Kitchen Meme. And What a $1.75 Cupcake Looks Like
6 Comments posted by Kristi on Tuesday, November 29, 2005 at 7:56 AM
It's time for another Sybil switch. Is everyone keeping up? Yesterday it was IVF doldrums, and today...it's kitchen memes!
Fore score and five-and-a-half weeks ago, Dawn over at So Cal Foodie (yes, the same Dawn of the delicious and fabulous pumpkin cheesecake recipe) tagged me for a fun kitchen meme. Given that I don't have a digital camera, I told her I would love to participate, but that it would take me awhile to get the pictures developed and posted on my blog. Well, my friends, that day has at long last arrived. So, without further ado, the kitchen meme, followed by photos of my cupcakes from Magnolia Bakery.
1) Show us your kitchen ( a picture) and tell us what is it about this place that reflects your own personality.
Unfortunately, my kitchen is very small. I love my house, a cross between a Colonial and a Tudor, built in 1925, and full of old charm and character, but unfortunately, the kitchen is small, and full of appliances that are mainly from the early 80s. So, I tried to spruce it up a little and infuse it with the French Country style I love so much. We painted the walls yellow, the oak cabinets white, got rid of the hideous track lighting which was at least 20 years old, and put in a new ceiling that looks like tin but isn't. The shelves we installed are my favorite part.
2) Open a cupboard (the one you feel to open), take a picture and tell us what we see.
In my small kitchen, cupboard space is scarce. And many of my cupboards' shelves are completely inaccessible to me at 5' 2'' tall. So, as you can see, my food cupboards are packed with stuff. The top shelf stores many of my baking supplies. On the middle shelf, you see the cookies I bought at an Italian import store in Chelsea Market, along with the interesting juxtaposition of South Beach Diet cereal bars and Girl Scout Cookies, both of which are really good, believe it or not. Oh, and my husband's peanuts.
3) Present us your favorite kitchen-based household appliance.
This is a no-brainer for me. I love coffee. I am a total coffee snob. I probably drink way too much coffee, as this picture of my dirty coffee maker illustrates. My heart will always lie with Starbucks, but lately I've been visiting Dunkin' Donuts for my morning joe. Shhhh...don't tell my baristas.
4) Take out the ingredients you like the most, the ones you always keep stored.
Since baking has become my new weekend hobby of choice, I've made sure to keep the baking ingredients I use most often readily available, hence, the industrial-sized bottle of vanilla extract I bought a few weeks ago at BJs Wholesale Club. In the white cannister are cinnamon chips (mmmm...cinnamon scones), and of course, my favorite spices (cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and cloves). And then there's my new favorite flavoring, almond extract.
5) My little steel friend: present us to your favorite cooking/baking recipient.
These are a relatively new addition to my kitchen. I saw these sweet little mini brioche tins in Sur La Table in New York, and had to buy them. I used them to make a a cream cheese cake recipe I saw in last month's issue of Martha Steward Living, and I took pictures! I'll blog about that kitchen endeavor soon.
I'm going to tag a few people, but don't feel you have to participate unless you want to.
Andy from Reluctant Baker
The Geekwif
Ramona from Kross-Eyed Kitty
Amy from BeautyJoyFood
And here are my Magnolia Cupcakes!
Fore score and five-and-a-half weeks ago, Dawn over at So Cal Foodie (yes, the same Dawn of the delicious and fabulous pumpkin cheesecake recipe) tagged me for a fun kitchen meme. Given that I don't have a digital camera, I told her I would love to participate, but that it would take me awhile to get the pictures developed and posted on my blog. Well, my friends, that day has at long last arrived. So, without further ado, the kitchen meme, followed by photos of my cupcakes from Magnolia Bakery.
1) Show us your kitchen ( a picture) and tell us what is it about this place that reflects your own personality.
Unfortunately, my kitchen is very small. I love my house, a cross between a Colonial and a Tudor, built in 1925, and full of old charm and character, but unfortunately, the kitchen is small, and full of appliances that are mainly from the early 80s. So, I tried to spruce it up a little and infuse it with the French Country style I love so much. We painted the walls yellow, the oak cabinets white, got rid of the hideous track lighting which was at least 20 years old, and put in a new ceiling that looks like tin but isn't. The shelves we installed are my favorite part.
2) Open a cupboard (the one you feel to open), take a picture and tell us what we see.
In my small kitchen, cupboard space is scarce. And many of my cupboards' shelves are completely inaccessible to me at 5' 2'' tall. So, as you can see, my food cupboards are packed with stuff. The top shelf stores many of my baking supplies. On the middle shelf, you see the cookies I bought at an Italian import store in Chelsea Market, along with the interesting juxtaposition of South Beach Diet cereal bars and Girl Scout Cookies, both of which are really good, believe it or not. Oh, and my husband's peanuts.
3) Present us your favorite kitchen-based household appliance.
This is a no-brainer for me. I love coffee. I am a total coffee snob. I probably drink way too much coffee, as this picture of my dirty coffee maker illustrates. My heart will always lie with Starbucks, but lately I've been visiting Dunkin' Donuts for my morning joe. Shhhh...don't tell my baristas.
4) Take out the ingredients you like the most, the ones you always keep stored.
Since baking has become my new weekend hobby of choice, I've made sure to keep the baking ingredients I use most often readily available, hence, the industrial-sized bottle of vanilla extract I bought a few weeks ago at BJs Wholesale Club. In the white cannister are cinnamon chips (mmmm...cinnamon scones), and of course, my favorite spices (cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and cloves). And then there's my new favorite flavoring, almond extract.
5) My little steel friend: present us to your favorite cooking/baking recipient.
These are a relatively new addition to my kitchen. I saw these sweet little mini brioche tins in Sur La Table in New York, and had to buy them. I used them to make a a cream cheese cake recipe I saw in last month's issue of Martha Steward Living, and I took pictures! I'll blog about that kitchen endeavor soon.
I'm going to tag a few people, but don't feel you have to participate unless you want to.
Andy from Reluctant Baker
The Geekwif
Ramona from Kross-Eyed Kitty
Amy from BeautyJoyFood
And here are my Magnolia Cupcakes!
Loved seeing your kitchen, it is so friendly!
I will work on this memee, but it might take a few days (I'll have to clean it up first!)
Have a great day!
I like your kitchen. It is very cheery and inviting. That's one big drawback to mine...it just doesn't make me feel like spending tons of time in there. But yours has that lovely color scheme!
Also, not sure if you've tried it or not, but Starbucks has had this coffee out for a little while called Shirkina Sundried Sidamo. It's one of their "special" coffees...called black label or something like that. It has a slightly sweet cherry smell. It's expensive, but hey, you are a coffee "snob," right? ;)
Those cupcakes look good...pretty frosting colors!
Mmmm! Those cupcakes are perfect.
Your kitchen photos are great & it is even more adorable (odd word choice huh?) in person. Your breakfast nook is my favorite part of your kitchen, though not shown here. I know all about the old-house quirks. We have a decent-sized kitchen, but never enough cupboards!
ps -- does Santa know that you need a digital camera for Christmas? ;-)
Ramona-Thanks. I really like the yellow. It brightens the room up, I think.
Caryl-I wish I had a Magnolia cupcake right now!
Dawn-Thank you! And I haven't yet tried that coffee. I must confess I haven't been to my Starbucks in awhile, since I've been going to Dunkin Donuts (hangs head in shame). But I will look for it next time I'm there.
Marie-Thanks. I like the breakfast nook too, and I almost took a picture of it for this meme. But that would have meant cleaning all the catalogs off the benches! And yes, "Santa" knows we need a digital camera, but I want a Kitchenaid mixer just a little bit more. ;)
Kristi, your kitchen is absolutely adorable. I love the "tin" ceiling.
This meme looks like fun! Thanks for tagging me! It will probably be this weekend before I get to it, but I definitely plan on doing this one.
Tonight is the last night of NaNoWriMo and I have about 4500 words left. Wish me luck! :-)
Geekwif-Thank you! I can't wait to see the photos of your kitchen. And congrats on finishing (which I see you did from your blog). What an accomplishment!