Re-working the Kitchen.... again

I have a love-hate relationship with my kitchen.  I love the long counters.  I hate the fridge and stove being next to each other.  I love its size.  I hate the layout.  I love all the cabinets.  I hate all the cabinets.  I know.  I know.  Poor me having too many cabinets!  ha!

I worked out the fridge and stove situation a couple months ago by removing a couple upper cabinets on a side wall which had no countertop below them and moving the fridge over to that spot.  And where the fridge was, I stacked those upper cabinets and created a free-standing pantry.  :D

As a side note, I also got my fridge running more efficiently by putting 3 milk jugs of water in the freezer and 4 milk jugs of water in the fridge.  But that's a whole other story.

The kitchen is laid out in an "L" shape, but there is a 3rd wall, making it a "U" shape.  But that 3rd wall isn't really a wall, it's a brick chimney and the fridge!  The working space is an "L".  There is a 4th wall, which I guess would make it a square, but it's not a wall that can be used, like for putting the table against it.  So the table is in the middle of the room and the main walkway from the backdoor to the front of the house is between the table and the wall.

And the cabinets, ugh!  I've lived in this house for 6 years and have moved cabinets about yearly.  I just can't get a good feel for them.  And when I'm cooking, I'm always running all over the place to get what I need.  So last week at the library, I happened to pick up "It's Here...Somewhere" by Alice Fulton & Pauline Hatch.   And OMGosh, these women have gotten me thinking about my kitchen in a whole new way called "centers" (cleaning, baking, cooking, eating, etc).  I love the new organization of my kitchen!!  (I think or at least for this year.  ha!)

Finally, all my baking supplies are in one "center" rather than 3 separate cabinets!  Everything I need to set the table is in one "center" rather than in 2 separate cabinets!  All my cooking supplies are right at the main counter area I use for cooking!  I love all the spices in the drawer where I can read all the labels rather than 3 or 4 deep in a cupboard.  Even with the list on the door, I never could find anything.  I don't really like the silverware tray being in the cabinet, but I ran out of drawers.  :(   Not to worry, I'll get it worked out.

My kitchen, I love it!

Baking Day

Of the many tasks that make up homesteading, one of the most rewarding to me so far is cooking made from scratch meals.  Up until I made this conscious decision to really think about the meals I was preparing, I would just go to the store and grab boxes of prepared foods, stir in some ground beef or tuna, sometimes add a frozen vegetable and call it a meal.  But I'm learning that it's so much more than that.  I'm experiencing real pride and joy in the meals I'm preparing now.  And a part of those meals is the baking.

I started baking bread about a month ago and I was soooo surprised!  Surprised at how easy it really is.  It's really not difficult to bake bread, but it is time consuming.  The dough has to rise for about 2.5 hours and bake for 45 minutes plus mixing and kneading time.   So it's not an all day project, but I do have to plan accordingly.

I knew when I started baking bread I wanted a 100% whole wheat recipe, but when I looked on the back of the whole wheat flour, that's not what I found.  So I turned to the internet, specificly facebook, where I knew I had friends who bake.  Sure enough, within in the hour, a friend sent me a 100% whole wheat bread recipe.  I was in business!

The first batch was good, but tough and dense.  Looks good though, doesn't it?!

I would have liked it to be taller and not so heavy, so I returned to my facebook friends and they suggested longer kneading and rising times.  Success!!  The loaves I'm baking now are as tall as store bread loaves, but wider, have a light texture and they are delicious!  

We're going through 2 loaves in a week, so today I'm making a double batch (4 loaves) so I always have back-ups in the freezer.  There is nothing worse than going to make sandwiches for the hub's lunch and there is no bread.  :-(

Have you tried baking your own bread?  What surprised you most about it?

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