happy new year!

“But the kitchen will not come into its own again until it ceases to be a status symbol and becomes again a workshop. It may be pastel. It may be ginghamed as to curtains and shining with copper like a picture in a woman’s magazine. But you and I will know it chiefly by its fragrances and its clutter. At the back of the stove will sit a soup kettle, gently bubbling, one into which every day are popped leftover bones and vegetables to make stock for sauces or soup for the family. Carrots and leeks will sprawl on counters, greens in a basket. There will be something sweet-smelling twirling in a bowl and something savory baking in the oven. Cabinet doors will gape ajar and colored surfaces are likely to be littered with salt and pepper and flour and herbs and cheesecloth and pot holders and long-handled forks. It won’t be neat. It won’t even look efficient. But, when you enter it you will feel the pulse of life throbbing from every corner. The heart of the home will have begun once again to beat.” — Phyllis McGinley

My theme for this New Year is kitchen-as-workshop; I love the picture painted above: you and I will know it chiefly by its fragrances and its clutter…the pulse of life throbbing from every corner. Too often I find myself daydreaming about how to make my kitchen space bigger and better, ignoring the simple beauty in what my hands have put together on well-worn counter tops and aged appliances. The memory I hold to from my Grandmother’s kitchen is not of her posh center island or one-of-a-kind dishware, but of her long, wrinkled hands gracefully kneading bread dough on an old, wooden cutting board. There was soul in that wood, soul that just can’t be bought. The heart of the home will have begun once again to beat.

If you follow along on Facebook, you may have noticed I contribute to quite a few sites. Here are a few recipes I’ve done recently (I’m sort of cheating on a post here, but I’ll hook you up with some recipe links). Also, all these sites are really great spaces! I highly recommend checking them out if you haven’t yet:

Brioche Almond Ring on Wit & Delight
Apple Rum Cake on Food 52
Sweet Potato Lentil Curry Soup on Food 52
Caramelized Onion Tartlets on Wit & Delight
Brioche Wreath on Bread in 5
Panettone on Rewire
Candy Cane Ice Cream with Chocolate Magic Shell on Handmade Charlotte

And, another big thank you for all your kind words and emails, checking in on all our house problems. I am happy to report that our basement is completely gutted, and our house is no longer a stink zone. We’ve had our furnace on for an entire two weeks, which was perfect timing as it is now currently -5 here in Snowland. I have my fingers crossed 2015 is going to be good to us.

Happy New Year!