Kitchen stuff I dream about...just rethinking my counter space

Kitchen stuff I dream about…just rethinking my counter space

With Christmas around the corner, everyone has some kind of wish list, whether it’s very short or really long. Other than diamonds and pearls (hint, hint to my husband Sean), I’ve been eyeing a few kitchen items for a long time, but need to strategize how best to use my limited counter space. For most of my adult life I’ve lived in small apartments with small kitchens. My current kitchen in Harlem has a relatively good amount of cabinet space by Manhattan standards, but counter space is always an issue. For some of us, unless you live in suburbia or you run a hedge fund and live in a large Manhattan townhouse, you may not have an enviable Barefoot Contessa kitchen, complete with enough counter space to comfortably chop anything you want on a large cutting board without knocking over other stuff. I’ve developed a keen operational sense of small kitchen living and how to use as little counter space as possible to prep ingredients for various stages of cooking — most of the time it involves a number of cutting boards in different sizes, and a careful balancing act over my kitchen sink.

My kitchen counter in Harlem, New York

My Harlem kitchen – please meet my counter space

I have a wish list, but have been holding off, deterred by lack of space and my tendency to buy only what I absolutely need (a combination of my immigrant upbringing + watching the global economy twist and turn since 2008). I’m also holding off because deep down I have this magical idea that I will inherit Ina Garten’s sunlit, spacious country house and kitchen one day, complete with fresh herb garden. If you don’t know who Ina Garten is, she’s a famous American chef and TV personality with a very popular show called the Barefoot Contessa. Since she came on the scene, anytime I meet someone new and tell them my name, they respond with “Oh! Ina? Like Ina Garten, the Barefoot Contessa?” Well, I suppose it’s understandable since my name is also Ina. Just pronounced differently. She calls herself ‘Eye-na’ whereas my parents call me ‘Ee-na.’ Ironically, my husband Sean’s grandmother’s name was also ‘Ina’ and pronounced ‘Eye-na.’

Ina Garten's Kitchen

Celebrity chef Ina Garten, the Barefoot Contessa in her studio kitchen…a little different from my Harlem kitchen

There are three things I’m dreaming about buying but haven’t yet…

 

My Current (Christmas) Wish List

#1. Cuisinart FP-14 Food Processor, Elite Collection 14 Cup. My friend Kara has this and swears by it. She’s telling me to go for the 14-cup elite version because you essentially get 3 food processors in one machine. Between her winning endorsement and the average ‘5 star customer rating’ on Macys.com, I’m sold. It’s just a question of when…

Cuisinart-FP-14DC-Food-Processor

#2. KitchenAid KSM150PS Stand Mixer 5 Qt. Artisan. I’ve seen this for years in varying models and colors — seems like KitchenAid adds a new color every few months. My friend Kaaz has this, which he uses to make beautiful homemade pasta from scratch. He went to MIT like Sean, is there anything these guys can’t do well? Kaaz says this KitchenAid mixer works great.

KitchenAid Mixer

#3.  Williams Sonoma’s Molcajete. As they describe it, “mortar and pestle carved from volcanic rock is among the world’s oldest kitchen tools. Our molcajete (mortar) and tejolete (pestle) are hand carved from a single piece of basalt rock, making each piece unique.” As a child, I remember watching my aunts in India use these kinds of ancient tools to grind spices and powders by hand, sitting on the floor of their kitchens. This never seems to go on sale at Williams Sonoma, so I might have to bite the proverbial bullet and just buy it.

Williams Sonoma Molcajete