Welcome to In My Kitchen, a fascinating peak into kitchens around the world that is hosted each month by Maureen of the Orgasmic Chef.

My big news is the new kitchen in our vacation cabin. We spent a year in the planning and it is finally complete. Here are some before and after pictures.

Before – Fridge and stove wall

After – Fridge and Range Wall

Before – kitchen with door into pantry – the pantry door has been moved around the corner to create more room on the kitchen wall.

After – New Fridge – the old fridge was so close to the light switch that it turned off the kitchen lights each time you opened the freezer.

Before – Kitchen Island

After – Edge of New Island and Sink

The new wood floor really brightens up the space. In fact the entire room looks bigger.

There are a few tiny details to finish but we moved most things back in a couple of weeks ago.

My primary kitchen is in Oakland, and I am pleased to finally have some time to spend there. That is especially true as the summer season begins with all its lovely produce.

Coconut Water

In my kitchen I have coconut water. For drinking sometimes, but even better as a replacement for chicken broth or water. It adds a subtle coconut flavor to recipes and doesn’t overwhelm the other ingredients. Try it when cooking rice, especially jasmine rice. Or use it in a vegetable soup like spring carrot soup or this autumn butternut squash soup. I haven’t tried it yet but next I want to test the coconut water with a chicken curry.

In my kitchen I have the first of the vine ripened tomatoes from the farmer’s market, and fresh basil which is scenting my kitchen. That smell is the essence of summer to me.

Vine ripened tomatoes and basil

In my kitchen I have zucchini flowers, another treasure from the farmer’s market. I will use them in a summer risotto and a zucchini flower frittata.

Zucchini flowers

In my kitchen I have asparagus, the seasons are overlapping to my benefit. We roasted these on the grill using a recipe from The Frugal Hausfrau.

Asparagus

Lastly, in my kitchen I have sweet peas, the first from my garden. Actually they are everywhere in the house, not just the kitchen. They are one of my favorite flowers as they remind me of my English grandmother, she grew an entire fence of them at her bungalow in Teddington. It is a very fond memory.

Sweet peas