“As the one room in the house that can give you a full dinner or a hot cup of tea, the kitchen has a special drawing power that tends to transform it into a general working and lounging area. If someone is in the kitchen cooking, other members of the household wander in to help or chat……”
~quote from “The Center of a Dwelling”, a chapter in Home Comforts, by Cheryl Mendelson
I am now the owner of a pot rack! This is exciting. I’ve been loudly wrestling with my pots and pans for a long time, and now all I have to do is lift up my hands and unhook one from the ceiling. Rich and the boys hung it up this weekend.
I have Caleb’s artwork hanging on my fridge.
I asked him what the orange scribbles were and he said they were “shoot”.
I am not the only cook in the kitchen. Everyone participates. The smallest members of the family serve as audience and taste-testers.
In two days, Ethan made Handmaiden Hashbrowns, Han-burgers, Bossk Brownies, Wampa Snow Cones, and Hoth Chocolate.
All the recipes turned out deliciously, and were from this fantistic BOY cookbook:
This is my bright orange egg timer from anthropologie. It’s only fault is that the buzzer at the end of time is too short. I don’t hear it 9 times out of 10.
I may have to return it. It would be sad though.
This is part of my kitchen windowsill. I have two glass eggs, a potted primrose (it has a sweet smell), a verse, a candle, a pretty bar of soap with a crocheted cover, and some berries that Seth dipped in wax (yes, he did…I had the berries next to a lit candle…he blew out the candle and dipped the berries in until I caught him.)
I bought this card for myself because it made me laugh out loud.
My friend Gina G sent me this Holly Hobbie card.
I had a gift card for Williams Sonoma and I treated myself to the Meyers lemon bread mix (it’s SO good), real vanilla beans, and the biscuit cutter set.
I’ve had my fiesta canisters for years…they are like little friendly kitchen pals now…with their pretty dustings of flour.
I keep my red cutting board handy by propping it up behind my canisters.
I put my fresh garlic in a fabric bag, my measuring spoons in a fiesta mug.
A cooling rack is behind them.
Sarah was eating some little bread bits today, like a sweet bird. I sat and watched her tiny fingers pick up the pieces, she’s just learning that skill and as I admired her, I took several pictures.
And when she was done, I moved some farm animal magnets over to her, and she yelled at them.
The Latest Baking: I baked a homemade carrot cake (with cream cheese frosting) yesterday. I call it my healthy cake.
I am standing at the kitchen counter right now, finishing up this post.
Ethan is right next to me, playing Greensleeves on his guitar. I am supposed to be listening, to tell him if he’s playing it right.
Seth is here, too, standing on Ethan’s foot rest and singing.
And that, my friends, is all the news from the kitchen.
Good to be Home 
That Star Wars cookbook looks great! How fun!!!!!!
You are definitely great at multi-tasking!The carrot cake sounds delicious,one of my favorites!
That pot rack is so cool! I like how all your pots match! Can you reach the handles easily enough or do you have to be up on your tip toes? Fun the see the cookbook and candle you told me about! Are you having a good Monday? I worked ALL DAY LONG on laundry and I am not even finished, I made the boys crawl under the bed and gather all the long lost socks and clothes that were hiding under there (they had a two hour delay because of how cold it is here). I also folded a whole box of size twelve clothes for our little baby, we all gathered around and held different shirts and dresses up and imagined what it would be like to see her in them, I am aching for her today..I cannot wait until she is yelling at magnets in my house! LOL!
A sweet visit with you in the kitchen, and I didn’t have to share any bad cold germs! Bob always says that I will get well for a tea party, so I am going to consider this one!The pot rack will make life so much easier. We had to get one when we moved here, there wasn’t enough cupboard space, and there was room for a rack. It is wonderful. I like the way they look too, don’t you?I am going to show David all that Ethan is making. That is so funny and fun too. So fun to see all your kitchen things, and especially your little miss. Love to you, Jenny
Now THAT my friend was a super fun post:) Not that your other posts arent:) I always enjoy the little details:) I loved your “show and tell” I’ll have to do my own grown up version too~was actually gonna do a kitchen tour anyways…sounds more grown up now that I put it that way:):)
Love how colorful your kitchen is and yeah for the pots and pans rack, I need one of those too! And LOL to the childproof card!
Takes me back to school days…I enjoyed your “show and tell”We have the same timer in red, I sometimes carry it with me, because I don’t hear it either !
Thanks for sharing your kitchen with us! I love the pot and pans rack. Your kitchen is so nice and open.
Love your kitchen and your pot rack!!! : )
Love the pot rack! Your home is so homey, and I love reading and seeing details of your everyday life. Happy Monday, to you!
Your kitchen is truly warm, just like YOU. I love that Sarah was yelling at the animals. And that lemon bread sounds fabulous!
I’ve had Primrose; they don’t like me, unfortunately, because I love them! That “childproofed the house” card is one I gave my daughter-in-love…she laughed out loud, too! Such treasures…little bits of joy in every day life. Sarah is a beauty!
Shanda, I loved your tour. So pretty and springy! I like your measuring spoons in the cup. Mine are always scattered everywhere. I think I’ll work on that new home for them today Little Sarah…a bit of sunshine added in isn’t she~What cute magnets!~Cinnamon
I really enjoyed the visit to your kitchen. I like your prayer jar…what do you have in it? Hmm…I wonder what Sarah is saying to the animals? She is so precious. I just love little baby girls, I have to get my baby girl fixes from my friends babies. One of my friends just found out she is having a little girl, so excited for her.That’s a great bisuit cutter set, my hubby is the biscuit maker in our house.
Thanks for the little tour. I love that pot rack. My mom and I laugh about the kitchen. SEems like we all crowd together in there when we get together even though the rest of the house is available. I have to shoo my brothers out from under foot. =). Love gathering in the kitchen with friends.
love the star wars cookbook, but i am a bit a cookbook fanatic! I got 3 from amazon today! 🙂
Jeremy wants Ethan’s cookbook 🙂 LOL GO Ethan–You rock!! I like your new pan rack Shan! I loved this post about your real homey kitchen. Love you. Lish *******Hey #8 just came and I love it! We used to play that all the time!!****
Great idea for the rack!
I love your pot rack — I don’t have room for one in my small kitchen so they’re in the pantry (a former coat closet in the hallway just outside the kitchen door!) — I can’t get over how fast Sarah is growing — so sweet!
Thanks for the kitchen tour! Jeff and I both wish we had a pot rack, but we don’t have room until we expand our kitchen!That lemon bread sounds wonderful…..I like anything lemon-y. It tastes so light and fresh. Jeff just bought lemon lotion from b&b works for my birthday. It smells so good.I like your little timer! Did you get that on Saturday when you went!My boys would really like that cookbook! How fun. LOVE your fiesta too. =)And baby Sarah….so adorable. I was at an antique store yesterday afternoon and I saw the card you bought in a tin sign! I laughed at it too. It’s cute.
My Jakey Noodle would LOVE that Star Wars cookbook!!! Look for it, I will. 😉 <—said in my lame yoda voice! LOLI love your kitchen. 😉 ❤
hi shanda…….ooooooo, i love show & tell, and you certainly didn’t disappoint! i have the “home comforts” book, too, and love perusing through it. (don’t worry, i know the title should be underlined, but i only know how to do that when i’m in microsoft word, not in a blog reply. i’m so technically challenged! since i’m a homeschool mom, i always feel i need to explain those types of things!) anyway, along with jessnboyz above, i was also wanting to know if the marbles / stones in your prayer jar have any meaning.
keep having fun in the kitchen!!!
i love the show and tell….
LOVE IT!! Especially since my card made the post! Great idea to give a little cozy open house. My boys got the same cookbook at the library and make a few recipes! Mail soon! Gina
I love your little house tours! Always so much going on. 🙂 {{{{{hugs}}}}}}
Congratulations on that pot rack! That’s awesome. I would love to have one, too…and a set of those nice biscuit cutters, too. Those look like they will last forever. The ones I have are lined with plastic and it broke within a month. I don’t know if you’ve tried this with your egg timer, but if you wind it as far as it will go first, and then go backward to the time you need, it usually gives you a little more ring time.I enjoyed the tour of your kitchen! 🙂
Since you like to read, I thought you might like this offer for a free book. I just stumbled upon the link and thought I would share:http://www.salememail.com/specialoffers/myfamilytalkdadsdaughters/default.aspx“Dads and Daughters” by James Dobson
You make everything beautiful. Makes me want to go clean my kitchen and pot a plant!! 😉
Love the kitchen tour! We have a pot rack that we attach to the wall, but right now it is in our basement because we don’t have enough wall space in our kitchen. I’m hoping our next kitchen will be better suited for it! I would someday love a ceiling rack, but right now I’m just happy to have a kitchen that is big enough for me to cook and bake without tripping over myself. The kitchen really is the heart of the home, isn’t it?Love the primrose – I’ve been starving for the sight of fresh blooms, I’m thinking of picking myself up some tulips at the grocery store, just to brighten things up around here!
Every time I read your posts, Shanda, I buy another book~smile~
I loved seeing your kitchen, and especially enjoyed Sarah’s little hands.
The kitchen is delightful, Shanda, and made even more so by the precious souls that gather there. We see the most change in little Sarah, of course, but my heart was “caught” by that little mention about Ethan standing beside you, playing his guitar. It makes me suddenly miss my sons — one who writes songs for me and plays them when he comes home, and the other who is almost always on his guitar when he has a chance. I say to them, “Play your old Momma a song, boy!” and they will say, “What kind do you want?” and sometimes I ask for something glad, sometimes something sad, sometimes a praise song, sometimes just a song to fill in the spaces. Oh, Shanda, now you’ve made me cry. Cherish the moments, girlie. I hope you never get tired of me telling you that, because I’m afraid I’ll be saying it again — a time or two at least.
@Buckeyegirlie – I need you to say those things to me. It helps me keep things in the right place, and seen with the right kind of eyes. Ethan was playing again for me today….and I said that I couldn’t wait until summer so he could play for us outside around the campfires we like to have now and then. Sounds like you have a sweet and loving boy, still playing for his Mama. Isn’t it wonderful to have children with songs in their hearts? Love you much.
LOVE the pot rack too! It looks like its hanging over a counter area near the room divider? Is that a kitchen bar? My ceiling looks like yours with the recessed lighting. How handy that must be!
I have that same timer…mine is lime green though (LOVE IT). To make the “ringer” longer just wind it all the way to 55 min and then wind down to the time you need. It will ring longer. Something my husband (out of all people) showed me.
Love, love, love the pot rack. I would consider getting one, but some of my pots and pans are so ugly on the bottom. Yours look nice and dark. I wish I could be more like you (thinking of your popcorn and chocolate cake posts here).