Cleaning up my Act

I hate to clean. I'll admit it. There are so many things I would rather do: be outside in the garden, sitting on the deck reading a magazine, shopping, napping, surfing Facebook. It was one of the genes from my Mom that I didn't inherit. Our house was always clean, neat and tidy growing up. It was really small so I guess it had to be so four of us could fit in it, but she would spend weekend with the stereo up loud and an E & J brandy and water in her glass, washing floors, doorframes, dusting, wiping out the hutch with her 'good' dishes. I got her ironing gene-I hate anything that isn't pressed, but I could care a less if there are dishes in the sink or a stack of mail on the counter.....until the sink is heaping full and no one will help or I can't find that bill that needs to be paid. I couldn't take it anymore tonight. I cleaned out cupboards, threw out old food, washed containers, re-arranged shelves and cupboards. And all the dishes are done....until tomorrow. Sigh. Here is a new gadget I bought today while out shopping with Hermit crab, and the fruits of my labor of cleaning:

It is a garlic chopper. I had seen Brian Boitano use one on his Food Network show and thought about how much I like my big chopper so when I found it at Macy's today, I had to pick it up. Let's hope I like it as much as my big one. I was looking for some 1 quart casserole dishes to make individual servings of our favorite stuff so I can put some make ahead meals in the freezer but couldn't find any in the mall, so I'm off to Crate and Barrel online to make a purchase.

This is my cupboard next to the stove. It holds all my spices and my canned goods. Truth be told, I didn't really clean this one up too much, as I had just gone through and donated a bunch to our local food shelf, but then unfortunately, went and bought more stuff to fill it up. I think I need a 12 step program for reckless abandon at the grocery store!

We have a four shelf pull out pantry next to our fridge. I didn't take pics of the baking shelves only because all the stuff is white and in plastic containers, so they looked a little, well, white. In my top shelf I have dressings, peanut butter, tuna, some cooking oils, spare ketchup's and mayo. In the little green bags with the ribbons is something fun I picked up at a county fair and will be making soon to show on here.

This shelf has our soup mixes, noodle mixes, macaroni and cheese, organic gravies, rice and pasta side dishes. I'll be the first to admit I am no gourmet chef-I like the occasional flavored pasta or Betty Crocker loaded baked potato dried potato for a side dish :)

This is our pasta/oatmeal/popcorn cupboard. This one was the worst with partial packages of noodles open and crammed in here. Booger said "Wow! I've never seen that cupboard clean before!" Gee thanks.

Now it is almost 11 PM and I have a meatloaf and chicken to go cook so we can have some meals this weekend at work. Dude loves BLT's but I think he is hoping for a hot meal soon.....

A Day Late and A Buck Ninety Eight short

Dave over at My Year on the Grill (yeah, I still can't figure out that linking thing-I'm hopeless!) had posted two days ago about another person who thought we should post our kitchens and do it as a yearly post. I didn't see the post until last night since I worked Monday and Tuesday. Honestly, after seeing other people's kitchens, I have a LOT of kitchen envy. We remodeled our kitchen 13 years ago. We have a traditional split level house from 1979. It was awful when we moved in in 1990. Orange carpet, dark woodwork, I won't even tell you about the mirrored wallpaper in the bedroom and the gold angel oil dripping lamp in the entryway. The kitchen was the worst. It was U-shaped with cheap cupboards, a brown dimpled counter top, and the cabinets were the kind dropped from the ceiling so you could put things on top to display-and get totally gross with dust and cooking grime. It also had the cupboard over the peninsula so I had to duck to see everyone at the kitchen table. After we sold a street rod we took the money and did a remodel. We are looking to do an update now. I loved my counter tops 13 years ago, but they are doing nothing for me now. I want some type of solid surface with a tile back splash for counters. I want a new sink and appliances. I love the floor and my cabinets still, but am going to update the hardware on cabinets and get a new ceiling fan and light fixture. I would love to get some hanging pendant lights over the island, but haven't found an electrician yet.

We remodeled into an L-shape with a freestanding island now. Walking into the kitchen this is what you see. I love the window over the sink, I just wish it was a bit lower to enjoy more of the view. We had shelves put in next to the window for knick knacks and pictures.

These were my Mom's. I have received many of her kitchen goodies over the years. My eldest sister does not like to cook and doesn't really care for clutter. My other sister loves to cook, but isn't into old stuff. Me-I like the old stuff. Ties us to another time and place. These are hor dourve holders. The holes you see are to hold appetizers on a toothpick.

I like the stacked microwave over the stove. It is so convenient when cooking if I have to warm cream for potatoes, or melt butter or warm veggies. No extra steps. We are hoping to upgrade to the dual-fuel stove in March after we get our bonus. This stove has served us well for the past 15 years. I have worn all the writing off of the knobs! There is a lazy Susan to the right of the stove on the bottom that holds all my baking supplies and the corner cabinet over my stand mixer holds bowls, tools and all the chocolate I hide from my kids!

We have an eat in kitchen-no formal room for us. I hate this table. It is awful to say, but I do. When I met my hubby he was in the process of buying his parents house from them as they were retiring to the lake for the summer and Florida for the winter. He bought the house and all the furnishings. The chairs are trashed from dogs chewing and kids bouncing and I hate a round table. I want a nice square table. Once our oldest graduates from college, she gets the table (she loves it) and I'm buying a new one! My cookbooks sit on the two shelves at the end of the L. Need about 4 more shelves to hold them all.

The island holds all my pans and bake ware. I wish we could have put in a bigger one, but due to door opening requirements, this was as big as we could go. The curtains you see over the two windows were my grandmother's-another little piece of the past in my home.

Our friend built this cabinet for us. It houses our china, deep fryer, holiday dishes and stemware. It has small lights in the upper part so it puts off a nice glow in the evening. We are looking into a small HDTV to replace my old one as all I can get is satellite in the kitchen. We don't have cable out in the country so we have a big dish and we can't get our local stations on it, so I can't watch the news or check out the local weather in the kitchen anymore after the digital conversion. But you can see Paula's arm!
This is what is going on in my back yard for a couple days. Million dollar tractors rolling around through the corn and half a dozen trucks pulling through to collect.

That is my kitchen in a nutshell. Sorry I'm late with my post :-)

I'm going to take some new pictures and repost. As I looked through this I saw how bad they looked once uploaded. It looks much better than this-too grainy.