My kitchen

I've been having some unfortunate issues with my apartment these days, and before my landlady comes over tomorrow to inspect the damage, I wanted to make very clear to her that I'm not a slob and that the damage in my place is not a result of my lack of cleanliness. I keep my kitchen immaculate and my bathroom as clean as I can keep up with. Today is Sunday. It's nice out, I have loads of data analysis to do, and I'm sore to the degree of not being able to crouch or sit or even walk properly. And so of course what am I doing all day? Scrubbing the shit out of every inch of my apartment.

I wanted to give you guys a sense of what I'm working in terms of my kitchen. The idea that you need a huge kitchen to accomplish anything remotely resembling food is absurd. Take Ilan Hall, Top Chef season 2 winner and my future husband, for example. I was watching a clip online of how chef Hall lives and cooks out of his own kitchen, and I was stunned. He managed to make lobster and oysters in a wine reduction out of a space no bigger than a standard kitchen sink, and which also served as storage space for all of his dishes. I kid you not. Of course, I'm not living out of a closet in downtown NYC or paying $1200/month for said closet, but when it comes to kitchens I didn't score the tons-and-tons-of-space jackpot.


A view of my kitchen from the far end of my living room. Cube freezer (very handy) on the far left, my tiny stupid kitchen "table", all my cupboard space, stove, fridge.


The idea behind this blog is to discuss food for someone like myself who is a) strapped for cash, b) strapped for space and c) strapped for time, but who despite all this is in love with food and really enjoys playing with her food and cooking cool stuff.

This, my friends, is not the kitchen of boxed macaroni.

When I first moved into this place, I made a list of all the kitchen stuff I needed and over the past 11 months have accumulated quite a bit of stuff, given the space I have. Everything is tucked away behind cupboard doors, but if you were to peek inside you'd notice that everything is PILED on top of everything else and teetering dangerously. The counterspace I have is limited to the tiny area next to my microwave, the sliver of space next to the stove, and this wobbly white table that the previous tenants left behind. The spot next to the microwave is where most of the cooking happens. I am also equipped with apartment-sized appliances, namely a fridge and a stove. For graduation last year, my parents bought me a small deep freezer, which these days serves more as extra counter space, to be honest.

There are some kitchen tools I believe every young person should have and use regularly (aside from the obvious stove, utensils and plates, jackasses):

- automatic coffee maker
- microwave
- kettle
- cheese grater
- really sturdy pots, frying pans, and baking dishes
- pizza cutter
- cookie sheets
- toaster
- Magic Bullet, or any other type of small blender
- Slow cooker

But Julie, you just said you weren't the kind of gal who enjoyed processed microwavable foods, mac n cheese in a box or store-bought anything!? All of these things are in keeping with what you just said you're not into! What gives?

Here's how small investments like these can help you maximize space and cook from scratch even in the tiniest of kitchens.

- Coffee maker: Making your coffee at home costs pennies compared to stopping at Timmie's or Starbucks on your way to work every morning. Even making one cup in the morning saves you $1.50/day, or about $40/month. That's most of my cell phone bill right there. A tip: if you're into flavoured coffee but don't want to pay for it, make your own tasty variation by sprinkling cinnamon onto the grinds before you brew.
- Microwave: Thought only good for "cooking" boxed meals, obviously you can defrost, cook to the right temperature before dropping into the pan, melt butter, etc. Plus, every student needs a microwave, because inevitably you'll need to resort to pizza pops every so often.
- Kettle: Same thing as the coffee maker...nothing relaxes better after a long day than a hot cup of tea. Some recipes also call for boiling water, and this allows you to skip the stove.
- Cheese grater: There's no explanation here, other than I like cheese, and everyone knows it tastes better if you grate it :) Plus grating your own cheese is often cheaper than buying it pre-grated.
- Sturdy pans, etc.. : Can't cook without them. Simple as that.
- Pizza cutter: No, not for the one you bought frozen and reheated. Making your own pizza not only means you can customize it to your taste, but it's cheaper and healthier :) Can also be used to cut fresh pasta or for making your own tortilla chips
- Cookie sheets: Great for baking, obviously, but also make good surfaces to work on, to store things in the fridge on, and for some types of special baking.
- Toaster: For breakfast, for pre-crisping bread used for your own tuna melts and garlic bread, for quickly drying bread out if you need bread crumbs and don't have any in the pantry..
- Magic Bullet: Ok, ignoring the alternate appliance for a second..this thing is great an it does everything. Frozen drinks, pureeing, mixing, smoothies, frozen drinks, soups, chopping finely, ravioli filling, frozen drinks...
- Slow cooker: Whoever invented a machine that allows you to cook the night before, plug it in and come home to a hot meal after a long shitty day at work deserves a medal.


I realize this post is long and somewhat rambly, but I think about these things a lot. A good kitchen, no matter how small, can allow you to make whatever you want. And if you can't, you can always improvise something with what you have. What will always kill me, however, is the kitchen section in any home furnishing store, or better yet, specialty food and food appliance store. I went to Oderin last week to buy a sturdy dish rack, and spent half an hour walking around admiring ravioli presses, tiny Le Creuset ramekins and electric stand mixers worth more than a month's rent. One day, children. One day...