I had three, count them, three successes yesterday. I made Ina Garten's blueberry crumb cake, a tomato soup from Cook's Illustrated (sorry - from a cookbook) and Ina's "adult mac & cheese". All three turned out well despite a number of issues.
You see, my kitchen is small. OOOH. Big deal. So it goes for most people. But isn't it frustrating to watch cooking shows and see these enormous and beautiful kitchens? My favorite show is Barefoot Contessa (whichever iteration)... and her kitchen... and her HOME is ridiculous. It's perfect. A walk in pantry that's loaded like a gourmet grocer. An enormous garden, perfectly manicured, that grows every herb you can imagine. And then, her kitchen, with it's perfectly situated everything. I AM SERIOUSLY JEALOUS.
Let's talk about my kitchen. I have no dishwasher, other than my husband (yes, he's that great). We've created a make-shift pantry next to our washer/dryer that makes me a bit crazy because the heat from the dryer messes with my foodstuffs. Our rented townhouse came with a 1950's era stove that, while fun to look at, is totally impractical. The oven area is tiny and only has one rack. We could probably find another but, honestly, the temp is so off (the "200" setting gives out 350 degrees) and the space so small that I think it would ruin any cooking/baking/roasting attemps. The door doesn't stay closed so I have to pull a dining chair in to the kitchen, shove it up against the oven and heap heavy books on it to keep it closed. Only two of the four burners work well, the burner covers are miss-matched and my pans don't sit on them evenly (so everything runs to one end).. blah blah blah. You get the point and I haven't even started on my fridge or my counter space.
I think, especially with our awesome economic conditions (sarcasm), my kitchen is more the norm than the Barefoot Contessa's... especially for those of us living in big cities. So, while I'll continue to daydream about having a huge kitchen someday, I think I'll start snapping pictures of my workspace while I cook. Maybe I can pull together ideas for handling these not-so-perfect situations. Hmmmmm.
PS: I tried that Boule recipe again. Followed the instructions to a T. Same results. It's now in the trash... both my wad of dough and the recipe. Stupid boule.
