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Foodies Describe Your Dream Kitchen
Posted by Theresa111 • 7/17/11
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Most of the cooks I know, even chefs and professionals, do not have the kitchen of their dreams. In fact, most people do not have adequate turn-around room or even a decent pantry. We make do with what we have. Most cooking stations are not set up the way that would work best and give us fluidity of motion.
If money were not a factor what would you design? How would you blueprint your cooking area? Describe what your kitchen would look like, from top to bottom. I really want to hear what you have to say on this subject.
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Living History Days is somewhere I want you to go and tell us one of those hazy days of summer stories on that thread. I'd love to hear about them and the food. Grate fireplace (pun intended).
I can see the benefits to the combination of these two spaces. Is there anything in the photos you might consider leaving out?
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My dream kitchen is only as big as my wallet. I’ve built kitchens with freestanding grottos containing an 8 burner Garland range with a salamander (My dream range). For those who are unfamiliar with a “salamander,” some call it a pizza oven. They’re two entirely different things. I’ve built islands with built-in pastry slabs. These chill down to 42 deg.... and can hold it. And the list goes on and on. Trust me, these things look nice, especially when someone else is paying for them; however, they are fraught with problems.
I built this kitchen in Summerville, SC, in 2009. I re-did everything, walls, floors, cabinets, countertops, electrical, lighting, plumbing and AC. The only thing that I didn’t do myself was the countertops. I had a contractor do that. Everything else was done by the one man wrecking ball… me.
farm7.static.flickr.com/6145/5954614903_fa020726ef.jpg
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And then…. my wife, a mental heath professional, took a job at Ft. Jackson, just outside of Columbia, SC. Off we go again. We’ve moved 7 times in 9 years. Hopefully this is the last move. “Hello… God? It’s your favorite ‘Shanty Irishman’ here.... are we there yet?”
When the real estate agents came in for open house, some of the ladies were complaining about the “Vinyl” flooring: “Oh, it needs to be updated.” After listening to this for over an hour I gave it to them with both barrels and gave them a lesson on flooring. My cost, almost any “off the shelf” ceramic tile floor, under $1.00 per square foot. That’s all inclusive, underlayment, bond sheet, tile, mastic and grout. Tile floors are hard on the feet. I don’t like them in kitchens.
What I put on this floor is called “Naturelle.” It’s a luxary composition tile that’s almost as thick as ceramic tile. My cost was $3.54 per square foot; plus the mastic, at $58.00 a gallon (x3). Cheap vinyl tile? I don’t think so!
Oh yeah, and you should see what I did in the bathroom… complete with a 2 person Jacuzzi and enclosed lavatory.
Now we have a new home in Lugoff and I have a new project. The new house is only 1800 sq. ft., but comes with a 1500 sq. ft. insulated steel building, AKA:“Man Cave.” That’s been one of my biggest dreams. I want to build a shop that'll make Norm Abrams weep. Once that’s set up, God willing, I’m contemplating rebuilding everything in the kitchen from scratch, even the cabinetry itself.
God willing, on to the next adventure. God bless.
PS: The html links my or may not work. Clicking on them should reveal the photo.-
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Here you go Christopher51
!!!
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This is very lovely. I really like the cabinets with windows and you have extra space for rolling out dough. Great job!
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Very nice. The only thing I think I would want is a dedicated space for my mixer(s), food processor, etc. My mixer lives on my counter (obviously because of what I do most of the time) but it's such a pain to keep carting out other appliances I use frequently and rearranging things on counters so I have room to use them... then hauling them back into storage in the pantry or another closet. -
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Theresa, Thank you, thank you, thank you. Just for that, I'm going to publish my greens recipe. :-D
You need to give me a refresher course on that stuff. I’m embarrassed. I’d spent over 30 years in computer and electronics engineering. I had a consulting firm, repair facility and was the technical director of one of the largest school systems on Long Island for almost 15 years. I wrote html better than most of our HS students could read and write English. The day I retired, 09/07/01, it was like God punched, Control, Alt, Delete… end program… wipe and reinitialize the hard drive…. clean install.
Oh yeah, the construction thing? I had a contractors license on Long Island, for almost 25 years. It kept my sanity. The computer and electronics thing gave me the greatest paycheck. Repairing and renovating peoples homes gave me the greatest satisfaction and blessings. :-) -
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Buck: I was contemplating an appliance garage in the far corner, but they can be more trouble then they’re worth. I have an old 2-3 qt. mid 70’s Kitchen Aid. It’s real heavy. It and my big food processor are usually on the counter until the wife complains about the clutter. Then it goes away. How I solved that problem is in the cabinet on the far side of the fridge. It’s a full size pantry and appliance garage. I installed commercial slide racks and constructed shelving units that will hold about 100 lbs. each. I built them so that they slide out the full depth of the cabinet. The shelf with the heavy stuff on it is 36 inches off the floor. This is the same height as standard countertops so there’s no bending required. Just lift it off the shelf and over to the countertop or island, where I do most of my work. That hanging rack over the island has 2 halogen spotlights in it. It’s great. To the right of the stove I made a pull-out upright rack for all of my big cutting boards and the marble pastry slab. That works!
Much of this stuff is commercially available. Just about any cabinet can be retrofitted by the right professional. Now, aren’t you sorry you didn’t stay in Newberry? I’m just down the road a-piece in Lugoff. :-D -
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Greens recipe! They look absolutely wonderful, too, so I am very pleased you will be adding this recipe. the html stuff is sort of crazy stuff to me, but it is not pretty user friendly, in that the picture places like flickr, let you click and they have already sized it up. Copy and paste is all that is required.
In culinary school we had metal shelves where the mixers, sheet pans, pots and pans and bowls were stored. I love the idea of a garage appliance area with strong sliding shelves.
I need a new mixer and to repair the 19 year old one I have, then I will be better equipped to make buttercream icings and brioche and savarin.
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That one's easy. My dream kitchen would have every modern convenience in existence, and it would also be home to my very own personal chef, who would cook whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted it. Maybe Jewels? -
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I think Jewels teaches you how to be your own personal chef, by using her cook ahead meal system. then you need not be in the kitchen everyday.
I put Ina Garten in my kitchen.
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I would love a kitchen with an island in the middle for placing things down.-
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And rolling them out, too.
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Sleek, white, no nonsense and no clutter whatsoever.-
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The opposite of what I have right now (galley style) and yours sounds lovely.
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I do have to admit I like that cooking fireplace in Paula's kitchen. I've never seen her use it, but I have some recipes from my living history days I could put to use in it.