Kitchen & Home

Original kitchens in many midcentury homes are walled off and isolated from the rest of the living space, making the kitchen just a place to cook rather than the social hub of the home. The remodel of this Portland, Oregon kitchen opened it up to the rest of the house—and to a cozy, wooded view—and created a relaxed, easy-to-live-in space.

One of the joys of a well-stocked larder is that when your plans suddenly shift due to weather or sickness or other such capriciousness (car trouble, flaky friends) you can rest assured in the certainty that you will not, for the time being at least, starve.Even better, a day suddenly wide open and available means you can indulge a little (or a lot) in what you’re naturally drawn to.

Last week’s meditation was all about slowing down and spending the entire morning eating honeyed toast in bed. This week finds me all speedy and mashed up against deadlines and obligations. A complete 180. So it is in this life; sometimes all languid and spacious, other times hip-hoppy and intense.I don’t mind being super busy. As much as I cherish my quiet Sunday mornings, I also like to lean into my day and feel the buzz of fully participating in all that my life has to offer.

As much as I can, I carefully guard my Sunday mornings from any form of hustle and ambition. No alarm clocks, no obligations, nothing tugging at my sleeve. Even brunch plans are carefully negotiated into a late lunch time slot. I am adamant: Sunday mornings are reserved for a gentle, gradual wake-up on a gentle, quiet schedule. Slow entry. Sloth time.

Take a look at this galley kitchen. Looks pretty ordinary, right? It has nice light, and a bold wash of color… and then, turn your head. That’s an enormous, gilt-framed painting on the wall, smack dab in the middle of this otherwise modest kitchen. Wow! What a statement! What do you think of this?That is a serious statement in this kitchen, and I kind of like it.

Last week a New York-based photographer, Miho Aikawa, emailed me with a project that she wanted to share with our readers at The Kitchn: a photographic series exploring the way real people eat, and what their mealtime environments look like.

I have a total thing for Moroccan-inspired tiles. I dream about covering my bathroom floors with them one day, but I may have to make plans to outfit my kitchen now, too.What do you think? Do you love how they transform an otherwise ho-hum kitchen? Are you inspired by the colors and patterns? Would you do a whole wall if you could, or just keep it to a backsplash? How about flooring?Related: Classic Design: A Gallery of Subway Tiles in the Kitchen(Images: 1. Lauren Levinson/Time Out New York; 2.

We shape clay into a pot, but the place where it is empty is what makes it useful. We hammer wood for a house, but it is the inner space that makes it livable. — Tao Te Ching I’ve been cooking my beans in a big fat clay pot that sits all day on the lowest possible flame on the back of my stove. Once in a while, a little burbly bubble pops up and breaks the surface and slowly, slowly the beans swell and grow creamy.

“Clean as you go” is a piece of cooking advice I took to heart years ago, so when I’m in the kitchen with someone who doesn’t follow the same principles, my stress levels rise and I start looking around desperately for a sponge. Are you the same way?When I first starting cooking, frequent cleaning was a necessity; I had a single two-foot-long counter in my kitchen, so I didn’t have space for a mess.

My friend Maia from julia warr on Vimeo.“My secret for long life is simplicity, work, and enjoyment.” — Maia Helles I’m quite taken by the short video (above) by Julia Warr which had been showing up on the internets this week. It features Maia Helles, a 95 year-old ballet dancer/teacher whom Julia met on an airplane a few years ago. The scenes of Maia watering her garden and doing her exercise routine (which she has been doing for over 60 years) are very inspiring.

Persimmon Tree in WinterThere’s an article from last week’s New York Times that’s drawing a lot of attention, at least in the circles I travel in. It’s called The Joy of Quiet and in it, writer Pico Iyer very eloquently describes his search for quiet and stillness and how now, more than ever, people are seeking out places where their technology can’t follow them in order to find a bit of peace.

Q: I borrowed a Bialetti stovetop espresso maker from my neighbor to try it out before I bought one, and (not my brightest move) put it in the dishwasher. When it came out the shiny finish was gone and it’s now a dull gray.I don’t want to return it to my neighbor like this — does anyone know of a way I can get the shine back?

Even though you can’t eat them and you don’t really serve food out of them, somehow, flower vases seem to end up being stored in the kitchen. If you’re lucky enough to have a china hutch, they might find a corner to call home, but in my kitchen, my vases always seem to be in the way!My last several homes have all been open loft style apartments or homes.

Today we get to tour the kitchen of a culinary professional! Prolific cookbook author Diane Morgan renovated her kitchen fifteen years ago, but she designed it to feel both solid and timeless, so as you will see it still looks fresh and modern.This kitchen has been the site of development for over seventeen cookbooks. Come peek into the incredibly organized cabinets and drawers of a professional food writer! Diane Morgan’s kitchen is beautiful, functional and highly organized.

The word foodie is a surprisingly controversial thing to call someone, or self-identify yourself as. This is in part because different people have different understandings of what the term means. Some think it’s a compliment, an acknowledgment of a passionate interested in food. Others consider it a pejorative, an insult, actually. A foodie is frivolous and trend-following and not to be taken seriously. Lately, I’ve been hearing another term slipping into the language: culinarian.

Tiny toy figures are hard at work in a world of giant food in Chris Boffoli’s photography series Disparity. Humorous and occasionally dark, the scenes depict food in a way that is both beautiful and a little monstrous. The Seattle-based photographer, food writer and avid cook spoke with us about his creative process, the ingredients he works with, and his thoughts on Americans’ relationship with food.What inspired you to use food as the backdrop in this series?

The week before Thanksgiving is probably a busy one at your local farmers’ market. People descend in droves to gather their ingredients for the big day: potatoes, fresh cranberries, kale, carrots, sweet potatoes, celery, onions, broccoli, cauliflower, fresh herbs. The farmers respond appropriately by harvesting big, hiring extra booth workers and hauling everything to the market site.So what happens when it rains and people stay away?What happens is the farmers lose. A lot.

When you’re renting and you want to jazz up your kitchen, the options are often pretty limited. No paint, no appliance switcheroo, no new materials like tile, countertops, flooring. That’s why we jumped at this nifty temporary backsplash idea: Over at Remodelaholic, there’s a tutorial on putting up a DIY fabric backsplash with starch.

So, we’ve thrown a lot of soup recipes and ideas at you this week. What are you going to do with them all? Here’s one idea: A soup party and cook-off! Reader Barb sent us this cute party that she threw last winter with some friends. And it wasn’t just a party — it was a friendly contest, too! Read on for all the details and more photos.From Barb:We hosted the Big Mouth, Big Bowl Challenge: Soup Edition on a chilly Saturday afternoon.

On Monday, we looked at repurposing pasta sauce jars for storing all sorts of things around the house. Now, here’s a look at the inverse: using glass jars for storing pasta:We always just store pasta in the box it comes in from the store. Some of these examples had us worried about air-tightness (we’re looking at you, apothecary jars) but they can’t be any worse than the opened boxes we use!How do you store dried pasta in your home?

In September of last year, Rhiannon and her family moved from Oakland, California to a 1938 Portland home set into the green streets of the Laurelhurst neighborhood. The first order of business? Restore the kitchen, bringing back some of the space’s inherent charm and color, but adding a few modern appliances to make cooking for a family easy. Join Rhiannon for a cup of tea in this adorable kitchen, rich with a lifetime’s collection of jadeite.

I know, I know. Cleaning is usually way down on our list of things to get excited about, and new cleaning products are even further down. But have you discovered these “magic” eraser pads? They’re all they claim to be and more.The Magic Eraser is brilliant for those little kitchen-cleaning details that always seem so annoying: shining up faucets and fixtures, cleaning tile grout, wiping scuffs off the baseboards, and cleaning fingerprints from the fridge.

So it turns out that my small tumblers are the exact same size as my garbage disposal. I learned this to my dismay late Sunday night and started panicking as idea after idea failed to extract it from the belly of my sink. You’ll never guess what finally did the trick.When I say this tumbler is the exact size of our garbage disposal, I mean the exact size. I could grab the lip of the cup and pull it up, but it would get stuck in the opening, manhole-cover-style.

Here’s a smart idea from our friends at Real Simple: Use a colander as an ice bucket. Why? Read on to see!When serving ice at a party or just for drinks before dinner, put the ice in a colander. Rest the colander in a bowl or wide vase so that the water from the slowly melting ice will drip down, leaving only solid ice for your guests’ drinks.This is a smart tip! I hate going in for a scoop of ice for my drink and finding half of it water. Watery drinks, no thanks!

Potluck parties are one of the least stressful and most budget-friendly ways to throw a dinner party. But as with most communal efforts, they work best when everyone works together, so you don’t end up with 10 bottles of wine and not enough food. What are the rules you wish everyone followed when it comes to potlucks? The inspiration for the this post was a recent LA Weekly article on 10 Potluck Etiquette Rules.

Fruit flies are the scourge of the summer kitchen. With plenty of ripe fruit sitting out on the counters, my kitchen has been attracting these little flies for the past couple weeks, so I decided to search this site for a solution. A trick recommended again and again by readers in the comments ended up being the quickest, easiest way to rid my kitchen of these pesky flies.

I came home from a recent trip to a very unpleasant surprise: my stainless steel prep table was peppered with tiny blooms of rust.I was baffled how this could happen. Stainless steel will pick up some scratches and stains, but it should be protected from rusting by a layer of chromium oxide (one of the characteristics of stainless steel and why we use it so much in the kitchen).I was just starting to despair when I realized the reason for the rusting and found its solution.

With all their crevices and small parts, pasta makers can be a pain to clean. Aki and Alex from Ideas in Food shared a simple tip for keeping the dies from your pasta maker clean, using just a bit of water and some free counter space.They keep their pasta maker dies clean by simply soaking them in water after each use, until the next time they make fresh pasta.

Last week Ohdeedoh featured a bathroom cabinet with a pull-out step — a great use of normally discarded space. These slide-out drawers for your kitchen are no different. If you put drawers under your cabinets, you can find great extra storage, even if you rent!Our friends at Charles and Hudson shared this great project over at The Family Handyman. It’s an improvement that is nearly invisible and in a kitchen where space is short (aren’t they all?), it’s a great addition!

Where do you store your cookbooks? Do they live in the kitchen, or somewhere else in the house? Cheryl Sternman Rule at 5 Second Rule has a unique way of storing and displaying a rotating selection of her cookbooks. She puts them up, face-out, on shelves right in the kitchen! Cheryl shows off her wall o’ cookbooks in a post on recipe organization and searching. She puts up the books she’s currently cooking out of (see all those sticky notes and tabs in the pages?

It sounds completely counterintuitive that a razor-sharp knife would actually cause fewer injuries in the kitchen, doesn’t it? An interview with a butcher in a recent Gourmet Live article reveals how this is so.Stanley Lobel of Lobel’s butcher shop in New York explains that a sharp knife means you have to make fewer cuts. A dull knife makes you work harder; several cuts are required where one or two would do.

Party food is meant to be fun and a direct reflection of the ambiance and atmosphere you’re trying to create with the party. If you’re looking to throw a fun, down to earth yet delicious party — maybe you should seriously consider serving food on a stick. Yes, you read that right — on a stick!

My home in central Ohio has a small front yard with a wild tangle of shrubs, plants, and trees. My favorite tree is quite small, with a sculptural braid of thin trunks and a canopy slung low, just about eye-height. It is right next to the front walk, and in spring it is covered with white flowers, followed by red berries in June. I always assumed the berries were ornamental — only for the birds, if anyone — but last spring my landlady surprised me. “Juneberries!

This week I’m ensconced at a conference in scorching Austin, Texas. It also happens to be when many CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) farms in my area are kicking off their season. So in lieu of writing something of my own, I asked Kate McDonough, author of The City Cook, a recent book on cooking at home in the city, to share some of her tips on cooking from a CSA box.What’s a CSA?

Nealey, our Southern recipe columnist, just threw a huge crawfish boil for her boyfriend’s birthday. It reminded me of my own favorite annual gathering, which also involves eating pounds and pounds of crawfish, on newspaper instead of plates, elbow-to-elbow with friends and strangers. It isn’t easy or cheap to pull off, but if you can manage it, crawfish boils are the ultimate outdoor bash. Here are five tips from my friends’ Annual Crawfish Boil.

The idea of entertaining can seem complicated, intimidating, even stuffy.

All you need are the crayons. This is a cheap and rustic way to dress up your table—just lay out some butcher or craft paper, and write your guests’ names as place cards. You could also write the night’s menu or identify dishes on the table, if it’s a buffet. See an example of that, below. It’s a look you see at so many great neighborhood bistros, for good reason.

Hosting a dinner party is a big effort. Depending on your style you may have to clean up the house, shop for and make a meal, set the table, arrange flowers, restock the bar, make a music mix, arrange for childcare or kid-friendly alternatives, get yourself dressed and presentable, light the candles, and arrange the hors d’oeuvres. Phew! All this is good to do but as a host your most important task is to make your guests feel welcome and comfortable.

These glasses were without a doubt one of the best finds ever. A set of eight of them were unearthed from the dusty recesses of a high cupboard in a former apartment. With no way to track them back to the original owners, they have graced our table ever since and proven surprisingly versatile.I’m fairly certain that these were originally cocktail glasses of the 3-Martini-LunchThese glasses are also a nice shape for serving scoops of sorbet or little pot de crèmes.

It always seems like spring is the busiest time for our friends and family. There are soccer games to attend, gardening to accomplish, trips, tours, graduations — all sorts of things are going on and entertaining time can be sparse. Instead of insisting that everyone come for dinner, why not try getting things done early and host a weekend breakfast bash instead?

Prettier than plain cloth napkins, these ombre dyed napkins add a lot of style to the table and are a snap to make.Emily of the blog Once Wed bought thrift store linen napkins and dipped them in small bowls of water mixed with a tiny bit of fabric dye. She started with a small amount of dye, dipped the napkins halfway in, then added a little more dye to the water to darken it, and repeated the process. The results are delicate, colorful and completely unique.

Q: I recently baked a coffee cake that has a blueberry puree layer in the middle. I used a springform pan and unfortunately, due to either myself or the pan, some of the blueberry dripped on the bottom of the oven. It then hardened into a burnt crispy blob and no matter how hard I try, I cannot get it to come off! I was able to scrape a decent amount off, but only the top layer.Any suggestions on how to clean something like this?

Hand washing dishes might sound archaic to those that can’t imagine living without their dishwasher, but for others, it’s just a way of life. There’s all sorts of different schools of thought on how to complete the task, but no matter if you fill the sink or what temperature water you use, what makes the biggest difference is your soap, or rather how much you use!Talking about hand washing dishes is a tricky topic.

Looking for the perfect way to organize all the recipes you find as you wander around the web? This new Recipe Box app might just be the answer to your prayers.I admit that I was pretty skeptical of this app at first. Between Google Reader and EvernoteIt took me all of five minutes for The Recipe Box to convince me of its charms. The app opens to a standard Home screen, like you see in the screenshot at the very top of this post.

Over the years we’ve heard some really great advice when it comes to cleaning the most baked on, never coming off, impossible to remove food stuffs. It doesn’t matter if you cook with non-stick, all clad or cast iron, it’s time to learn how to keep them looking their best with these simple tips! Posts Pictured Above Are Bolded Below • How To Clean a Cast Iron Skillet • How Do I Clean the Stains Off My Le Creuset Dutch Oven? • So Shiny!

Q: In an attempt to declutter the kitchen I have removed the various photos and notes that accumulate on the refrigerator over time. Our fridge is black and the solid dark surface seems a little much, but I don’t want to go back to the clutter.Does anyone know of a company that sells large decorative magnets? Not necessarily something that will cover the entire surface — I’m thinking some sort of large swirl or flower design? A refrigerator accessory, if you will.

Q: Each member of the law journal I am on is charged with bringing breakfast and lunch for the entire staff once a quarter – a responsibility un-affectionately and euphemistically referred to as “snack.”I would like to make something delicious, unique (i.e. something that people aren’t tired of eating yet) and vegetarian, but won’t require a Herculean effort or huge budget to pull together.

No matter what disasters might have happened in the kitchen, presenting dishes on basic white platters like these are the coup de resistance for a perfect meal. From roast turkey to roast vegetables, all foods look good on white. Even better, these platters do the job without breaking the bank.• Cuatro Serving Platters, $1.95 – $14.95 from CB2 – These simple rectangular trays would transition smoothly from cocktail hour to dinner table.• 365+ Serving Plate, $12.

Next time your apple pie drips into your oven and fills the house with a less than lovely burning fragrance (hey, it happens!), try this simple kitchen trick to keep your place smelling inviting and warm.Yes, cinnamon! When an apartment in my building caught fire a few years ago the damage to my own place was minimal, except for a smell that lingered for months.

Growing up, we had these lightweight woven trays that we used at family gatherings when there wasn’t enough room for everyone at the table (a big stack of them sat on top of the refrigerator). With Thanksgiving approaching, we went looking for them. Turns out, they’re hard to find! But we found something similar, plus a few more good options.Some of these are more expensive than others; ideally, if you’re handing them out to a big group, you want something inexpensive.

In the course of time in my kitchen, a few of my stainless steel pots and pans have picked up some baked-on spots and patches of discoloration. It’s normal, but not very pretty and it can gradually worsen over time. One pot in particular was becoming fairly stained, and a friend suggested I try a product called Bar Keepers Friend.I found a little gold can of Bar Keepers Friend in the cleaning supply section of my grocery store.

Our sink sat lifeless, waiting for plumbing and a good cleaning! A few months back, my husband and I moved into a building without plumbing. Since then I’ve learned that sometimes even the simple things like doing dishes — aren’t so simple. As it turns out, my new favorite place to clean my dishware, isn’t the sink and can actually double as a chair. Care to take a guess as to what it is?A contractors bucket!

Q: I had amazing French onion soup the other night, and I am excited to add it to my winter soup rotation, but need to find a couple of oven-safe bowls for the critical cheese-melting step.I found the Le Creuset ones, but I would prefer not to spend $20 for each bowl. Nothing else that I’ve seen that is oven-safe has a handle, which seems like it would be super convenient. Any suggestions?

Rue Montorgueil is near the center of Paris, in the 2nd arrondissement, and just a few blocks away from Les Halles — the former wholesale food market for all of Paris. Les Halles’ commercial market was moved to the suburbs many years ago, but food shops like those lining rue Montorgueil have replaced it for the local cooks. And what great shops they are!I had coffee here with David Lebovitz and then returned the next day for a market walk with Paule Caillat.

Remodeling your kitchen? Like Martha Stewart’s style? If you are looking for the clean, contemporary cottage and farmhouse style often seen in Martha’s magazines, then you might want to check out her new line of cabinets at Home Depot.Many of the 11 special-order cabinet styles are based on (or at least named after) Martha’s own homes. There are 32 styles of hardware to accompany the various cabinet styles, and complementing styles of Corian countertop and wall paint too.

Unless you have a separate room in your house designated as the office, the kitchen can be a good place for one. We’re increasingly bringing our computers and iPads into the kitchen anyway. And several of these work stations could easily convert to extra counter space if you’re having a party or need to roll out some sugar cookies.We love the look of a built-in office with plenty of storage and overhead cabinets.

Some people have open racking, some people love their cabinets. Others are fortunate to have a walk in pantry, but they always seem to easy to clutter up. This transformation takes an average pantry from bogged down to beautiful in just a few seconds and can be implemented into your own kitchen, no matter what type of storage space you have!Now using lazy susans are one of those issues that people are on the fence about.

I chatted with Ina Garten last week, in an interview about her upcoming book. And of course, since Cocktail Week was impending, I had to ask her about her favorite cocktail! Here’s what she said, along with some tips for throwing parties when cocktails are involved.Garten’s favorite cocktail to serve at home, she said, is the old-fashioned whiskey sour. She loves the old-fashioned taste, and the fact that it can look so great when served in a martini glass.

Q: I live in a cozy 400SF studio apartment, including a tiny open kitchen. I love it — except for one small issue: after I cook a more fragrant dish (salmon, bacon) the scent hangs in the air despite my best efforts of homemade natural air sprays, fans, and open windows. Any ideas for how I can enjoy cooking in my mini kitchen but keep the air fresh?Sent by BHSEditor: BHS, here are a few past posts where we’ve dealt with this same issue:• Try This!

Fruit flies got you down? Yes, they breed like crazy this time of year, coming home with your precious fruits and vegetables. But you don’t need to suffer their annoyances; make a cheap trap that will end their reign in your kitchen forever. The equipment list here is simple: Mason jar, hammer and nail, cheap beer. Drown those suckers before they ever get going. It’s all natural, non-toxic, and all it’ll cost you is a little beer.

Q: I have a convection toaster oven that I use on a daily basis, including when I make bacon. While the bacon is delicious, the bacon splatter left inside the oven is less than desirable.I was wondering if there was some secret efficient way in cleaning off the baked-on grease.Sent by SydneyEditor: Well, we swear by really, really hot water and a little dish soap. But there may be better ways! Readers, any good tips for getting grease out of the toaster oven?Next question?

Q: I know you’re supposed to store tomatoes on the counter to prevent them from developing a mealy texture.But what about tomatoes you’ve already cut into? Sometimes I just want a couple slices for a sandwich, and it seems like the fridge is the best place for the leftover tomato — is it?Sent by ClaireEditor: Claire, we often wonder this same thing!

Q: I have a problem with storing the blades for my Cuisinart DLC. The shredding and slicing blades come with the fixed rods that are difficult to store safely. Right now, I have been keeping them in the Styrofoam block they came in, but that is not very space-efficient.Do you or the readers know of any other cases or easy DIY fixes? Thanks in advance!

Q: The guy who lives in the basement of my house loves onions and curry. He cooks with them daily and stinks up the entire house. I’m sure we’ve all dealt with stanky smells from neighbours or our own kitchens.Do you have any tips for getting rid of the onion smell? When I leave my house I smell like a diner, which is uncool.Sent by JodyEditor: Jody, here are a few past posts on fighting lingering odors in the kitchen.

Q: Since it’s started getting warm out, the drain in my kitchen sink has started to smell. Several sites (including this one) have tips on making the grossness go away, but they all seem to hinge on whirring things around in the disposal, which I don’t have.Any tips on de-stinking a kitchen sink drain when there’s no disposal?Sent by AimeeEditor: One tip that we found in this thread on getting rid of kitchen odors is: Sprinkle in baking soda, then pour in lemon juice.

I have a problem (another one!) with the thermal carafe I use every morning for my coffee. In an admirable effort to clean out the bitter, acrid taste of old coffee that tends to build up over time, my husband washed it last week with Mrs. Meyer’s dish soap. The problem? We cannot get the smell of the soap out of the carafe, and now it seeps into our coffee too! I am tired of drinking Mrs. Meyer’s-flavored coffee — can anyone help? We have tried all of the obvious solutions.

When it comes to washing produce, plain old water just isn’t good enough. At least that’s according to the makers of commercial fruit and vegetable sprays. Is this a ploy to get us to buy pricey, non-essential cleaning products? Or is there some truth to it? Do you use a fruit and vegetable wash?Produce washes are purported to help remove pesticides, wax, dirt, and other residues.

This just looks like normal, albeit small, kitchen island, right? Wrong. Read on to see how this kitchen worktop can fit in even the smallest kitchen.We don’t have a kitchen island, but we wish we did. We like to be at least partially surrounded by workspace, and even a small island is helpful. It’s especially nice during the holidays or parties, when an extra workstation makes multiple dishes (and extra hands) easier to manage.

Who cooks here? Travis and JessLocation: Washington, D.C.Owned or rented? OwnedKitchen size: 70 square feet What challenge have you overcome in your kitchen? Houseboat life has no shortage of challenges — have you ever tried to sauté something at sea? — but fortunately these are greatly outweighed by the rewards! The boat is from 1986 and the décor hadn’t been updated at all since then, and cabinet and counter space is minimal.

Who cooks here? Nik and JohnLocation: San Francisco, CAOwned or rented? RentedKitchen size: 60 square feet What challenge have you overcome in your kitchen? We added counter space by adding a stainless steel shelving unit for our microwave and toaster oven which also cleverly hides the gas line to the oven. We also put in some shelving units for plates and pots.

When pouring a glass of wine how much do you pour? How full do you expect the glass to be when buying a glass of wine a in a restaurant or wine bar?I have asked various sommelier friends about this. In the US, the measure poured for a glass of wine is not regulated. Hence, restaurants and bars are pretty free to take it upon themselves to decide what constitutes a single wine glass serving.While some bars and restaurants do indicate the serving sizes on the drinks menu, many do not.

Q: How do you keep your cookie cutters from rusting? I have lots of little shapes which I use for cutting out ham/cheese/bread for decorating bentos. 90% of the time I wash them immediately, but sometime it’s late/I’m tired/they’re too darn small! and I miss them and they sit in water for too long and rust.Is there a quick and easy (no scrubbing) way to move the old rust? What is your cookie cutter maintenance scheme?