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Check out all of Lea
Schneider's helpful home and kitchen columns at
Organizing Kitchens, Pantries, Menus and Meals.
Change Your Kitchen Along with Your Hair Color
Over the course of the years, I’ve
changed my hair color. I’ve changed my fashions. I’ve changed
states, houses, cars, and I have even switched from cats to dogs
I’ll just bet that you have made a lot of those changes too.
Have you thought about how the way you use your kitchen has changed? See if any
of these comments ring the memory bell:
I used to have child-proof latches but took
them all off when the baby went to high school.
I used to be able to freely walk in my kitchen
and now I must avoid step-stools, tiny toys and tykes.
We sat down for dinner each night but now it’s
every man for themselves- on the way to or from the ball field.
The high chair is a permanent fixture.
I could shop every day as the teens eat me out
of house and home.
Now that we’re empty nesters, we dine out more
often and the fridge is pretty empty.
Baking! That is for holidays when the
grandkids come.
Baking! I love to decorate cookies with my
kids.
I
had a friend joke that as we age, our favorite food becomes reservations.
Cooking is still my favorite way to relieve work day stress but the way I cook
has changed.
A
younger person will be trying new recipes and ingredients, taking their time to
get it just right. The mother of three will be aiming to keep everyone happy and
fed and somehow quantity of food overcomes gourmet quality for awhile.
Cooking products that help us deal with large extended family dinners come into
play. You use the Crock-Pot, the meat slicer, the food processor and the mixer
more often. The cake pans and cookie making supplies come out for most every
holiday and school function.
A
few years down the road, see another change in kitchen habits. Cakes and pies
are just not a good idea to stock up on in a household of two. It may be months
and months between the use of the food processor. When cooking for two, a knife
and cutting board seems so much easier.
Have you changed the way your kitchen functions?
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Before
In
the “before” picture, this friend’s kitchen pantry had her food processor and
mixer right at hand. Of course, with her girls’ out-of-college, she rarely, if
ever, got those items down. Time had long passed when she was feeding the
basketball team or cheerleading squad.
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After
What she did use is shown in the “after” picture. It was rare that a week went
by without a gathering of lady friends or couples to chat around the fireplace
or covered porch. What she really needed was access to her ice bucket and many
different size serving platters that could hold nibbles, spreads, appetizers and
sandwiches – a casual entertaining style all the friends enjoy.
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She
was frustrated by what I recognized as a couple of the most common organizing
mistakes. The first is “failing to change” and the second is “not putting things
where you really use them.”
As
you move from wine glasses to sippee cups and back, be sure to rethink you
kitchen storage - at least as often as you rethink your hair color.
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