I love looking at the part of the pantry that has been cured. (Amelia, Santa Monica, CA)
• This Week's Assignment: Deep Cleaning, Special Projects and Beautifying
• Cure Clock: Closing in on the finish line! Two weeks of hard work left.
• Cure Takers: 2,382 (Sign up closes next Friday, November 6)
It's the third week. How are you doing? I'm so impressed with the emails I'm getting from Cure-takers. You guys are going deep, and I know it's not easy. This week you'll do a deep cleaning, start that special project and add one beautiful thing to your kitchen.
First our usual note on participation: Do your best, and pace yourself. You will have a week to complete each assignment. Each assignment will be given on a Friday so you have the weekend to dive in deep, although they can all be done in short bursts throughout the week so don't panic if you're heading out of town for the weekend or would just prefer to laze about. Also, many assignments can be on-going through the Cure, so if you don't finish one week's work by the following Friday, just keep going. If you haven't finished (or started!) previous weeks' assignments, you can combine efforts this week.
- Week #1: Clean Out Fridge and Pantry
- Week #2: De-Clutter and Give Away Kitchen Equipment Plus Special Projects
Week Three Assignments
1. Catch up: Finish up any unfinished business from Week One and Week Two.
2. Clean all remaining un-cleaned surfaces: Your kitchen should be totally clean after this assignment, as in eat-off-the-floor clean. Not just the surfaces, but the appliances too. Clean your floors, oil your butcher blocks, get the grit out of the seal around your fridge. The whole nine yards. Step back and think about the nooks and crannies you've never cleaned. Take my magnetic knife rack, for example: if I don't regularly remove all the knives and run a damp cloth across the top edge, it develops a thick fluffy layer of dust. You know you have things like this in your kitchen.
Check out our post on cleaning products for the kitchen for some thoughts on natural cleansers.
I've had a 2" gap between counter and wall for years so my special project is blocking it off! There is a progress shot. Hack carpentry 101 goin on right here. and all the wood was "reclaimed" from the scrap pile where I work (in a theater with a shop). God that thing makes me so happy too. How did I live for years with that abyss!? God only knows what is down there! (turtalia, Queens, NY)3. Special Project Time: We talked about this last week. You were supposed to decide on your special project: something outside the organization and cleaning part of the Cure. Something that would make your kitchen more livable, solve a problem, or spruce it up. You might want to paint a chalkboard wall, or make a custom glass back splash, create your own custom knife storage solution, or strip the wall-paper. This is the week to start, if you haven't already.
What's your special project? Tell us on the Discussion Board.
4. Add something beautiful: This is not the special project, this is something quick, to get you in the swing of pampering your kitchen. Remember, it is your sanctuary. Hang some art, make a commitment to always have frugal flowers in your kitchen, or plant a windowbox.
5. Stay in touch!: We have an exciting community of about 2,400 people currently signed up for the Kitchen Cure. Smart people. Fun people! And you can meet them all if you get active on our Cure Discussion Board. Also, don't forget to check in every day with the Kitchen Cure Page where all the Cure-related posts live in one neat little package. While assignments are posted once a week on Friday, related posts are going up every day and there is a lot of conversation to be had in those posts comment threads as well.
Reminder about photographs: Submitting your photos to us really helps us see how you're doing and answer specific questions you have. If you'd like your progress to be showcased in a post, please take them on the highest quality setting you have on your camera and with as much natural light as possible. Submit your photos directly to The Kitchn. Using the "go for it!" form, make sure to explain what's going on in each image so we can properly caption each photo.
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I am *so* behind in The Cure... I've promised myself I will finish SOMEthing.
Same here. I've gotten all sorts of other things done around the house that weren't planned, but nothing in the kitchen. I found a cool plycraft chair on the curb and bookcase on craigslist and spent weekend cleaning them and rearranging to accommodate them, which was great but.... This weekend I'll really try to get something done in the kitchen.
The special project of designing and building a new kitchen cart/island isn't going to happen this year, so my alternative project isn’t about kitchen infrastructure, but about breaking out of my cooking ruts by create a habit of cooking something each week from my stash of dry goods in the pantry. I have grains, beans, assorted Asian noodles, and other interesting things that just languish on the shelves. First up, the adzuki beans I bought who knows how long ago and have never used.
@Carol - You are so right about stuff languishing on the shelves. I have just reorganized my "pantry" which is actually a refurbished bathroom, and I came across lots of stuff that I bought (often while abroad) that I've never used. I really will try and use some of this stuff in the coming weeks!
@Carol, I hope those beans aren't dried. If they're past their date, get rid of them, they will never soften. Speaking from experience. . . . I too have been inspired to cook things I found in the back of the cupboard, pasta mostly. We had Singapore style noodles the other night, which was the first time we'd used the wok in ages!
I'm way behind too. I think my special project will be to polish the brass. Used to do it every year when my mother in law was still alive. Now I look at it and think, hmmm, needs polishing and then forget about it. I love the brass, I like polishing it. . . it's just getting myself to sit down and do it. Er, need to wax the dining room table too.
But I'm still cleaning out cupboards!
My special project will be organizing the cookbook shelf. Since I belong to bookmooch, may pull some and put them on the list so others can mooch and enjoy.
Both fridge and freezer are CLEAN and organized. Kitchen floor is "eat off clean" and the table has been oiled and shines so pretty. I'm tired now.
Have a great weekend and pace yourself.
A nice grey, cool day in DC to work on this.
I just cleaned out all the food cupboards (week 1) and started the fridge. I've been cleaning as I go through the food cabinets, but resisting cleaning anything else. That focus is really working for me, because otherwise it's overwhelming.
Although I haven't gotten rid of any kitchen equipment, I'm getting rid of some candles--some new that were gifts--and a brand new diffuser that live in a kitchen cupboard and giving away some tea, all of which I decided I am not going to use (week 2!).
I accomplished one of my goals for this Cure: I moved all my baking stuff and herbs and spices from a remote corner of the kitchen to a central cabinet, reflecting my move back to more baking and creative cooking since I set this kitchen up 5 years ago.
Special project: I'm going to investigate under cabinet lighting. Any thoughts on this?
I feel like assignment 2 is going to be ongoing -- I keep running across crap that I guess was invisible the first time around (isn't it weird that sometimes you just don't see the things you don't use anymore?)
kiwi knife anyone? still in the wrapper!
I fear getting very behind this week due to real life (work) but the special project is finished! I got a little obsessed and it had to be done and ooooooooh it is so beauuuuutiful.
happy scrubbing all!
I have a cold! It must be a cold because I had a flu shot a couple of weeks ago. I have lost all momentum and feel like I am back at week zero - everything is a mess again. I have been reading and admiring everyone's progress and hope that it will inspire me to catch up next weekend. My special project will have to wait a few weeks.
I'm doing both the kichn and apartmenttherapy cures which may have been a bit too much to bite off at once, but I'm having a great time. This weekend was mostly spent on other areas of the apt., but I did mop the kitchen floor, scrub the stovetop, throw together a chicken stock via crockpot and create a festive altar for Dias de los Muertos.