Where the Magic Happens....

I have been following S'kat's kitchen renovation over at Bistro 613, and it prompted me to think about my kitchen, the things I love about it and the things I would change. For someone who loves to cook there is no room more important than the kitchen. In fact, as far as I am concerned the kitchen is the heart of the home. I have only had two kitchens of my own. Our first home was an 1100 square foot duplex that was built in World War I as the first federal housing project for workers at the Newport News shipyard (Picture, right is actually my street). My kitchen was about 12x12 and at the time we bought the house it had the gas hot water heater in one corner and the furnace boiler in the other corner. I have seen closets that were bigger than this kitchen.

My kitchen was such a singular place, that when I was taking a nonfiction writing class and we were asked to write an essay about our favorite place, while my 18-year old classmates were writing about under their favorite tree or at the beach, I wrote about my kitchen with the hulking furnace, the floor that was pitched enough you had to be careful opening the oven door, and how, despite its ugliness, guests always congregated there. (I got an ovation when I had to read it aloud to the class!) Over the years, we were able to relocate the water heater, add additional cabinets and a dishwasher (after about 10 years of doing without). Now that we have made this house into a rental, it has had a new fridge added, new paint, a new range and new flooring. It looks better now than it ever did when we lived there!

When we moved to this house and decided to add on, we spent the most time making decisions about the kitchen. I wanted a ceramic tile floor (5 kids, 2 dogs!), an island, a gas range, Corian countertops. Since we were adding a large two-story addition, we had to make compromises in order to fit in the budget and so I got a Dacor dual-fuel gas range (which I love), great tile floors, and a Bosch dishwasher. There was neither room nor money for an island, so I gave that up. We selected white cabinets (easy to change color scheme, easy to clean), and had to resort to Formica counters (damn the budget!) But when complete, this kitchen was easy care, bright, and guess what? It still is the heartbeat of our home.

What do I love- the floor (so easy to care for), the range (Dacor has the best customer service ever!), my pantry (I love having a place to stockpile all the staples for our meals), our extra freezer (we have an upright where we store meats and other frozen goods that we buy in bulk or on special)

What would I change- the countertops (Solid surface looks so much more upscale, and is more durable), range hood (mine is way too noisy when it is on high)

What do you love about your kitchen? Are there things you wish you had? What would your dream kitchen look like? I'd love to hear from other foodies (and love even more to see your pictures!)

Note: if you want to see some awesome kitchen ideas, check out

HGTV top ten kitchens (where my fantasy kitchen came from!)

Above, my real kitchen; Right below, my fantasy kitchen (the difference? About $350K!)