Where the Magic Happens!


I loved this recent post by Kelly Peloza of the Vegan Connoisseur which gave a tour of her kitchen. Her apartment like mine is in a block built in the 1930s and the kitchen area is very small. But, like her I agree that kitchen space should not be a limitation to what goes on in there!

When I moved in I had to spend money replacing the bathroom and unfortunately there was nothing left over to redo the kitchen. It's old and shabby and only has 2 cupboards. I've got a week off coming up in November and I'm hoping to spruce it up a bit then. Up to now I've focused on creating storage space. I've ended up branching out into the hallway and creating a little pantry in one of the built in storage cupboards there.

All available surfaces get used. The window ledge is nice and deep and has room for growing herbs and ripening fruit. I like to use a vintage cake stand instead of a fruitbowl, it's a good excuse to have it out all the time. The big ceramic strawberry is a compost crock from Lakeland plastics.

This butchers block has oils, vinegars and baking stuff on the bottom shelf and teas and coffees on top.

I put up several of these metal bar shelves from Ikea. They are great as you can attach the s hooks also from Ikea to hang your mugs, oven gloves, sieves etc. The big sweet shops jars contain rice, noodles, sushi stuff and the middle one is full of cookie cutters.

It's nice to have a bit of crafty fun in the kitchen too. Uh oh, someone's escaped from the biscuit tin!

Another Ikea buy is this slim but deep filing cabinet. It's full of herbs, spices, supplements and more teas. You can cram loads in there.

Well, hope you've enjoyed this little tour. I'm always interested in space saving tips if anyone has any.

Comments

  1. x13 October 2011 at 22:32

    I love seeing other peoples' kitchen and I think you have made such a great use of your space! I have an almost identical butcher's block from Ikea too and some of those shelves as well :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Jackie Smith13 October 2011 at 22:35

    Your kitchen is so sweet! I love the idea of a kitchen tour.

    ReplyDelete
  3. vegan.in.brighton13 October 2011 at 22:44

    I love seeing other peoples kitchens & we have the same scales & blender!! I may have to do a post like this soon too.

    ReplyDelete
  4. omgoshimvegan14 October 2011 at 00:47

    I love it! I feel your pain. My place had a pretty small kitchen and I finally just got it remodeled. I have been in there a ton now because I'm loving spending time there. Best room in the house!

    ReplyDelete
  5. urban vegan14 October 2011 at 13:56

    Thanks for the tour. I love peeking in other people's kitchens. Though I live in an open-floor-plan loft, my kitchen area is small so like you, I use every space well. Love your caffetiera collection. I'm drinking a soy cappucino made from mine right now :)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Velovegan21 October 2011 at 13:55

    What a wonderful kitchen you have... a kitsch kitschen! :D x

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Cola de Mono

Image
Colo de Mono (Tail of the Monkey) is a Chilean concoction traditionally drunk ice cold at Christmastime. Obviously their winters are a lot warmer than ours so in the UK it's more suited to this time of year. The Chileans use aguadiente an overproof cane spirit. I use Cachaca 51 which I have in for Mojitos and Caipirinhas. Traditionally made with cows milk, here is my vegan version. Colo De Mono Makes 1 pint Serves 4 2 cups of vanilla soy milk 1/3 cup of caster sugar 1/3 teaspoon of cinammon 3 teaspoons of instant coffee 1/2 cup of spirit* Bring the milk, sugar and cinnamon to a low boil in a pan stirring until the sugar is dissolved. Turn off the heat and stir in the coffee. Leave to cool. Once cool add the spirit and chill in the fridge. It will keep for 2 weeks. Serve over ice or straight up but make it cold. * Spirit - I use Cachaca but have heard that people use tequila too.
Read more

Interview With Lisa Goddard of Lily and Dilly

Image
If you've eaten vegan cake in Manchester City Centre in the last few years then chances are you'll have eaten cake baked by Lisa Goddard of bakery Lily and Dilly . We caught up with Lisa to find out what set her on the vegan baking path! So, Lily and Dilly? What made you set up as an independent bakery and where does the name come from? Having worked as a stop frame animator for 12 years, I was getting rather fed up with short term contracts, so the last time I was made redundant, I decided not to chase work round the country, and if that meant a career change, then so be it. A friend of mine had just set up The Cocoa Emporium as an independent Chocolatier, so I gave her a hand whilst navigating through the benefits system, mostly to get me out of bed on a morning! Doing baking for her farmers market was fun, as it was one of my main hobbies, so when she asked if I fancied getting a little shop  with her, it seemed a nice chance to start something new. We got the shop
Read more

Growing your own, bargains and a breakfast recipe

Image
I've started sprouting again! In my old flat I used to do sprouting all the time. The flat was in an old 1930's building and had radiators run from a central boiler room and it was always nice and warm. The constant warm temp made sprouting pretty fail safe. Now I'm in a Derbyshire stone house where it's not as warm the results haven't been as great and I gave up trying  but with this very hot summer we are having I thought I would give it another go and I'm glad I have done. As I already have the seeds it kind of feels like free food too! I'm using these sprouts  from A Vogel. This week I've grown alfalfa but pictured is my first attempt from the week before which was a mix of radish, lentil and rocket which grew into lovely peppery tasting sprouts that we used to garnish our bowl meals for the week. These took 4 days to grow and I nearly gave up on day 2 because I could see mold. Luckily I googled and found out that it wasn't mold at all but r
Read more