Favorite Kitchens

We women spend a lot of time in our kitchens. I have had a few kitchens in my lifetime. Some I have liked and some that I would rather forget. I have always leaned toward old fashioned kitchens. I loved seeing the kitchens on TV programs. The Walton's comes to mind. I used to scan the picture on TV quickly...and see what was hanging on the walls....what was on the shelves....what kind of pots and pans did they use....etc. I collected kitchen items back in those days. Yellow ware bowls, wooden bowls, crocks, enamel ware, rag rugs to name a few things. I could imagine a big family table like the one on the Walton's. 

When I was looking for pictures of TV kitchens this morning, I was surprised to find that there was never a kitchen shown on the Little House series except in the show..."The Handyman." I couldn't find a picture to show, but I can imagine how primitive it must have been. An old stove in the corner, maybe a table made by "Pa" A crock full of pickles that "Ma" had just made. Homemade rag rugs on the floor. The table would have had to do double duty. For food prep and studying by the kids....and a place to sit and drink coffee or tea and just talk with each other.  

 Then there was another kitchen that was so famous. It was Julia's kitchen...that is now in the Smithsonian. She did many programs from her own kitchen. I just watched the movie "Julie and Julia" the other day for the 3rd time. I loved it....and I loved Julia Child. I had a 1st edition of her cookbook and foolish me....I gave it away never thinking that it would be highly collectible in  later years.

She had a peg board on her walls with outlines for her pots and pans. I believe that her husband, Paul, did that. She had everything out and handy. She used to say, "If it's hidden away...you'll never use it." 

I had cast iron pans on shelves on one whole wall in my kitchen. The wall on the opposite end of the narrow room had shelving (that I put up myself) with my collections of bowls, cookbooks, and a n antique chicken coop sort of thing.....where I had excelsior beds for my calico chickens. Everything chicken was collected by me back then. Little kids loved to play with the coop holding the chickens. When my late husband came home from a fishing trip....he told me that he wanted to make a dining room out of our attached garage and build another garage on the other side of the house. Oh, I wanted a dining room so badly....we needed the space for our growing family to eat, but I would have to give up my wall. My beautiful wall. The building began and we had a nice new dining room with a fireplace.....but I still missed my wall. 

I still love primitive kitchens. Not a big fan of sleek shiny kitchens of today with their granite tops. My kitchen here is really nice and handy for someone my age. It only takes a couple of steps to go from one side to the other. Pull out shelves for my pantry, shelves that slide out, adequate cupboards, new appliances, most everything I could want. But still, when I visit other kitchens and see how tidy they are..... I come home and put things away on my counters... to make them neater. Then I hear Julia in the back of my mind saying, "If you hide it away....you'll never use it." I listen to her and bring everything back out :)

Would you, who used to love these old kitchens...go back and live the way they did in the earlier years? Having to bake your family's bread, do the canning and preserving, raise the chickens, tend your kitchen gardens, cook the meals on an old wood stove, and then all the cleaning and caring for children? I'm so glad for progress...but in the back of my mind, I still long for the old days...maybe just one day :)

Balisha

Later:
I just read Vicki's post  http://lifeinmyemptynest.blogspot.com/ and found the quickest recipe for something very tasty. I made them in about 10 min. Go over and check this recipe out....delicious!