Even if you don’t know what you’re doing.

These ink woodblock aprons from DwellStudio do it for me. Simple patterns & colors. I especially like the black & white Ink Woodblock one (the first in the line above).

100% Linen, toxic free inks.  Available at Unica Home. [via the ever awesome KitchenVote]

What’s the cycle?

In a discussion with my business planner, we were kicking around what drives the kitchen industry. Typically, summer months are slow, & things pick up in late September.  It’s fairly steady until about mid June.

In summer, everyone’s enjoying the longer daylight hours, maybe traveling with the family.  When it cools off, we go into nest mode & spend more time inside.  That’s also more time noticing things that bug you about the kitchen.

Makes sense. My initial thought was, who wants to think about a kitchen remodel in the middle of the holiday season, or when it’s cold out? Turns out that lots of people do.

It certainly explains why we’re busy.

And the tl;dr* version:

*tl;dr = too long; didn’t read

The lights I like against the white.  I just can’t decide if I like the chairs with them. I’d also like to know where the rest of the light in that image is coming from.  That is all.

Thanksgiving

To be completely frank, I’ve never been all that big a fan of the holiday season.  If it weren’t for football, hikes in the woods with our dogs, and movies, it’d pass me by.

Nom nom nom

I generally refer to the period between Halloween & Valentine’s Day as “Fat Season,”  for obvious reasons.  Of all flavors, I really love the warmth & homeyness of cloves, cinnamon & ginger.  Especially in pumpkin pie, & butternut squash soup.  They even liven up a sweet potato nicely.

Spices are ancient: by some estimates, the use of spices is 50,000 years old.  Not that any in your kitchen are that old, when was the last time you replaced your spices?

Humidity + spices = flavor zapper

The basic rule of thumb for whether spices are still useful is how strong their smell is.  Spices don’t spoil – but they do lose their flavor.

Depending on whether they are whole, ground, or leafy, their shelf life varies, though all are best stored in an airtight container  in a cool dry place:

• Whole spices last about 4 years
• Ground spices keep their mojo for about 2 – 3 years.
• Leafy herbs like oregano and parsley hold out for about 1 – 3 years.

Ok, I *am* looking forward to the pumpkin pie.

I can’t decide how I feel about this kitchen.  Maybe that is how the designer felt while picking colors for it?

Still, I think I like it. The predominant white in the room eases the chaos of multiple colors.  And the colors themselves are nicely harmonic.  The wood floor brings in an unpolished element that contrasts well with the clean cabinet design itself.

I’m guessing there are appliances somewhere not shown in this image.

What do you think?

Sarcasm, Non-sequitors, Quick wit, My own dingbattyness

First, a few random laugh triggers:

• Quip from my spouse in traffic, behind a slow moving vehicle:  ”Gee, it’s a shame that car didn’t come with an accelerator.”
• In the grocery, I knocked a box of macaroni off an overstocked shelf.  At the other end of the aisle was the guy stocking the shelves.  He glanced my way when the box hit the floor, and I said, “Just wait’ll I get to the sugar aisle!”
• The stewardess-in-training’s line from Catch Me If You Can: “We’ll be flying at an altitude of 300 feet & a speed of 5,000 mph.”
• Heywood Banks’ song Toast

And finally, this short made me LOL. Literally.

Because I can’t write about kitchens ALL the time.