Space

Yes, Trekkies, the final frontier. But not here, not today. I’d like to talk about kitchen counter space. As iyou know, there is only so much of it. If I could have everything my little heart desired, my home would only be kitchen and I wouldn’t be able to find anything.

So, we need to know what we need, what we use most and how to best access it. Over the years, I’ve come up with my own strategy. Yes, I’m biased based on some level of expertise (cooking school) and years on this planet spent cooking for myself, my family and guests.

Shortly after I graduated college, my mother gave me a glass punch bowl and ladle. She had to entertain a lot for Dad’s position in the arts and got a new silver set for weekly artist/donor receptions. Every year I trotted it out for the staff party at work and lugged it home to wash. Decades later, I no longer have it, don’t even remember to whom I bequeathed it. Some things you just don’t need for your lifestyle.

Now, if I were eating an Asian diet that required a number of small meals per day based on fresh rice, I would definitely have an electric rice cooker. Ditto espresso, but I might have espresso several times a year and I’d opt for a small stovetop model than a huge coffee/espresso maker with frother.

The kitchen counter is prime real estate, a place in which nothing can be unneccesary or out of place. All I can advise young cooks starting out in their first apartment is to consider what you like to cook and what you need to cook it. Then buy quality products. Many of mine I’ve had for decades.

I was instructed to purchase for cooking school a good 3-4″ paring knife, a 10-12″ chef knife and a steel honer. That’s it. Oh, knife guards to protect them and a case so I didn’t look like a serial killer on the subway. I still have and use all those knives and have added one ceramic and one santoku chef, a boning knife, a fish boning knife, two mid-size utility knives (for living with only two knives overseas) and several inexpensive paring and picnic knives. I do not keep them in a block, the ones I use every day are on a 24″ magnetic strip near where I prep food on my many plastic cutting boards (that are standing in a narrow cupboard below the counter)

Appliances include a KitchenAid two-slice toaster; a KitchenAid coffee/spice mill with washable container; a KitchenAid 12 cup food processor (no longer made, and 21 years later the lid is beginning to break down); a 5 qt. KitchenAid mixer that’s 35 years old and running strong; a KitchAid blender with glass vessel; and a KitchenAid electric tea kettle (sorry, fell in love living in England and Scotland). That’s it.

Otherwise I have two crocks, one for metal spatulas and utensils, and one for wooden spoons and spoonulas. Also a heavy stand for a roll of paper towels. That’s it.

Cooking stores will sell you strawberry hullers, cherry pitters, mushroom brushes and tons of stuff you don’t need. A paring knife has so many uses, and so does a heavy chef for pitting olives or cherries. I go to a hardware store for pastry brushes. I even bought a $4 curry comb (to brush horses) at a farm store to scale fish. But that’s another story for another day.

I love my current kitchen. Although the sink doesn’t have a view (unless I tile it with an Italian scene), my prep area does and I’ve plenty of storage for food, pots and pans, china and glassware, slow cooker et al. If you’re just starting out, consider what you really need and let your kitchen grow to be your very own. If you have too much stuff, use this as a guide to pare down. The kids can use some stuff, can’t they? Cheers and keep on cooking! Dee