Thanks for posting these great pictures, they're beautiful and inspiring! That strawberry lavender jam sounds Wonderful!! Did you follow a recipe or come up with it on your own? I love the idea of canning, but am always discouraged from doing it because it always calls for sugar, which I try not to eat (hypoglycemic.) Glad to hear the praise of the big sink, because we're planning to get a 39'' one with unequal sized basins.

Lee Valley makes some great things. Among them, a simple ss compost bucket with a lid that fits so well, you can go a week and not notice you've got rotting food on your counter! Not that I would ever do THAT! :0)

I'm looking forward to seeing more working kitchen pictures!

Wow! Wonderful to see a real working kitchen that is not just a showroom. I'm afraid that most of the time my kitchen is just a showroom. You are inspiring me to try some new things though.

Sheer poetry - visual and otherwise.

I am such a messy cook, so I might have to hate you for your pristine during-cooking photos!

I am also afraid to try canning for fear I will poison everyone! My MIL and SIL can stuff all the time, but I am still afraid to take the plunge. I make batches of tomato sauce w/tomatoes from our garden, but freeze it in lots of plastic containers.

If the squirrels stop eating all our green tomatoes, and allow them to ripen (and not eat the ripe ones!) I'll make and freeze more sauce this summer, too. Of course, if you lived up here Caroline, you could help me can some of it instead....!!!

I like these photos even better because of the one that pulls back to let us see the whole kitchen. It's nice to see a kitchen doing what it should. I often want to see how those magazine kitchens look 'under fire.' :-)

I am so glad that some of you want to try your hands at cooking new things and also posting pics. I realize this is not a cooking forum or the appliance forum but ultimately this is where the decisions are often made as to size, placement of features and appliances. I think seeing the kitchens in use gives others ideas as to how to configure their space and also helps them see that in reality you do not need a large space to prepare exquisite meals. In fact up to a point smaller is better....remember gas expands to fill the space and I am convinced that "mess" does too ! :)

If you could see the amount of space, lack thereof , that my DS1 has in his restuarant you would never again think you needed a large fancy fitted out kitchen to cook efficiently or well. It is the basics placed in an organized way and then cleaning as you go that makes it all happen.

jeannie I hope you will try some new things and post the results.

robin we are going to make cooking together happen for sure...me and DH and takin' the train to you and John.

rayna you are such sweet gal to say that. thank you.

rhome, I agree completely. c

trailrunner, just wanted to say thanks for these threads. They've been especially nice as a contrast to the prevailing themes the past couple of days.

I am glad you have found it helpful. That is , I think ,what the forums are about, information. I hope others will post "Working Kitchens",

I look forward to your posts showing your
kitchen in action! I wish everyone would show
photos of "kitchen function" with such helpful
insight...its great for those of us still trying to
work it all out! Thanks so much.

vic: I am most happy to do so. I love the sharing aspect of the KF and think helping those who are still trying to answer questions is a great service. I know I really appreciated all the help I got. c

Trailrunner--I'm always happy to see your "working" pictures. I guess I should post some of my own, b/c I have a very small kitchen, with very little counter space. You might be able to "see" if I am using the space well.

Recently I've sworn off cooking because my children refuse to eat anything except yogurt and microwaved mac-n-cheese...

Thanks again!
Francy

Hey Francy ! How is your kitchen doing? I haven't seen the final pics or did I miss them ? I love your home and the pics you posted.

Do your kids like granola on their yogurt ? I make parfaits of fruit/granola/yogurt. I would be glad to share my recipe with you ...it is the best I have ever tasted. How about homemade mac and cheese...I have a great recipe for that too. Please let me know. Good to hear from you ! c

Trailrunner, thanks for the pic's, I make alot of jams and jellys,so I have had my eye on that maslin pan for over 2 years, but didn't know if it was really the pan for the money. I am now going right to Lee Valley and take it off the wish list and order it. Great kitichen and Thanks again.

You will love that pan...I actually use it all the time for things like spaghetti sauce and applesauce...anything you want to reduce and not have stick. Nothing sticks, not even on a hard boil. It is a great pan.

Want to share some recipes....please e-mail me, c

Another great thread!! It sure is a treat to see a well designed working kitchen. I never seem to be organized enough to take photos and cook. I'll try next time.

You are so right in saying it boils down to (excuse the pun :) ) organization and cleaning as you go.

Oh, I love the idea of a Kitchens in Action thread!! I'll remember to take some pix the next time I actually have food in the house and am preparing a meal - LOL.

I have to say that my redone kitchen stays uncluttered by some miracle. It is so easy to keep neat. The peninsula countertops in my late kitchen were so full of papers and STUFF that I literally couldn't see the horizontal surface. I always wondered why everybody else I knew had a clean kitchen. Now I know: enough storage space, file drawers for all the crap you don't know what to do with, like takeout menus and newspaper articles and use & care booklets for appliances you no longer own (ok, ok, I collect antique ephemera). And cubbyholes for mail in/out.

Francy - I, too, would like to know how your kitchen is doing and whether you are living happily with your countertops these days. Mine have little white dents all over them, but oh well.

OK - KIA thread! Who's next after Caroline?

cooksfor6: you have a house full as do several others on this forum. I really really hope they will post pics...give the camera to the children and let them take pics of each other and you will see the real love of food and cooking blossom . There is nothing like seeing the fruits of their labors to get children into cooking. Mine would eat anything...and still do , because they were exposed to foods and handling of them from a very young age. I have a picture that was published in our local paper of me making peach chutney and holding my baby Maddie on my hip. She is almost 26 now and is a great and inventive cook.

rayna....you are so right...a place for everything and everything in its place. I am looking forward to your pics...but you are so creative in other areas that I can understand if you can't do it soon.

OK everybody let's have it...food porn but you gotta show the working part to qualify ! c