to also light my counter, because I am tall and cast a nice shadow over my workspace. Otherwise, natural light from a window, and an overhead light fixture in the middle of the room.

View from the kitchen - dumpsters in the alley, and the various characters who hang out at the dumpsters in the alley. You would be surprised how happening this alley is. It's lively out there. I am on the second floor and generally escape the smell.

Counterspace - what's that? Oh, right, I have heard of counterspace. I think I have seen counterspace in a Dwell magazine photo spread. There is a little area next to the shelf where I keep my cookbooks where I can almost fit a whole cutting board.

Sink - I kind of like my sink. It is white ceramic, old, with tile around the edges. The drain works fine, but the shape of the sink makes it difficult to rinse things down the drain. For example, if I empty coffee grinds into the sink, they will sit on the bottom of the sink until I coax them into the drain with a brush or a dishrag.

Should I even be putting coffee grinds down the drain without a garbage disposal?

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