have a seat in my kitchen

I mentioned in my last post that I had done some room rearranging ~

the kitchen included. Would you like to see what I've done?

You might remember that the butler's table used to be in my living room

in front of the window, topped with a lot of plants. I'm loving it here in the

kitchen. It'll be perfect for when we have company...I can use it as the beverage

station and top it with glasses, an ice bucket, and an assortment of drinks.

Or, I could even use it to hold the cutlery, napkins, and plates.

What used to be in this place was a metal and wicker bookcase that

held all my cookbooks. That's been moved into my office/Phil's old room.

And where you see the white stool is where the painted black table was ~

that's now outside on my porch, used to hold potted flowers.

Here's where we eat all our meals. And where Brian and I play board games in

the evening. And where I make out my meal plans and grocery list. And sometimes

read a magazine or the Sunday newspaper. And where I visit with friends

or family members that come over. Isn't that usually how it goes...

that everyone gravitates to the kitchen? 

 I'm still looking for two more chairs for my kitchen table, but for now it's

perfect for just the two of us. Tim is rarely home for dinner as he's usually

working or at school. On my to-do list...painting these chairs! I also want to

eventually get a new rug (finances don't permit right now) and move this

sisal one downstairs.

This is the view of my kitchen as you walk into it from the living room.

On my wish list is tearing out the narrow upper cabinet above the sink

and the three to the right above the counter ~ and replacing that area with

open shelving. We also want to replace the old (original of the house!) range

hood with a microwave range hood. Again, finances stop us from getting these

things done. Please don't get me wrong; I'm not complaining! I am satisfied with

what I have and know I'm blessed to have a decent house and to be a

full-time homemaker right now. That is what I've chosen and I am happy

with my choice. I'm just pointing out what we eventually hope to have done 

in this room. Oh yeah, and we also want to have recessed lighting put in the

ceiling as this ceiling fan fixture is the only light source we have besides the light

over the stove and sink.

Of course, a kitchen wouldn't be complete without something delicious

being whipped up. Here's one of my latest creations - gazpacho! Talk about

perfection in a bowl on a hot summer day when it's too hot to cook. I've

made gazpacho in the past, but it was always pureed. After having the chunky

gazpacho at The Lucky Platter in Evanston, IL last week, I wanted to experiment

with making it like that. I started with a base of Trader Joe's low-sodium Garden

Patch juice and added a jar of my friend's canned garden-fresh tomatoes.

I then added a little bit of chopped onion, garlic, jalapeno, cucumber, and

cilantro and used an immersion blender to make this smooth base. I then added

chunks of all the above except for the jalapeno, but adding a little bit of diced

fennel, green pepper, and fresh cilantro. Oh. My. Goodness. And the longer it sits, 

the better it tastes. I just ate the last bowl for lunch today and am almost crying

 that it's all gone! Yes, it's a little time-consuming to chop up all these veggies, 

but sooo worth it. Another thing that's great about making something like this

is that you can vary the veggies that you put in. You can use red pepper instead

of green. You can use anaheim peppers instead of jalapeno. Basil instead of

cilantro. I think the main thing is to use the freshest tomatoes that you have

or can find. I was so glad to still have a jar of homemade canned tomatoes

since mine aren't ripe in my garden yet!

 Thanks for visiting ~ hope you have a happy weekend!

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