SC - OT - Pseudo-Medievaloid Cookery Saves the Day

[Philip & Susan Troy]

´Lainie wrote:
>Here's a question that'll open a can of especially fun, wiggly worms: If
>money was no object and you could have the kitchen of your dreams
>(either home or eventing), what would you do? How would you design it?
>What appliances would you have? What decor? I'm just curious, but I also
>want to see if a couple of my pet theories about cooks pan out...


Design the kitchen of my dreams ... that´s more or less what I´m doing right
now, since I´m right in the middle of a major renovation  of my kitchen
(that is, at present I don´t have a kitchen, just an old cooker standing in
a stripped room). This includes knocking down part of a wall and more than
doubling the size of my kitchen (which was small, dark and cramped but will
now be sunny and far more roomy and convenient, with direct access to a
large balcony). Of course I would do some things differently if I were
building from scratch but I can do a lot of things I´ve been wanting to for
a long time.

I´m having a five-burner gas hob installed, including a powerful wok burner.
Two large multi-function ovens, one under the counter, the other one at eye
level. A 90-centimeter wide hood over the cooking island. A dishwasher (and
not a moment too soon, the scullery boy is on a long-term strike). More than
double the counterspace I used to have. Drawers instead of shelves in the
lower cupboards. A large dining table, sturdy enough to double as additional
workspace. A butcher´s trolley to wheel around and use where needed
(including the balcony). A new Kitchen-Aid mixer with attachments. A tiled
floor. Partly tiled walls, preferably in a cheerful multicolored pattern if
I can find the right colors (I know exaxtly what I want but I´m having
trouble getting it across to others).

I already have a roomy pantry/cold larder where I keep my freezer and store
some of the bulky appliances and things (like my ice ream machine and my
stoneware pickling crocks), and the seldom-used microwave oven, so storage
space is not a problem. I would really like to replace my current fridge but
it is in perfect order so I really can´t justify it to myself - but now that
I´ve got the freezer, I don´t really need a fridge with a large freezer
compartment as well. But I would like the new one to have separate vegetable
drawer (cool not cold), as my present one has.

I´d like a second ceiling rack to hang pots and pans - I have one but it is
in danger of overload. Or a wall rack - no, come to think of it, I don´t
have the wall space for it. Actually, in my dream kitchen there would be no
upper cupboards, only a couple of shelves. But I need the storage space.

Apart from that, I will practically have my dream kitchen in a couple of
months. I hope. I´ve been spending the last three weeks waiting for
builders, plumbers, electricians etc. that do not show up. Serves me right
for being dumb enough to embark upon a kitchen renovation in the middle of a
major construction boom.

Nanna