My Kitchen is Humming

My kitchen started humming about 6:30am. My brain was humming and so was I. This was a continuation of my day in the kitchen, yesterday. We went swimming in the morning yesterday and Joe had an appointment in the afternoon. I had started refried beans the day before. They weren't finished that night. So, I put them in the fridge and started them again, when we got home from the pool.  They were done when Joe got home. 

So those are waiting in the fridge. I had big plans for today. My kitchen would be humming again. I thawed two small pork roasts to put in my slow cooker. I often cook two things at once. The s;ow cooker is large and will accommodate two roasts easily. I am trying a new recipe. First I rubbed the roasts with salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, and garlic powder. I put them in the pot and mixed up  1\2c chicken broth, 1\3c balsamic vinegar, 1T honey, and 1T Worcestershire sauce. This mixture was poured over the top and the roasts will cook for about 6 hrs.When they are done...I will use two forks to pull meat apart and then put the meat back in the juices. Joe wants some of the refried beans with his roast. The 2nd roast will be used for BBQ sandwiches later on toward the weekend.  

 My little kitchen was in kind of a mess anyway, so I decided to make those zucchini breads that I talked about the other day. I had already put the zucchini through the food processor, chopped the nuts, and drained the pineapple.....so the biggest part of the job was done. As I mixed the batter, I thought how much this batter reminded me of my apple cake. Moist and delicious. I haven't made one of those in years. 

 Here they are all ready for the oven. I didn't make a big loaf....just 6 small ones. So nice to have in the freezer to pull out later on. 

As I was cleaning up, I started thinking about my kitchens in the past. My very first kitchen was good sized. It was a three room apartment and the kitchen was the biggest room. 

The next kitchen was in a bigger upstairs apartment with a little smaller kitchen. I felt like I was up in the trees. This apartment was the upstairs of one of those big houses they call Painted Ladies. The rooms were all unique. The kitchen having wooden pull out bins for flour, potatoes, etc. in bulk. Wide ledges on the windows where I cooled pies and cakes, A step down to a little eating nook. It was such a cute kitchen and it was where I began my love of cooking. A young bride with a new baby boy and lots of time to experiment in the kitchen.

Down through the years I've had 2 huge kitchens, and my last one before here....was a galley kitchen.....narrow, but very conveniently built. 

Now, we come to my kitchen today. It's small and in a square configuration. Very few steps have to be taken in this one, and everything handy. Perfect for someone my age.  All I have to do is turn around and the appliance that I need is there. Quite a bit of storage space, but the counter top space is limited. I really need more counter space for big cooking, but there's no way to remedy that, so I work with what I have. I like neat counter tops, but find that I want to have things handy...and not have to climb around to get things...so my counter tops are cluttered. Sometimes it really bugs me and I move things here and there, never finding the best way. 

Well, the breads just came out of the oven and the house smells divine. Joe doesn't like zucchini....should I tell him what those green specks are  :)?

Balisha