I love to cook and bake! I'm in the kitchen more than any room in my house. All the "bells and whistles" we put in our kitchen such as a prep sink, pot filler, double ovens I use on a regular basis. I spent 3 straight days in the kitchen doing Christmas and loved every minute of it!!

Kitchens are expensive and everyone has their own taste. Why spend the money on something you're not going to use and appreciate? I think the resale idea is overrated in consideration with how much a nice kitchen costs. Let the next buyer build their dream kitchen.

I don't hate to cook but don't want to do it daily like I did while raising three children. With just the two of us, it's easier to eat out. We usually go to the same place three afternoons a week - large menu, healthy choices, good service and clean. We've been going often enough the servers all know us. I even made them fudge for Christmas. I usually bring home half of my order and eat the next day for dinner.

My DH likes to cook more than I do. I love doing holiday or special occasion meals. I don't mind cleaning up but couldn't imagine doing an evening meal daily that took up the afternoon preparing.

I don't think you have to cook to appreciate your kitchen. I'm in my kitchen often during the day, even if I'm not cooking.

Like others and so many of my friends, I don't cook often for just the two of us anymore but do still like to for rare special occasion or company meals.

I'm still looking for a backsplash idea after updating our kitchen six months ago. Fitting, and I'm seriously considering it, would be sign as a backsplash centerpiece over the range that says:

"Cook? Who, me?
Done that, been there!!"

DH would be absolutely thrilled if I fixed boiled potatoes, baked chicken and string beans every night (read: BORING!). He has not warmed up to my sign idea. Right now I have one over the range in big letters that reads, "CHUCKLE".

I really enjoy cooking, but most of the time I'm too mentally tired after coming home from work to make an elaborate dinner (and when I do, dinner ends up being served way after 9 pm, lol). We don't have kids, which also tends to lessen the importance of meals during the week.

I try to the cook the fun stuff on weekends, so we tend to end up with quick meals during the week - sometimes takeout, sometimes salad when we are craving healthy food, etc. Even so, we spend time in the kitchen, and it's the first thing you see when you walk in the door from the garage. We wanted a kitchen we would enjoy spending time in.

I admit that I drool over all the kitchens that have hearth style surrounds around their cooktops/ ranges, and have to remind myself each time why I didn't want it in our own kichen. I like to prep next to the cooktop and the hearth surround would drive me nuts. I still admire them though :)

wow I am suprised by the responses so far. I cook atleast 5 days a week. During the weekend I cook more then once a day. I love entertaing and ususally host a get together once very month. May be this explains why my kitchen does not always look the best.

Interesting question.

I have always assumed that those who are spending more on their ranges than we are on our total kitchen remodel must be fabulous cooks! For us, just getting a gas stove was a big upgrade, and so far we love it- but I can't for the life of me imagine why a gas stove could possibly be worth 10, 15 or 20X what ours cost? I do admit seeing a gleeming shiny thing at the store is pretty, and if money was no object (some people are fortunate and very well off), maybe I'd buy one cuz they look so nice, but how can it cook any better? (I know that's ignorance speaking, but I just don't know)

Anyhow, my DH is the main cook in our family, and I have promised for many many years to start cooking once I had a better designed kitchen. We've been in ours for a week now, and have to say, cooking is so much easier and quite pleasant. I may actually get the hang of this thing.

You'll find all sorts of folks on this forum from both ends of the spectrum.
Some obsess about looks.
Others obsess about functionality.
Most obsess about their budgets.
I think we all hope to find the balance between these things that works for us. Sometimes you see these gorgeous kitchens full of granite and paneled cabinets but the sink and range and fridge are all on different walls with a giant island in the middle. Nobody who really cooks wants to do laps around the kitchen to get a meal cooked. Someone who doesn't cook much probably just needs a great location for a microwave.

My kitchen is "big" and has "must-have" appliances that don't match; they were the best we could find (and to a lesser extent, afford) to meet our needs. But "beauty" is in the eye of the beholder! Many, many won't like our incredibly practical and relatively inexpensive slate-look porcelain tile with epoxy grout countertops because there is no other option than granite! Many won't like all the stuff we keep out on the counters, because we use them 3xday/7xweek since we eat almost every meal at home! I can't even remember the last time we ate out or take home - when we went out of town last month? Anyway, you can tell that we cook because we have "ugly" paper towel holders and bottles of EVOO and salt & pepper and a cookbook or two and the knife block and 1/2 a bottle of wine and a pineapple and a basket of onions and a basket of potatoes (can't store together) and a blender and lots more...which is why we have 30" deep counters, and definitely not a "model" kitchen, but everyone who has cooked in it says our "zone" flow works great.

Love to cook and bake, as do almost all of our 8 kids, so that dictated a lot of what went into the kitchen plan. HOWEVER, a lot went into it that had to do with being welcoming and a great place for family togetherness and conversation. I think you can have a fantastic kitchen that revolves around how you want to use it:
-If you like to sip tea and read a magazine or chat with a friend, put in a nice conversation area and beverage center.
-Have a nice place to spread out whatever you do like to eat and serve, whether you made it or not...and a lovely place to eat it.
-Realize that an island or other large workspace is as great for arranging flowers, wrapping gifts, etc. as it is for baking.
-Have the materials you like in an efficient, yet drop, dead gorgeous room.
-Make cleanup and cooking easier so that maybe you'll enjoy it more?

Sometimes I want something particular to eat, but what I want just seems like too much time and trouble...So in our new house, I have plans to keep chopped/sliced veggies on hand for quick salads, stir fry, sandwiches or pizza...our own versions of 'fast food.' The key might be to know what slows you down (or gets you down) when cooking, then plan the space and strategy to possibly address it. The answer for me on this particular problem was a 2nd fridge, and a prep time once every few days to keep things replenished.

You can either have a somewhat minimal kitchen and spend the money elsewhere, or make the kitchen into a space you love that doubles as a kitchen for dh! ;-) Just don't do a huge, fantastic kitchen, and only walk by once in awhile while it gathers dust. If you're going to spend the money and energy, make it a room you'll use and enjoy every day.

I actually loved to cook 10-15 yrs ago when I was in a tiny apt. with a tiny little stove and no counter space. I would make my own pasta have it drying on racks anywhere I could find the room, and take special dishes into work to feed the people there. Then I bought a house, with more rooms to be cleaned, a lawn and gardens to be tended and then dug a small pond with waterfall with fish and filters to be cleaned, and then started to plant roses, which need more care than kids, then went to back to nursing the hospital which means no more every weekend off and some days are 12-14 hrs... Funny, now I have a smallish but much bigger kitchen than that apt, and now it will be brand new and pretty, but I find less time, energy and desire to cook fancy things from scratch! Now my favorite appliance is my combination MW/Convection/Speed oven, and my favorite place to stock my freezer from is Schwans! But I still have to get a meal together at the end of each day in that kitchen, weather it is from scratch or more "convenience" foods. I want to enjoy being there and not mind visitors seeing it, and make it pleasurable when I do more extensive cooking and baking, esp. around the holidays. I also want the kitchen to be versatile enough to accommodate me if I decide to start "Cooking with Julia" again!

Sue

My kitchen is not big. But I hope it does turn out beautiful - at least to me. I like to cook simple meals several days a week and enjoy baking/candy making at special holidays. Our primary reason for remodeling was function. The old one was poorly designed. And of course appearance was a consideration. We had mismatched appliances and pink countertops for many, many years. I would like to entertain more and that was another reason we moved forward with the remodel. I don't cook huge meals 2-3 x day, 5-7 days a week, but I want to enjoy spending time there with family and friends or just preparing our 9 year old foster son's favorite - "grilled cheese with ham".

Wow.......surprised when I read this post. I thought I was the only one LOL.
I cook because I have to. I have a DH & 2DS and a very busy household because we both work, kids play sports and we have a business on the side. Before we had kids I liked to cook & bake but now my life is just to busy but I manage to cook every supper meal and all weekend long : (
In my life my kitchen is the center of where everything happens.......this is where we catch up on what's happening, where homework is done, of course supper time is a MUST for us to have together, we play cards and where my mom or friends and I have coffee. So even though I don't like to cook it is important for me to feel comfortable in my kitchen. Plus I'm a little obsessed with it being clean, so I think that is why I spend so much time lurking at ideas for the new kitchen LOL.
My memories as a child is with my gramma's is in their kitchens doing something (reading, visiting, great meals and of course playing games) and same at my mom's. I hope I can create that with my boys and maybe some day my D-I-laws and grandchildren.
I guess with all that said I will blow the budget on my reno, but without cooking in mind : )
Happy Holidays

Gosh, I too thought everyone here was a Julia Child wannabe! LOL. I don't mind cooking if I'm not in a rush - most of the things I cook are from scratch, and I am not super speedy in the kitchen, so whereas a recipe can say "30 Minute Recipe," for me it will take an hour. Top it off with the fact that my 7 yo DS and 5 and 3 1/2 yo DD's don't eat what my husband and I eat, and I end up making 2 separate meals every night. So it gets old fast.

My biggest problem, however, is I hate going to the grocery store. If I could have an assistant that did my shopping for me...though I guess if I could afford that I'd have my own chef too! LOL!

I used my kitchen for the first time on Christmas eve and it was AMAZING!!! It functioned exactly as I'd hoped. We are not competely done yet, so aren't 100% moved into the space, but I can already tell it's going to function 5 million times better than my old kitchen, so perhaps I'll start enjoying the process more again. And hopefully the children, as they get older, will eat more variety in food. That would definitely help! My 3 1/2 yo is actually the best eater of the bunch and gets bored with plain old pasta. She wants avocados and cottage cheese! :)

I cook. I bake. I also utilize some of the conveniences available, like well made fresh food for take home. But I'd rather cook and freeze to have good food available on don't have time to cook days. We also have masses of family who arrive by the dozens (12 for lunch, 24 for dinner, 48 for a party). Friends come for impromptu lunches and I try out new and odd concoctions on them. Most of my cooking is from scratch and with lots of veg. And I'm SO looking forward to a new, more functional kitchen to cook in!

Interesting responses so far, Dabunch. Thanks for the thread. It's just the two of us now, but I still cook most dinners from scratch, and of course for family visits. It's never a hobby, but I do have fun trying out the occasional new recipe because I do enjoy eating the results--I could really use some of your problem.

An elaborately outfitted kitchen was never my obsession, and I find the sort of money being put into them these days excessive well past the point of being shocking and offensive, but I did want a nice place to be and work in. If everything goes as planned, we'll be carried out and will never need the kitchen to be a selling point. Good thing, because it's designed for us and not impressive by today's standards.

I really like to cook although I did more of it when my son was younger and I was home. Now we make sure to eat at home with fresh ingredients 4 weeknights and one weekend night each week for health reasons. I do a lot of cooking and prep on the weekends so after work I have less to do to get a good meal on the table.

We also spend lots of other time in our kitchen. We bake together some evenings or I'll bake and DH will read nearby. I also freeze stuff from our garden, make jam and pickles, package our own meat, preserve other food we produce etc.

I'm probably building one of the lowest budget kitchens on here but with a new house I need a new kitchen. I want it to be comfortable and functional and uncluttered. I like some of the neat ideas but most of them wouldn't get daily use and just aren't in my budget. We've been living for 6 years with a very small and poorly planned kitchen and I survived but I'm excited about being able to cook with a bit more comfort in a kitchen that makes me happy each time I go into it.

Just renovated a kitchen- it is definitely just to suit me- and DH- we love to cook together on weekends (when I'm not at work) and I cook almost every night during the week. I also love to entertain- recently had 30 people over for a Christmas Party and the design of our kitchen was to suit our rather large extended family. We rarely eat out since our children came (2 and 4 years)and the little ones love helping in the kitchen. Our kitchen is not elaborate-we did not really go high end - but to me it is functional, and nice looking. It was renovated out of necessity- would you believe there was not one working appliance in this old fixer upper when we moved here?!

I cook almost every night, but it's not elaborate cooking. Usually a stir-fry, soup, or some quick curry and rice. After coming home from work, then exercising and feeding the dogs, I don't have much energy or time for cooking fancy stuff. I don't even know how those of you with kids do it!

But on average we eat out once or twice a week, the rest of the time it's just me and the stove taking care of dinner. :)

Wow. Good question. I also assumed that people who are TKO are well also great or avid cooks. DH and I cook from scratch but it's simple scratch. Put it this way, I'm impressed that DH makes biscuits from scratch when he makes chicken and biscuits. I like American's Test Kitchen and trying out their recipes but that the extent of my 'cooking as a hobby'.

I started reading this forum because we moved and this house has the original '70s kitchen with horrible cabinets. The cooktop didn't really work well (only two burners turned on and they did 'boiling' and 'almost boiling'). Then the dishwasher broke and we're hoping that the refrigerator WILL break down. When we redo the kitchen, it won't be a high-end one. Definitely IKEA cabinets and mostly DIY - so I'm particularly inspired and encouraged by Livinwell and WeedyAcres.

Hate to cook and grocery shop!

We are currently remodeling our kitchen. The demo was yesterday. I surprised myself and really had no trouble picking the granite, color of the cabinets, flooring or backsplash. What I am obsessing about are the details, cabinet design, pulls, pendants, etc..

Anyhow, back to cooking ... I am in my mid 50s and still have no idea how to cook. There, I said it! LOL

Somehow I raised two kids who are healthy and quite fit. Fortunately husband does enjoy cooking, so I give him free reign of the kitchen.

With that said ... I do hope the new kitchen inspires me to spend more time cooking. We are the original owners of our house and right from the get go, the oven that came with the house never quite worked right. Baking has always been a guessing game. Hopefully that will improve.

Jodi-

Dabunch, we both love to cook and we designed our kitchen around that. However, you should design your kitchen around what YOU like to do in your kitchen. For example, no need to splurge on specialty or extremely high end appliances; splurge on decorative cabinetry you like best instead. If you use your kitchen as more of a command center, put in things like a computer station, message center and charging center for phones, cameras etc. Put in a TV if you like to eat cereal in the morning while seeing the news.

Around here the thing we advocate most is that the kitchen meets YOUR needs and fits YOUR lifestyle and habits. For many of us it's cooking, but for others it's organizing busy lives, or a homey place to unwind.

Jodi, I've heard so many people here say how they've discovered or rediscovered a love for cooking in their new kitchens. A well designed kitchen is such a pleasure to cook in, both in form and function. I hope you find that to be true too.

I love to cook. DW loves to bake. And we love our tiny (64 square foot) kitchen that includes a number of things we wouldn't have considered were it not for this forum, e.g., the Lacanche range, the big black vent-A-Hood, the Franke apron sink, the soapstone countertops and the single F&P DD.

In contrast, several of our friends with huge expensive kitchens never do any serious cooking.

What an interesting thread. I cook for my 2 small kids and for DH and me each day (simple meals when I get back from work), and for friends once a week or so. I love cooking.

One of the things that attracted me to this house that we moved into 3 years ago is the fact that it needed a new kitchen so I can remodel it for the functions and in the style I want, not for one that will re-sell.

My budget is not tiny but much less than many on this board, and I too had assumed that everyone else here really enjoyed cooking too. For those of you who don't love to cook, why would you spend a fortune on a kitchen?! Why not spend it on something you enjoy, or spend at least a chunk of it on people who need a kitchen or a house! (Sorry, rant over!)

I like to cook when I feel like it and hate to cook when I don't. Unfortunately, the family gets hungry either way!!! What I found is that the chore was so much more burdensome in a poorly designed kitchen and no big deal in a well designed kitchen. Therefore, no matter how you use the kitchen, I think the details will make all the difference -even if your main purpose is heating your microwavable frozen food.

Think through your usage and how you can design a kitchen that will serve you (look beautiful and impact resale ).

alku05, I too hope I finally find a love for cooking. I'm happy to hear that others have found it through a kitchen remodel.

mls99, kitchens are the number one home element home buyers look for when shopping for a new home. It significantly increases the value of your home. Plus, we live in a fairly desirable area and neighborhood in Southern California but the homes are 27 years old and in dire need of upgrading.

Jodi-

I love to entertain! I would cook for days if company was coming. Cooking on a daily basis for my family....sadly doesn't do it for me. I get so bored cooking the same old things. Thankfully my husband is the cook in the family and I cook when we are having guests. I can cook but I really choose not to. When I met my husband I was pretty upfront about the fact I don't like to cook. He was the silly one that wanted to continue to date me. I really want a pretty Wolf stove that I can watch my husband cook on.

The tiny old kitchens with bad appliances and no counterspace I've had in the past never deterred me from cooking big time, and I was wondering how it would be to move into my current big kitchen. I definitely take a lot more steps now. After getting used to the practicality of the new kitchen, cosmetics became an issue. When guests arrive to our house, they tend to stop at the kitchen for a while (to drop off a bottle or something and greet me slaving away) before moving on to other parts of the house or outdoors, and I was always embarrassed of the lack of cosiness and looks (stark florescent lighting and ugly outdated colors). Now I've updated the look, warmed it up, put nice lighting in that can be dimmed, and I find I want to spend much more time in there, including taking in most of our meals in stead of in the dining room. Now it's not just utilitarian, I am actually really enjoying spending an entire day cooking for the freezer for those many evenings with no time for cooking.

BTW, when we looked at this house, the fact that the kitchen needed work was actually a good thing for me. This way I could put my imprint on it, even if it would take a while.

I think a lot of (of course not all) people who don't enjoy cooking have either burnt out from too much cooking, or theydon't have enough experience. Maybe they are also trying too hard, by putting pressure on themselves with new fancy recipes for dinner parties. I believe in repeating the same recipes over and over till they are mastered, and then moving on, slowly adding to the repertoire. This way you get the satisfaction from of making something really well.

I have a formal dinner party coming up tomorrow with business associates of DH, and I'll make sure everything on the menu is something I've cooked many times before so there will be no surprises or stress. This way I can enjoy the party also.

My training ground was staying a year between high school and college as an au pair / kitchen help at a family where the father was a somewhat famous architect, and 2-3 nights a week they hosted dinner parties for their celebrity clients. The biggest learning experience I got from that was to prepare as much as possible ahead of time, and keep a limited repertoire that was predictable.

On the rant..."For those of you who don't love to cook, why would you spend a fortune on a kitchen?! Why not spend it on something you enjoy, or spend at least a chunk of it on people who need a kitchen or a house!"

Spend a chunk of it on people who need a kitchen or a house just because I don't enjoy cooking that much anymore?

Is the inference is that it's understandable and okay if you LOVE to cook to spend fortune on your kitchen?

Why would/should anyone spend a "fortune" on a kitchen when that's not a requirement for the preparation of healthy and delicious meals, especially when and there are so many out there "who need a kitchen or a house".

Too funny!! I can tell you that sue_ ct hit the nail on the head with her comments!!! I still cook 4-5 nights a week, and still enjoy cooking, but I do NOT have the zest for it I did when I rented a small 600 sq. ft. apartment with NO counter space!! Of course, I was single at the time, an insomniac and had no house maintenance or baby to keep me preoccupied. Cooking full course meals after work and baking cakes and cookies at 2AM was the norm (so was running 8 miles a day  oh how times have changed).

Fast forward to now - married, 12mo. daughter and double the house size = little time to cook other than the basics and no time to experiment in the kitchen!

Like most on this forum, our kitchen was designed for function, did not cost a mint, is not a "Dream Kitchen" but is a pleasure to work in and is aesthetically pleasing too.

On the topic of $$$ spent, lets NOT go down that road and start passing judgments. Folks spend their $$ on what they chose to spend it on. Some have plenty of it to go around, others sacrifice or make trade offs to fund the material things or activities they desire. (We all have different opinions on what is excessive and could rant for days i.e. - You spent how much on a new car that depreciates the day you buy it and it gets how many mpg?!!)

That said, I did have a wonderful time whipping up Christmas dinner this year for 19 complete with Prime Rib, Honey Baked Ham and Roasted Turkey utilizing every nook and cranny of our new kitchen.

I LOVE to cook. One of the reasons why we built our house is because I NEEDED a kitchen well-equipped enough to handle my obsession. I actually destress by cooking and baking and I always make too much so I give most of it away.

It's just the two of us for now and I try to cook as often as possible. Sometimes that is hard to do because we would have 2-3 meals in the fridge so there would be no need to cook more. That's when I resort to baking. ;)

There's got to be a 12 step program for people like me. :)

This is very interesting. I have for a while had the sense that many of these lavish kitchens weren't so much for hardcore cooking as for other reasons, and the answers here confirm that, I guess! In a way, it sort of makes sense - the more beautiful a kitchen is the harder it is to "mess it up" to cook in it :) (not passing judgement here, just an observation!)

That said, who was it who posted that wonderful picture of cookie baking in a beautiful new kitchen?? :)

We're cooks in this family, although the time constraints of real life mean we don't have anything LIKE enough time to cook the way we want to. There was a time - pre-children, pre-two-full-time-jobs, pre-too-small-and-awkward-awful-old-kitchen - when we made most of our own bread, constantly experimented with new recipes and cuisines, and had dinner parties at least once a month to share new recipes with our friends and seldom ate out. This just isn't possible any more, but we DO still like to eat our own creations and have only been limited by the severe problems in our now-demolished kitchen (ie no storage, no space, small appliances etc etc).

And I will say that after less than a week with a FUNCTIONAL kitchen - workspace, a full size oven, decent light, decent storage, decent everything - cooking is something I can't WAIT to get back to doing more of! DH feels the same. Also, we can now invite DD to join us in "creating" more often (she's fascinated by cooking) because there's SPACE for more than one person in there!

Auntiebubba: You're absolutely right! (And as DH points out, I have a treadmill that's been languishing unloved so people in glass houses...) I am about to start our remodel so it's probably just envy of kitchens that don't have doors falling off etc.

Hello! I'm a visitor from the building a home forum, but as we are finally starting to get into the fun part of the building process... I'm expanding into other forums!!

Cooking (and Baking) is one of my favorite things in the world to do- even in my current kitchen with my horrible, inconsistent appliances. I absolutely cannot wait until our house is finished, and I can cook every night in my new kitchen with my obsessed-over appliances! Had I known that you could make a living as a chef when I was graduating from high school, I think that would have been my chosen career path!

With that being said, I don't think that you have to be the world's best cook, or even simply enjoy cooking, in order to desire a highly functional and aesthetically pleasing kitchen/workspace. I do think that the kitchen should fit the overall theme and cost of the home and should be within the range of homes in your area. If you deviate very far from what resell will allow, then I think that deriving a genuine enjoyment from the space on a daily basis is a prerequisite...I will not define "genuine enjoyment" as it will be different things to different people.

I love to cook - most of the time. Now that it is mostly just two of us, the pace is different from what it was when we were running madly from one of our kid's activities to another. I tend to experiment more since I don't have to have dinner on the table by a certain time to accommodate sports practices, games and homework schedules. I like to find new dishes that we love that I can make again when the kids come to visit. They now look forward to the new, as well as the tried and true.

I don't need all the latest and greatest for the kind of cooking I do, though. For the lake house we just built I had to keep to a budget and made sure my "must haves" were there - a dual fuel range, stone countertops (I went with soapstone)lots of storage, a big sink, and prep space that would work for, at least, a couple people. Extras like a separate baking station, coffee bar, wine cooler, instant hot, etc. got scratched from the list. Finally got to use the kitchen for the first time over Christmas, and didn't miss any of those.

I have several good friends with gorgeous state-of-the-art kitchens. They enjoy them for the ambience, and on the rare occasions when they cook, they like having all the conveniences at hand. I don't see a problem with it. The spaces suit their homes and they are happy with them.

I'm a chef and I love to cook. I went to culinary school in the early 90's and then decided to go back to college and law school. So, I'm actually a chef and a lawyer. I married a Canadian and moved to Ontario and I can't practice law here( American degree). I went back to cooking and as much as I love cooking, I realized I want to cook what I want and when I feel like it. I dont want to cook what someone else tells me to cook.

I hated cooking in my old kitchen, I love cooking in my new kitchen.

We just returned from a 10 day trip and ate out almost every night. I couldnt wait to get home and cook!!

I'm in the loves to cook camp. The friends I cook for with regularity had to endure my whining about my dysfunctional appliances and lack of storage for so long they were actually pleased when my oven started incinerating everything I tried to bake. They knew it would jump start my kitchen remodel. The appliances choices were very deliberate with an eye toward functionality and design. What I've found is that by having a more functional kitchen, I'm able to keep it tidier and it enhances my cooking. I cook close to every day -- at least dinner. It may not be elaborate but I'm preparing something. I entertain probably twice a month. The new kitchen is getting a workout and I'm loving every minute of the time I spend prepping and cooking.

I do really enjoy cooking, but I don't enjoy the prep work or clean up at all. Fortunately, I married someone who doesn't mind those things a bit. Since he can't put the ingredients he preps together to save his life, I get to do the fun part.

There are only two of us, but I can't seem to cook most dishes for fewer than about six or eight. Giant pots of chili, gumbo, jambalaya, spaghetti sauce, soup, etc., are regulars on my stove. So, I do a lot of freezing in single serving containers, which works out great for reheating yummy meals later on our crazy schedules.

The one thing I don't like doing at all is following recipes. I will consult recipes for ideas of what ingredients to put together or how to handle a complex procedure, but I don't think I have ever followed a recipe to the letter. I love the experimentation aspect of cooking. This is one reason I don't do much baking--it requires so much more precision.

I can't wait to get started cooking in the new kitchen. I think the new layout will be so much more conducive to enjoying kitchen time.

I'm not trying to hijack but on the topic of why my new kitchen will have a baking area: Holligator said, "I don't do much baking--it requires so much more precision."

Well, that is true. The family bread recipe will make with Gold Medal all purpose flour if you don't have Gold Medal bread flour yet it won't be good with King Arthur bread flour. But...

I made a great quiche crust by substituting fine grated romano for half the shortening :) I figured cheese is fat, right?

And while I was living abroad I learned how to bake an impromptu cake: If you know what goes in cake, and ever licked the beaters as a kid you can do it. Flour, sugar, eggs, shortening (butter, marj, oil, whatever), some flavor (a little salt plus vanilla or old mushy strawberries or a handful of granola and what's left in the coffee pot, etc.). Stir it all together and whatever you do don't forget to put in baking powder. It doesn't really matter exactly how much so long as you don't forget it. If the batter looks and tastes like cake batter and you didn't forget the baking powder it's a cake! Bake it in a moderate oven until the skewer comes out clean. Just don't expect to repeat it if it's particularly good :)

Oooooh: I want to try that cake non-recipe. It is so imprecise! Sounds like fun.

I LOVE to cook, IF certain conditions are met (which they almost never are!):

1. I like to be alone in my TINY kitchen with almost NO counterspace (I have a 3 year old, and a 6 year old who also love to cook).

2. I like to be alone with my burning hot vintage stove (I have a 3 year old and a 6 year old who love to cook).

3. I like to work without distractions (I have a 3 year old and a 6 year old--both very, very active boys).

4. I like everything to taste FABULOUS--caused by too many years reading Cook's Illustrated.

5. My two boys basically consume the following: mac and cheese, hot dogs, yogurt, fruit, plain noodles. That's about it!

So where does that leave me? Screeching at them to get away from the hot stove. Trying to be organized when I have a few feet of counter space, and 2 kids are pushing chairs up to it so they can help me stir. Cooking dinners that they refuse to eat. Getting grumpy when the chicken breasts go past 168 degrees. I think I've got the world's most dysfunctional work triangle: it is bilevel. My only refrigerator is in the basement b/c it won't fit in the kitchen. The only way this nutty set up works is b/c I'm a stay-at-home mom, and I literally have all afternoon to get ready for dinner. So I'm Donna Reed (sans the pearls) making trips up and down the basement stairs to get produce to chop on a few sq feet of counter. Nothing can get done in my workspace (cluttered with children) without lots of TIME.

How do you folks with little kids manage it????????

*sigh*

Did I say I love to cook? TheHusband has been off work this week, and I've really had fun cooking while he distracted the boys. Of course, they still refused to eat the food!

I think I'll have lots of fun in the kitchen once my 3 year old goes off to college. Which everyone tells me will happen sooner than I think.

:-)

Francy

I didn't read through all the responses, but will answer the OP. I HATE to cook, but I LOVE a beautiful kitchen and think that kitchens do play a major role in resale.

plllog...now, that it my kind of baking! If I can experiment and dump things together until they taste right to me, I'm all for it. When I see a recipe that calls for a "level" teaspoon of something, I say "forget it!"

A friend asked for my "famous" seafood gumbo recipe. When I told her I didn't have a recipe, she looked at me like I had two heads. I told her that I would be happy to make it while she kept me company and took notes.

Making an 'impromptu' cake will now be one of my first adventures in my new kitchen! :)

I enjoy cooking a lot, I love to bake. My old kitchen made doing both difficult and tiring. My new kitchen (2004) makes cooking and baking much more pleasant. Even after almost 4 years, I still walk into the kitchen sometimes and just smile, because I like it so much.

I live alone now and I cook dinner for myself almost every night, I rarely did that in the old kitchen. I like fixing a good meal when the kids come over, too. I think I've become a better and more adventurous cook. I have good appliances and a good layout and I know it won't be an ordeal.

I have to think that if you didn't like cooking before, a new, well designed kitchen isn't going to change that.

Since my old kitchen was actually falling apart in places, replacing it was a priority, and there was no sense putting crappy cabinets and appliances in, I'd end up with the same problems in just a few years. The last kitchen in this house (barely) lasted almost 30 years, I expect this one to last as long, with or without me.

My kitchen was always the center of all the activities in my homes, through the years - meals, homework, socializing, all took place in the kitchen, so I tried to make sure that could continue in an inviting place. Everyone still hangs out in the kitchen when they visit, and seem comfortable.

How do you folks with little kids manage it????????

Francy, I think this is when the joy of cooking turns into the job of cooking. It's incredibly hard but sometimes it just easier to include the children in the cooking process. One reason why we got an induction cooktop was the fact that you can't accidentally turn on the stove or leave it on without the cookware. It's also just cooler.

DS (4 years old) can scramble eggs (with me or DH holding the pan) - he cracks the eggs and uses the eggbeater to beat the eggs, pours it into the pan. I pour a bit of salt into his hands and he pours it onto the eggs and then stirs with a spatula.

DD (10 years old) suggests dishes (out of her American Girl cookbook) and now she's old enough to help me with the actual prep work and cooking. She likes to bake cookies and pies. She pretty much does everything but take the finished product out of the oven.

Oh yeah, they both also like to throw away the papers/wrappers and wipe up the counters. This may be a good place to start.

I suspect things will be a lot easier once you get a new kitchen (the going downstairs-to-the-refrigerator sounds like it gets old very very fast).

Someone called our kitchen plan a "trophy" kitchen once. Apparently if you have the fancy appliances and beautiful "stuff" you're assumed to be too interested in appearences to actually cook.

I am an award winning baker (ok it's been a few years LOL but I can't wait to bake again in our Lacanche) and DH is a fabulous cook. We also LOVE to entertain, and when our home isn't a disaster do so once or twice a week. Our "trophy" kitchen, will be beautiful, but it's also built to be functional for us to COOK in :)

You can have beauty and function easily. For instance we have one counter that is our primary prep area...and it's stainless steel, where as the other counters are going to be a fabulous granite.

To me a trophy kitchen is easy to spot. It's full of appliances all made by the same manufacturer. High end normally (to make trophy status) and they're spotless :oP

Our appliances were all chosen for their function first, and looks secondly. Gad I'm not sure any of them are the same manufacturer....wait the trash compactor and the DW might be...

I totally believe that kitchens sell a home, but in ours, I've over improved significantly. I don't really care about recouping the funds, because we'll use it :) And enjoy it, and that's worth quite a bit to me.

Francy...I purchased a lovely thing for DS. It's a chair like thing that allows him to stand on it at counter level so he can help. The plus side of that being it's also a cage, so he can only stand where I place him, verses runing from the stove to the sink to the drawers to the table to the cat bowl to the litter box...well you know what I mean. It's a lovely theory....but it may not work. I'll probably know it's working if I can manage to bake a cheesecake without cat litter in it.....

I'll probably know it's working if I can manage to bake a cheesecake without cat litter in it.....

Ha! My friends have all accepted the fact that there is a good chance they will find a dog hair in any dish prepared at my house. They keep coming back, so I guess they're OK with it. I'm guessing they might just sing a different tune if they found cat litter. :)

Igloochic you are a hoot! I hope your son is doing well healthwise these days. Did I read one of your postings that said you were moving to Duluth? As in Minnesota? The Great State of Hockey!!!!and Minnesota Nice except for our -20 snowstorms and state bird the mosquito, but I suppose you are used to that in Alaska, right.
Back to the topic-
Sometimes I love to cook and sometimes I hate to cook. I can't wait to get started(and finished) with our kitchen remodel because I know it will be a lot more fun to cook in a pretty new kitchen that finally has enough storage and enough room to work. Sometimes the thought of making a meal just makes me cringe because the kitchen is so crammed with stuff and there is no room to prepare anything without moving things around. I guess I like to be able to spread out and have everything handy. I am definitely not the type to go rummaging around for a certain pan or utensil that is stored in another room or the back of the cupboard. I will tend to change my mind and cook something else. Lazy I guess. I enjoyed cooking much more before the kids came along too. They are no longer so little that I have to be worried about them in the kitchen or anything but it's just not fun to cook a meal and have them say "yuck" and go for a bowl of cereal instead. They are just too finicky and won't even try new things. Even if I don't let them have the cereal, they won't try anything new. What's a Mom to do?
I have always lusted over beautiful kitchens and there are certainly things that I want in my new kitchen that I wouldn't have thought of before Gardenweb, but I think I am also fairly realistic in what things I need and what things would just be overkill. I know the budget and my husband will help keep things realistic as well.
Maybe once there is actually room to have help in the kitchen, my kids and husband will have more interest as well. Naah, probably not.