Come Take A Tour of My Family's Kitchen

A home is where the heart is...the kitchen is where the family is...and as Paula Deen says, "Love and best dishes from my kitchen to yours".

I just wanted you to see where all this home cooking goes down in our home.  I designed our kitchen when we built our house in 2007.  I love it and would only make a few changes now that I've used it so often.  You can always find me here at least 50 times a day!  And just so you know, I decluttered it to take these lovely pictures.  We have 3 kids, 2 adults, 2 dogs, fish, and frogs all living here.  You should have seen the piles of stuff on the kitchen table while I was taking these pictures...oh my goodness!

Here's our kitchen looking through from the kitchen table.  Notice the wrap around bar...friends and family can sit here and visit with me while I cook.  And we all love to eat up here and visit while the kids play at the kitchen table, which is just behind this area.  Playdoh can always be found on our kitchen table unless it's dinner time. 

This is where you will usually find me standing when I'm cooking.  My sweet husband had this cutting board custom made for me by one of his friend's father.  I measured the area I wanted it to fit, chose the wood, and chose the stain colors.  I take good care of it by using vinegar to remove smells and bacteria, and then I seal it each week using mineral oil.  See how nice and shiny it is...I just treated it today.  I also keep my cookbook stand here so I can easily follow my recipes.  There's also room for a pen on the recipe stand so I can make changes as I go along.  I always change up recipes to fit our tastes and to use what we have on hand.  The prep sink and paper towels go hand in hand.  I usually keep a prep towel hanging on the edge of the sink too.  I wash lots of kitchen towels each week!  The stove and spice cabinet is right behind me here.  I can chop and drop all the ingredients very easily by using a pastry scraper to gather the food.

This is where my girls stand when we are cooking together.  This is my little Jordyn's step stool.  We keep Taylor's stool in the walk-in pantry so they can reach the taller shelves, and bring it out when she needs it.  Madison is tall enough that she doesn't need a step stool.  She's grown like a foot this past year!  The dishwasher has helped me out ALOT these past few years.  I run it at least once a day.  The poor thing has already been repaired 2 times.

On this wall with the refrigerator, double oven, and microwave is our 5 burner gas stove top.  All of these burners and both ovens are hot and cooking during Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners.  There are built-in spice cabinets on each side so I can quickly find what I need.  I also keep my knife block and favorite cookbooks here.

Here are 2 of my favorite celebrity chefs and cookbook authors:




Our kitchen opens up to our family room and has a look through arch.  I can keep an eye on my girls while I'm cooking dinner.  And I won't miss a play of the Cowboy game while I'm in the kitchen cooking and serving up good food for our family and friends.  I like to move the decorative candle sticks to the side so I can see everybody and the TV!

This is the view from the look through arch from the family room.  You can picture me standing at the cutting board, right?  Our fridge is always decorated with pictures of our kids and drawings they create for us.  I can't even imagine how many times our fridge is opened and closed each day.  It must be so tired!  Our microwave is mainly used to heat and reheat.  This is our 2nd one in this home.  Our 1st microwave broke down 4 times before I decided we needed a new one...microwave repairmen sure do charge alot.  I love our convection ovens!  I just recently decided that I actually enjoy baking.  It's impossible to burn cookies or cakes in one of these.  Cookies turn out perfect every time.

It's time to get in your kitchen and cook up something warm and hearty for your family.  And if you have kids, get them involved.  I've learned they really do eat better when they helped prepare it.  It doesn't matter what bells and whistles you have in your kitchen.  If you have a stove, oven, and well stocked pantry and fridge, you can make anything your heart desires.  Have fun!