drum roll.....Here's my new kitchen

I started this kitchen project at the first of this year and can now say it is finally finished

This kitchen was originally built in about 1933.  It had been patched and patched over again so many times.  It really needed an update.

Candy corner update

The stove was originally plugged in with an extension cord   Yikes!  But when the kitchen was built there was no need for electricity

My cookware is ready and all polished shiny

farmhouse sink for the farmer, solar shades to block out the hot sun, maple shelving to store my pretty things

first dishwasher in this old house, my beverage center

My grandmother used to have tea in this cozy little nook.  I now call it my tea cozy

fridge and pantry - the bottom drawers roll out

my spice rack - which used to be my Grandmother's built in ironing board

Julia

But always the star of the show, my sous chef, Julia, my butcher block table

Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens, bright copper kettles.........

IMG_0891, originally uploaded by cabanagirl.

These are a few of my favorite things. I am tickled to death to show you my kitchen. I love to cook and I worked at Williams-Sonoma when my kids were in college for five years so I have every piece of cookware a chef would ever want and more. While my house in California was for sale many of my kitchen essentials were stored as to not add to the clutter but now I can have my toys close at hand. I am finished putting things away on my main floor. I wanted to share a few of the things that I cannot live without.

Work area

these are a few of my favorite things., originally uploaded by cabanagirl.

I adore this chopping block. I was so excited when I bought this house, got the measuring tape out and realized I could fit this piece into the kitchen. It has been in the garage in California for 9 years used as a second work place because there was no room for it inside. But it has taken center stage in my new kitchen. Ryan added my shelves for my favorite cookbooks and porcelain cookware. It may look messy to some but this is just perfect for me.

Cook's Pantry 2

More tools from my pantry.  I absolutely must have good cook's tools (as we categorized them at Williams-Sonoma.) I was very fortunate to work in this store for 6 years.  That and attending the Cordon Bleu School of Cooking in Paris made it essential to have more than one pepper mill.   I have one for black pepper (Terricherry is the best), one for white pepper ( sketch a couple of days ago) and one for pink pepper.  I tell Ella that the pepper that grows on our local pepper trees is good for adding to soups....that's the pink pepper variety and I grind that one in the maple mill at the left.  I also have nutmeg grinders which will no doubt appear soon.  Who knows what else I will find in my pantry to sketch. (The splatter of black & yellow came from flicking my waterbrush over the finished entry. I think it is just fun.