A clean kitchen

Today Daniel left town so I decided not to cook anything. I am going to eat fresh fruit and vegetables and make some shakes. This is my way of doing some cleansing for me and my kitchen as well. My kitchen today is very clean. No messes had to be cleaned up. Yay!

I was thinking about this today and how the kitchen seems to be the most important room in the house for most American women. Here in Manila they even have two kitchens. One is the main kitchen the other one is called the dirty kitchen where you cook your fish and greasy food. In the Philippines the maids are usually the ones cooking unlike the American women who are the one who prepare the meals. So in memory of Shirley who passed away two years ago in February I want to share an essay by Eileen O'Hara who wrote:

There is something about a kitchen

It's a topsy-turvy world, fast moving and sophisticated and filled with electronic wonders, but most of us still find contentment in an ordinary room that is the hub and heart of every home: the kitchen

The size of a kitchen has no bearing on the quality of life that bubbles away within. No matter how tinny the home, the kitchen walls seem to be made of magic rubber that stretches to accommodate all the activities of the family. Of course, this very feature often upsets the cook, and he or she may usher interlopers out the door. But just as fast they are ushered out, the interlopers waltz right back in. To the dismay or delight of the host or hostess, depending upon their temperament, many a fancy bash has ended up in a crowded kitchen.

Of course, good food remains the main attraction of any kitchen, and we treasure our memories of homemade chili sauce simmering on the stove or hot raisin trays cooling on the counter. But yesterday's favorite room bears little resemblance to today's kitchen, where a sleek refrigerator and microwave have replaced the old wooden icebox and bulky cast-iron stove. Today we're just as apt to see the man of the house sliding an apple pie into the oven, but one thing remains unchanged: the kitchen table. Whether is made of wood or Formica, a table's magnetism is undisputed, and if it happens to be round, it is downright irresistible.

A kitchen table is more than a place for eating. Around the table, checkbooks are balanced, Christmas cards signed, and wedding invitations addressed. Children gather to build model airplanes and bicker and struggle with their math. Yards of calico are pinned to a patterned, then whisked away to make room for a piecrust. Babies are bathed and gingerbread men come to life. Heated political discussions flare up, plans are hatched for special vacation, and dreams are shared for a new business. Plants are repotted. Over tea women exchange secrets and tears, and many a family crisis has been revealed, agonized over, and resolved around the kitchen table. In many homes, heads are still bowed in grace before meals."

We all have our funny little kitchen memories. A Kitchen is a world all of its own, from early in the morning, when the moon still shines, until late at night. A kitchen is seldom silent; even when the children are gone and the table has shrunk. We try to keep our minds open to new ideas, and we keep abreast of what is taking place in a complex world, but early in the morning and late at night and often in between, we return to the place we love best: our kitchen!

We often hear it said: "You can eat off her Kitchen floor," but this is a dubious clim to fame indeed. A true kitchen lover prefers to hear: " I'd rather share a cup of afternoon tea in your kitchen than a sip "champagne with a queen in her castle."

I love my kitchen as you can imagine!

Con amor,
Veronica