nest

Kitchen Design

What makes a great kitchen? I guess it's different for everyone, I suppose it depends on how you use your kitchen, how often you're in it and if you like being in it when you're there.

(a kitchen from the 1950's from here)

I've seen a UK home make over show where each member of the family in the house to be renovated wears a tracking device around their neck for a week to see who goes where and for how long. This shows the areas in the house that are not used and the areas of high traffic. In ALL cases the mum spent an amazingly high percentage of her time in the kitchen and not just cooking and cleaning up. The kitchen was where she spoke to people on the phone, read the paper/magazines, had a quiet glass of wine or cup of tea. Other family members came and went, maybe sat to eat, but didn’t stay long.

I did a similar exercise at TAFE where we had to track the movements of people in our home over a two hour period during a busy time of day. It's called Spatial Analysis. I did mine when I was getting dinner ready and feeding the kids. It was when I was cooking two meals a night and feeding the kids early. I think the diagram speaks for itself. My movements are in orange.

 

That bit coloured in orange is the kitchen.

I think this alone is enough to warrant the Kitchen Of My Dreams (KOMD) be designed and built when we renovate. I could present a very convincing PowerPoint slide show to support my argument for the building of the KOMD. It’s a done deal, surely. The bit about affordability has yet to be investigated, but I'll aim high and see what happens.

So, I’m looking at kitchen designs and building materials, bench top options, etc. Many that I'm seeing in magazines are white and clean and clinical with long smooth lines. I want a bit of colour and a bit of timber and a bit of warmth.

I’d like it to be open plan with cosy corners.

I’d like the dining table incorporated into the kitchen design.

I’d like an office area/ laptop, phone corner.

I’d like a place for everything so that everything can be in it’s place. (what a dream!)

I’d like some colour, some timber, some neutrals.

I’d like it to be welcoming and comfortable.

I’d like it to clean itself and carry the shopping up the stairs.

And I'd like it to be free. Maybe I'll win a competition or something. Perhaps I should enter a KOMD competition.... but where?..... and how.....?

Until then I'll keep looking through magazines and internet sites.

Nah, too much timber.

 

Nah, too colourful.

 

Nah, too openplan.

 

Nope.

 

Thanks, but no.

 

Ummmm, well, no.

And certainly not this...

 

...this, my current kitchen, complete with ripped lino and falling off doors and drawer fronts. Just not the kitchen I would choose and something we've planned to change since we bought the house 4 years ago. 

But I am narrowing down my options. The KOMD design is coming together and I'm VERY excited about it. Very.

Crime. Does it Pay?

A crime has been committed under my roof. I haven't written about this incident yet as I've been trying to come to terms with the fact that I know the perpetrator. Well. Very well. I've been told she even looks a little like me. And she should, she's my daughter, the criminal is my 3 year old daughter.

The crime? Irreparably tearing a LIBRARY BOOK to shreds. A school library book, no longer fit for re-borrowing. I'm in shock.

Allow me to present exhibit A....

Shreds I tell you. Very few pages remained in one piece and EVERY page was removed from the cover.

I didn't know the punishment for such a crime. I send her to her room for normal run of the mill household things.... but ripping a library book? Every page! What do I do here?

The time of the crime was 5.30pm. I discovered the scene at 5.32pm. When I came to I removed the small red-head from the room and taped off the area for further investigation (I intended to find EVERY piece of the jigsaw). I put on a stony face and put the girl in the bath, then fed her a sandwich in the kitchen and put her to bed. Saying that I needed a different girl to wake in the morning.

She knew what she had done was wrong. She was tired and wanted to push my buttons. Push them SHE DID.

After she was asleep (which didn't take long) I found the sticky tape... and Operation Jigsaw began... the librarian will never know.....

Hmmmm. I actually think she might notice something's a bit odd.....

So I purchased a new one which now sits in the school library. Its a funny book that we really enjoyed so the sticky taped one now sits on our bookshelf. The taped pages add a little character to the book, make it more precious almost.

A different girl did wake up the next morning who completely understood the GRAVITY of the whole incident. The court has released her on bail but intends to retell the story when an example of how NOT to behave is required.

The moral my children have been taught from this? Tear a library book and you get to keep it.

Well, umm, yes. Good one, Mum.
 
 

Banana

I will eat anything. ANYTHING. I'll at least give everything a try. The only thing I will refuse if offered is a banana or banana related product. I will even refuse to smell bananas and have often left the room when one is peeled... not a fan of the bananaroma.

Vomit.

Until recently I had the same problem with marshmallows of all kinds. For some reason I overcame it and since then have been making up for lost time, consuming way too many of those soft, sugary, squishy pillows of joy. Yes, I've completely changed my mind and reversed my opinion. Because I can.

I am able to actually handle bananas now (I mean actually touch and peel them)... even mash them (dry retching only occasionally). I still can't eat them. So when I'm on a diet I make Banana Cake. Everyone seems to like it and I'm not tempted to eat it.

This time I made a Chocolate Banana Cake simply by adding cocoa to the mix. This cake also works well with gluten free flour.

CHOCOLATE BANANA CAKE

(Recipe modified from the Women's Weekly 'Quick-mix Banana Cake' in the 'Babies & Toddlers Good Food' book)

125g butter (soft)

3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar

2 eggs

1/3 cup sour cream (I use extra light and it works fine)

1 1/2 cups SR flour

1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

1/4 cup cocoa

1 1/4 cups mashed banana

METHOD

I used a loaf tin but wouldn't next time. A 19cm square tin is recommended, greased.

Oven on ar 180 deg C.

Beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

Add eggs and sour cream and combine. Add flour, soda and cocoa and mix on low speed for 1 minute. (I have my last taste of the batter at this point).

Stir in the mashed banana and tip in the prepared tin.

Bake for about 50 mins or until a skewer comes out clean.

I then iced with a quick icing sugar and water icing sprinkling the top with 100s and 1000s.

Juliet loves sour cream and eats it by the spoon full or with crackers dipped in.

Yeah, that took some strength.

Creaming the butter and sugar. Is there anything yummier? J getting close, anticipating being handed the beater to lick.

Now the banana has been added and there's no more licking of fingers for me. I'm on a diet you know.

Bit wonky. Should have used a different shaped tin. Tasted the same though, apparently.

Iced and ready to go.

They can eat the cake, I'll just have a handful of these....

 
I'm on a diet.

 

SAHM Needs A Job

I’ve been enjoying life as a SAHM (stay-at-home-mum) for a while now. I went on maternity leave from a corporate job... oooooh... about 6 years ago now and haven’t earned a penny since. I have been studying part time for the last two years, so I’ve SPENT some money....

Of course, as we all know, being a full time mum isn’t easy. When times were particularly tough I’d fantasise about getting dressed up, walking through the city at peak hour with all the other NORMAL people in the real world, sans pram. I’d dream of sitting at a desk in a large office, no children, anywhere. A quiet office, ‘good morning’s to colleagues as they pass, a coffee beside me.... ahhh, bliss. My dreams never consisted of doing any actual work, though, just drinking coffee, checking emails (non work related) and being child-free.

Plans for our home renovations are progressing, quickly. The final house will be FANTASTIC, the cost will be ASTRONOMIC, well, more than we had originally expected. A quick draw up of financial incomings and outgoings has led to the realisation that... I.... will.... need... to... find.... a... JOB.

Far out, brussel.

So now I’m faced with the question, ‘What sort of job?’ We have moved cities since I went on maternity leave, so I can’t go knocking on a door where the people know me. I have to sell myself to a new employer, *screams into a pillow*.

This seems to be a common predicament with a lot of mums. It’s so hard to sell yourself back into the workforce when, in your eyes, all you’re now good at is feeding fussy kids, dealing with tantrums in the supermarket and wiping bums. What happened to that woman who held meetings with department heads and General Managers? Where is the woman who managed the implementation of IT systems, database merges and disgruntled staff? Where’s THAT chick? And where are my suits? And why are they all two sizes too small?

I have been studying to make a career change. Interior Design is what I want to do when I grow up. But it looks as though that may have to be put on hold for a while. I could rake in a few more bucks using skills I already have, in the corporate world.

So it’s back to the job section of the weekend paper, and internet job sites.

I want to be a SAHM but it seems as though that jig is up. It’s been nearly 10 years since my last job interview, wonder how I’ll go....