Rediscovering My Kitchen
When the only safe options for eating out on a gluten free diet are really expensive restaurants and chains, it’s time to start eating in more often. I don’t mind, though, because I love to cook.
The biggest problem now is that I’m constantly reminded about the deficiencies of my kitchen. The house was built in the 1970s when appliances were much smaller and actually fit into the spaces built for them. The new appliances are too big for the kitchen, so it’s a puzzle to get into drawers and cabinets. You have to open the dishwasher to get into one drawer, the oven to get into another; and you can’t open the refrigerator wide enough to get into the bottom, left-hand crisper drawer. I dream of one day gutting the whole thing and starting fresh, but I have too many other home improvement projects to finish first.
It reminds me of the 2003 Norwegian movie, Kitchen Stories. I can imagine a Swedish man sitting on a high director’s chair in my pantry, observing my patterns and behaviors. The pantry door gets in my way because I can’t access the counter where I want to mash my potatoes or grind my spices. So I slam it shut, and the guy in the pantry is just sitting in the dark trying to divine the answer to a well-designed kitchen. First order of business - the pantry door comes off.
I guess since the Swedes did so much research on proper kitchen arrangement, I ought to consider buying my next kitchen at IKEA.