Back In The Kitchen ~ August 23, 2017

Sometimes I go through a period of time when I'm not in the mood to be in the kitchen much, outside of the necessity to make our meals for the day. But as the fruit trees bend under the weight of all their produce, and hints of Autumn are in the air, I'm getting the itch to do a bit more these days. 

So I got out my Magnolia Journal magazine, and followed the directions for their Apple Butter recipe. 

As is common for me, I never quite follow everything exactly as I should. So, while this recipe is for the slow cooker, I cooked it down in a sauce pan right on my stove. Can you imagine how wonderful the house smelled with apples, cinnamon and cloves stewing in the pot?? Mmmm.... I thought for sure Autumn had arrived! I really enjoyed it's sweet, clove infused taste. 

Next, I moved on to a recipe using peaches. I gathered a bucket of our own peaches from our small tree, and set to work on making a peach jam. I just used the recipe straight from the Sure-Jell box. 

Oh. My. Goodness! The smell as they were bubbling away in the jam syrup brought me right back to the days of when I used to feed my babies jarred peaches! Isn't it amazing how some smells just resonate with you?? ☺The jam turned out perfectly, and tastes absolutely delightful on toast and those delicious Town House crackers! I think it's been years since I've made any type of jam..... But, look at how lovely it is in the jars now!

My last extra little something I spent time on in the kitchen was a tasty, green bean salad made with fresh beans given to me by my neighbor that were grown in his garden. I cut the ends off, steamed them gently, then added some oil, vinegar and seasoning.... Ooooh, they were fresh and tender! A little remained for me to nibble on the next day, and they were even better having set over night.

I'll have to remember that if there's a next time that my neighbor brings me over some beans.......

I hope this post finds you enjoying some things you've finally gotten around to doing again, or maybe just simply enjoying the continuation of some really nice summer weather! It won't be long before our next season is upon us....

Take care, my friends. Wishing you well in your part of the world! 

~ ♥ ~

Kitchen Splendor

I've never been so thrilled with a room in my house as I am with my newly painted and decorated kitchen!!

For the longest time, I've wanted a yellow kitchen, and more recently, a Tuscan feeling kitchen. The shades of yellow have varied, but once I got the feeling of this house, and more specifically, the kitchen, I decided my choice of yellow had to be one with warmth and personality. Dean so graciously poured over paint samples with me until we settled on a color that we both liked.

For him, the dilemma was having a yellow that didn't seem too "industrial" - in other words, it can't look like the color of a piece of machinery, he told me! For me, I simply couldn't have a shade of yellow that felt on the cooler side. I wanted it to have some depth and a welcoming feeling, much like the colors of Tuscany. Additionally, one of the first things I noticed about my lovely, old fashioned, front kitchen was that it was quite lacking in natural light! (And I was surprised to discover this, because I have a rather large window over the sink, in addition to a smaller one on an adjacent wall.)

Anyways, this past week, Dean literally transformed our kitchen into something I didn't think could possibly be mine ~ but it was! And it looked so beautiful that I couldn't stop smiling the more it came together. We absolutely love the warm glow of the walls, the way the color changes depending on the light source, and the way some of our old things now "popped" against the new "Honey Locust" painted walls. (Fluorescent lighting tends to make it look the least desirable, and most like Crayola crayon yellow, however, in the daylight, and in the evening with our floor lamp, it simply glows like golden honey!)  SIGH......The transformation is amazing! So, without further adieu, here are some before, during and after pictures of my now fabulously warm and inviting Tuscan kitchen!!

 SOME BEFORE:

A FEW DURING:

AFTER:

These last 2 pictures actually show more of the golden glow that we see most often, as we rarely use our extremely bright, fluorescent ceiling light, which Dean had to use while painting.

Yesterday we had a fun shopping trip to pick up some new pictures, floor rugs and a cute little accent piece, which is the lantern to the left of the stove. Dean first spotted it, and, after seeing it, I could  hardly resist adding the adorable lantern as a finishing touch to our now absolutely lovely, full of personality, Tuscan kitchen!! And I'm still smiling........

☺

An iPad In The Kitchen?

If you ask me if I ever thought I would have an electronic device for a "recipe book", I'd have laughed for sure! But, I recently downloaded a recipe "app" on my iPad that's a pretty neat little deal which I find myself quite interested in. It's the Better Homes and Gardens Must Have Recipes app; a quite simple and easy one to navigate!

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On the left hand side is a drop down menu of recipe categories which is very handy.

  

This particular time I am searching for a recipe for banana bread since I have a few bananas to use up. They even refine the search to give you tutorials if you'd like!

 Ah, here's a simple recipe that I can use. :)

And I'm ready to begin!

You can see how short and simple the recipe was. Not to mention, it turned out a very tasty loaf of banana bread!

I especially like that the features in red along the bottom are very convenient to get to. So far I have a nice little selection of recipes saved, and the list option is a great asset when it comes time for making out the grocery list. I've also explored the how-to section (the tutorials that I mentioned above) and like that you can get some pretty handy pointers, even if you've got plenty of experience cooking and baking! 

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So..... I guess my iPad and I will be hanging out a lot more in the kitchen. ☺

Booth Style Seating

I've always loved a space like this for the kitchen. And I like that everyone can

shift down on the bench to make room for others looking to find a seat!

A Vintage Table With Flowers

The glass vase of flowers finishes the look of this vintage kitchen perfectly. 

I could really enjoy a kitchen space like this!

source

1950's Practical Kitchen Storage

source

Wow! Here's a good thought for plenty of storage, of which I can never have enough in a kitchen. (Not crazy about the red and turquoise colors with the green and yellow, though!)

Simple Kitchen Shelves

I just love the cool blue wall color with these white shelves! Wish I could see the whole kitchen.... I think it would look crisp, fresh and inviting!

Old Fashioned Kitchen

While a big kitchen is always nice, there's just something about this one that invites 

you in and makes you want to start cooking!

Screen Doors

I have a thing for them.

The more old fashioned looking, the better.

 I especially like when they're off the kitchen.

Apparently some people like them so much they use them for a pantry door, too. 
This is kind of a nice idea - if you can keep the shelves neat and tidy!

What a Kitchen

It just speaks to me!

Spring Cleaning Checklist

Practical Organzation

DIY Network

Love this idea! Stored neatly, but very accessible.

realsimple.com

Lazy Susan's are a great way to utilize more space on shelves in cabinets, and it's so much easier to see what you have!

Endless Crafting

I love the idea of labeling, especially when it looks as nice as this!

Hmmm, this would be a good idea if all your herbs and spices are in similar types of jars, like here, to utilize the space in the drawer to its fullest.

Tupperware

I love storage containers that stack. There's nothing worse than trying to squeeze containers in here and there, and nothing fits just right!

mulletcabinet.com

Drawer organizers are a great way to keep everything visible and easy to grab when you need it.

frontdoor.com

Now these pull out racks for the pots, pans and their lids are a fabulous idea! I'm always trying to cram mine in, or wrestle them out from the stove drawer which is so frustrating.

magnarack.com

I absolutely love these racks for very useful and handy storage on the refrigerator, instead of the mess of papers and silly magnets that end up on it!

Suzzee's Shoppe

Or racks like these would be good for a message center area.