A look back

Where have I been? Well, I have been in the kitchen, but not the one from all of the past posts. So before I begin posting with new recipes and discoveries from my fabulous new kitchen, I thought I would take a moment to look back at some of the great dishes that came out of my tiny little kitchen.

Turkey dinners for 25

Easter Ham for 15

Homemade bread, pasta, crackers

Making jam!

First try at Ice Cream

Cocktails and Canape's

Cheesecake, Puddings and Truffles

The list goes on and on. More importantly, all of those meals, and many others, were executed in what I know refer to as my old tiny kitchen. And tiny it was, although packing it up did take 24 boxes!

I wanted to give everyone out there a real idea of how tiny my kitchen was, as a way to emphasize that you don't need a lot of space or fancy tools to make really great food.

Freezer - basically 1 foot square

Fridge - 3 ft high and 1 foot wide/deep

Stove - again, just over 1 foot square

Counter space - Overall I had two spaces - one was 3'8" x 2' and the other was 1' x 2', and it housed the dishrack most of the time!

So with barely any counter space, a small apartment size fridge and freezer, a single sink and no dishwasher, anything is possible!

There were definitely challenges, don't get me wrong. Having only one large burner, and not being able to really have two large pots on the stove was tough. Working with an oven that small, I was always gambling right before I'd put the turkey or the ham in (you'd think I would measure these things before buying the meat!). And don't get me started on having the wall directly beside the stovetop, or the carpet that went right up the kitchen on either side.

But for all of the trials and tribulations (making pasta with a hand crank machine was definitely trying), it was our kitchen, and the centre of our little apartment for 5 years. And for everything the kitchen lacked, it never disappointed.

Now that we have moved into our very first home, I thought I might feel nostalgic for that little kitchen. As I move around my new kitchen, with a regular size fridge and oven, two sinks (!) and a dishwasher, the nostalgic feeling is quickly fading, and being replaced with excitement about all of the great memories to be made in this new kitchen.