On Kitchens and Routines...

Kitchen, kitchen, kitchen. It seems to have taken over my existence and my mental space and my conversations. Kitchen is my theme lately for better or worse and my attention has been drawn to some fun and helpful articles and posts about life in our kitchens be they new or old, large or small, cozy or modern.

I thought I'd share what I've been reading with you in hopes that you might also benefit as I plan to.

• My online cooking school is theKitchn.com where no topic goes uncovered and questions I'd never think of asking get answers. Just in time for me to make new habits in a new space, the posts below are proving very useful...
• 5 Things to Do in the Kitchen Before You Go To Bed So simple, so good. #4 is my favorite.
• 5 Things to Do in the Kitchen First Thing in the Morning This is a natural companion to the post above.
• 14 Absolutely Free Ways to Improve Your Cooking I never do #3, #10 has saved my bacon many times, I am learning the value of the second, and while the first is a no-brainer, I'm often guilty of skipping it which is always a mistake.

• Mark Bittman, one of my favorite food writers and cookbook authors, shares a cooking strategy that makes complete sense in the New York Times article "When Cooking, Invest Time. Or Work. Not Both." Read about his theory of the everyday cooking work-time continuum.

• Sam Sifton, writing in the New York Times encourages us in a very relaxed Home Cooking Manifesto to "Just cook." He warns, as do others, that "cooking can be stressful" but that it pays large dividends. After coaching us on making the most lovely sounding chicken dinner he writes, "Cooking is patience. Cooking is trust." It's a medium length article that is worth your time.

• I want to add this to our family's dinner rotation just because it's fun to say...  Chicken Waterzooi

• THESE look wonderful! Three ingredients of loveliness I think.

• A food memoir that is on my To Be Read List because of its super reviews but more so because of it's super title and cover, A Boat, A Whale, and A Walrus by Renee Erickson.

• I'm in deep like with these flour sack dishtowels from Target. They are huge, easy to launder, inexpensive, and terribly cheerful. If only they made dishrags to match! This picture goes with #4 on the 5 Things to do in the Kitchen Before You Go to Bed post above.

• Finally, after all of the cooking and cleaning and prepping and shining and general kitchen-ing it's time to do this... Stop Cleaning Your Kitchen and Read a Book! Deep truth lives in these words.

"I walked around my house, looking at all the things that I should fix someday, and I imagined God noticing all the things about me that should get fixed up one day, and loving me anyway and being ok with the mess for the time being."

~Shauna Niequist