I’m on a spree, a tin-sign-hanging spree. I’ve decided to fill my kitchen walls with tin signs, usually referring to cooking, cleaning or wifely duties in general. This one just came in the mail yesterday. I love it!!!

HAHA!!!

I also got this one. We don’t drink Coca-Cola (or any soda, actually, except ginger ale when we’re sick), but I like the Victorian flair and the color. The color perfectly matches my red dining room. I’ve hung this on the wall in the kitchen that leads into the dining room, for a nice transition.

My favorite is this one:

I have tons more but I didn’t feel like taking photos. :-p But believe me, they are all very funny, even the rv repair one. HAHA!

Do you decorate your kitchen? What style do you like best? I guess mine could be considered “eclectic retro.” LOL

It’s more of an “everything” station. I created it as an area to keep the phone (tucked away in the cabinet, and controlled by the computer). We have MagicJack phone service, so I need a computer nearby. And then I got the idea of using the computer also as a tool to look up recipes online, or watch weather video forecasts. Pretty neat!

I LOVE my kitchen. This beat-up old house is starting to look a lot better. It won’t ever be as beautiful like those luxurious Outer Banks foreclosures or anything, but it’s livable. And it’s mine.

And look! We even got to sit out in the DINING ROOM to eat it! Hurray, no more eating in the garage with the bats, mice, hornets, and flies! Yay!

We usually only serve water to drink with meals, but this being such a special occasion and all, we got Vitamin Water for the kids.

They seem convinced that it makes them stronger and healthier. I don’t know… does it? Will guzzling this stuff suddenly make you win sports trophies?? Me, I still like water with my dinner.

So we are BACK into the house, cooking, cleaning an eating. Ahhhhh… life is good.

Is there really a market for aprons? I had no idea that anyone really wore them anymore.

In the 40s, 50s and 60s, you’d always see women on some TV show or in some magazine ad, wearing such pretty women’s dresses, and frilly aprons over them. I don’t know when this all changed– women’s “lib” perhaps?– but you never see women wearing aprons anymore.

Photo courtesy of The Retro Kitchen.

I got one for a wedding present, some 20 years ago, and never really wore it. My daughter discovered it, and she wears it. She seems to like them. I guess they are OK. I should wear one, I’m such a messy cook. But I never think of it.

What do you think? Do you wear an apron when you cook?

Like it? I love it!

I sometimes get a nagging thought about it, as if the space could be better used for something else besides holding plastic bottles that could stand on their own. But I REALLY like the spices in the drawer, it’s so convenient. And it’s SO luxurious, having just enough space to be able to tuck spices in a DRAWER of all things! If it was msm lotion, that’d be another matter… these are spices I use regularly while cooking.

I do like it, wasteful of space or no.

Where do you keep your spices?

Sorry the photos didn’t turn out so great. I haven’t had any time to read through the manual for the camera, can you believe it? I even got a DVD tutorial for it, and haven’t had a moment to watch it. It’s been SO BUSY. I’ve never been so busy in my entire life, not even when I had 3 kids under the age of 3. Egads.

Anyway, here’s another shot of the island. Boy, I love this thing.

The island itself is not the greatest of quality. Made in China. Sub-par materials, way way WAY below-par instructions. But it’s an island, and it’s MINE. The butcher block is treated with Waterlox, and should last us a long, long time. Over it, the girls and I can sip our coffee, chop veggies, giggle over the Top ten weight loss pills, talk about our latest projects, oh yeah– and cook, too.

I really love how everything is finally coming into place. I have dreamed about a new kitchen for over 13 years.. and before then, when we lived in apartments, how I wanted a REAL kitchen. Hurray!

I think we forgot how to cook, though. We’re still heating up hotdogs in the microwave, and eating raw veggies and sliced cheese with crackers. :-p My daughter made some hamburgers on the stove top the other day, and I boiled pasta for the FIRST time in four months (!!), but we haven’t used the range at all. Today, we’re going to try making a bunch of apple pies. We’re slowly getting used to working in the kitchen!

The weather is beginning to turn cooler again. I usually begin my “cooking” time by late September, when the leaves begin to turn and the air is crispy, and neighbors break out their redfeather snowshoes in anticipation of Upstate NY snowstorms, lol. I’m really, really looking forward to roast turkey, and stuffing! YUM. And apple pies, and banana bread, YUM. And fresh Flax Seed Bread and beef stew, YUM YUM!

Do you find that your cooking habits change with the seasons? Do you bake more often during the colder months?

I also have had visions of roasting turkey… mmmm…. I actually spotted some wild turkeys along the side of the highway today, while driving to Home Depot (again). I have to admit, I started to drool. Wow, roasted turkey… ooohhhhhh I can smell it now… I hope those turkeys got some good policies from their www.wholesaleinsurance.net/, cuz their days are numbered!

Only a few short months ago, this is what my countertop looked like!

I want to bake pies again. I bought a TON of pie crusts at the grocery store, in anticipation. Right now, I do not have time to bake, but I will soon. Boy, that turkey and those pies make me drool.

Did you ever have to go without a stove for an extended time? What did you dream of baking when you finally were able to cook again?

We haven’t been able to boil water on the stove in FOUR months. Today was the day, baby! It was like getting new toys, I tell you what!

In case you have no idea what I am babbling about– we have gutted our kitchen and dining room, and are slowly restoring it. It’s been nearly four months since the plaster and lathe was torn out. It’s been a loooooong four months. Yow.

Well, we got the stove hooked up today. It was quite the adventure. In an old house, nothing is level, nothing is predictable. We had to drill a hole up from the basement to snake the electric cable to the service plug. Yeah, rrrright, JUST drill a simple hole, right? I’ll spare you the painful details, but we finally got it after trial #3.

So the son boiled water and boiled some edamame for us tonight. It was SO good. I stuffed myself with them.

Thank God, things are starting to come together.

New York State is experiencing one of the worst heatwaves in a long time. This is Day 4 of 90+ degree temperatures, with today forecast to be the hottest of all. No real relief until Saturday, and then the heat is back for Monday.

WE’RE THE FROZEN CHOSEN! We don’t want any heatwaves!!! I don’t, anyway. I have been sweating so much that I look like a prune. I am going to need some of the best eye wrinkle cream to fix this…

Anyway, I’m obviously not doing a lot of cooking. Besides having no kitchen and dining room, the heat makes it impossible to do anything. Our temporary kitchen is in our attached garage, where it is blistering hot. So we may pop in there briefly to grab some coffee or ice cubes, but we’re not staying in for any length of time. I wish I had recipes to share. I can’t even *think* about food right now. Except a Coolata. Now that’s what I would like, a Coolata! (I recently discovered them at Dunkin Donuts. Mmmm the Vanilla Bean is SOOO good).