For some reason or other I always have a hard time sitting still in the fall. I jump from project to project and leave half-finished tasks all over the house. Well, this year I don’t have that luxury. As per usual I am hosting the “Island of Lost Toys” Thanksgiving and immediately following that event will begin the teardown and renovation of our kitchen.
I can only imagine the horrified look on your face right now. Tearing out the kitchen between T-giving and Xmas!? Are you crazy!? Yes and no. T-giving is a MUCH bigger holiday for us than Xmas. We entertain for T-giving, and we don’t for Xmas. I started looking into this project ages ago and worked on design, styles, etc. for months. This has been more than 2 years in the making since the original design work. I am READY. I have been ready for the change, but John and I couldn’t agree on styles, colors and how much to spend. When we moved into this house on Valentine’s Day in 2008, I told John the kitchen needed to be gutted and redone. It has taken almost 6 years for that to happen. I am striking while the iron is HOT!
To get ready for the big change, I will have to empty all of my cabinets…ALL of them and I have a LOT of cabinets and a LOT of stuff jammed into them. I will also have to empty the pantry which is just a glorified overstuffed closet (Moment of Truth – my pantry is like that TV sitcom closet that everything falls out of when you open the door). To prep for that, I am organizing EVERYTHING in the cupboards and drawers. Cleaning out the junk, tossing things hither and yon and generally acting like it is spring with all the cleaning and organizing. I don’t do this in the spring, I am too excited to get out doors. With the colder weather and the work life changes that I am going thru, this is the PERFECT time to attack the big nasty jobs. I probably should have taken a BEFORE picture so you could really appreciate the AFTER, but here are my spice cabinet (well, most of it) and salt collection with all the lovely labeled jars thanks to Ikea and a Brother Label Maker.
This is kind of what the cabinets will look like when completed. 
I have decided that if I can have this done before my birthday in January, I can forgo setting up a tree, but that doesn’t mean there will be no gifts! Oh, there will be, but I am sorry to tell all of you there will be NO cookies this year if I get my way. If the kitchen is ripped up, how will I bake? If PART of it is done I will make everyone’s 2 fave cookies and that’s it. No fancy cookie platters (especially after last year).
As I get ready for the winter, I felt myself yearning to do the canning thing again – so I did – I love that “plink” sound when the lids seal!
And I find myself “nesting”; creating a more comfy space for me to live and work in, and I keep bouncing from task to task, project to project. There are three going on right now, none of them near completion. The Hubby is a real sport about it too. What’s the next project? Turning my “office” into a sewing room. There is absolutely no point in me leaving that space as an office when I am changing jobs and find myself working at the kitchen table more often than not. Perhaps a shared space for a while? But of course that means divesting myself of even MORE stuff. Maybe a little Pre Xmas sale of all the cool kitchen gadgets that are sitting up in my office? Or maybe I can just give them away as gifts…
On a more somber note – Chef Charlie Trotter of Chicago died today. A James Beard Award winner and mentor and inspiration to countless chefs and cooks across the country. RIP Chef.
