At first after being invited by @marlyncabrera to join the cooking challenge -show me your kitchen contest, I thought there's no way I would be able to make a post about my tiny kitchen. Then I thought about how we all have different lifestyles and backgrounds, which makes it interesting.
I have had many kitchens from staying in different types of places. I even had an outdoor kitchen in Bali. Now I have a small studio apartment kitchen which is not the worst kitchen that I've ever had. Our apartment is one room including the kitchen. Our bed is less than 10 feet from the kitchen. That may sound disturbing to some. We would have to move far from the area and our work to afford something bigger, so we chose convenience and location.
The day we moved into this place I discovered that the two large burners on the stove are not functioning. I have not said anything after a year, and I won't unless they all go down. I don't like to bother the caretakers.I use two small burners for everything on the stove.
My oven does work but I don't have temperatures on the dial. I have to use a thermometer inside the oven. When I'm not using the oven, it serves as a storage for my pots and pans.
I have had several items given to me, and several items purchased from the thrift shop used.
One of my favourite kitchen items is my bullet blender. I have owned at least five cheap ones that broke within the last two years. I finally spent more money to get a good one.
If I don't feel like getting the blender out, I just use my cheap hand blender. I bought it from the pharmacy across the street. It's reliable.
One new purchase I made was a pasta roller. I like having it but it does make me frustrated. When Marc see's me getting it out, he gets nervous.
We have no space for a kitchen table in the kitchen or a shelf for extra storage. I got lucky when I worked at the former restaurant. My boss was selling a few items through my manager, so I bought a kitchen trolley for 20 dollars. It was like a prize.
I use it for storage underneath. I also use it to set up my laptop and watch bad movies while I cook.
We have a little counter on the other side of the kitchen which would normally serve as a place to eat but I use it to keep my gadgets and coffee maker. I only have two drawers and one of them is used for spices.
How did I develop any sort of cooking skills?
It certainly didn't come from my father who raised me. My mother cooked for a living in Thailand, but got sick when I was four in Canada. I learned nothing from her in the few years before she passed. My father met her as one of her customers.
My father taught me how to heat things up out of a can, and make a sandwich. Eventually I started looking at cookbooks. In high school we had a class in home economics where we learned a few kitchen tips.
When I was 25 I became unemployed and on unemployment insurance. At that time they offered courses for no cost if you were under 30. Most of the courses sounded boring and I hated school so I signed up for the food preparation course.
This was a nine month course which involved boring classroom stuff and kitchen time. Kitchen time was much more fun. We cooked food and ate it. The kitchen part was taught by a British chef whom at one time cooked for celebrities such as the Queen of England and the singer Stevie Wonder.
The course taught us the basics, such as knife skills, sauces, broths, and the first thing we learned was how to make an omelette. We even barbecued an octopus. I refused to eat it. I had never even seen an octopus at that time and it was freaky to see the tentacles. The chef was not happy with me that I wouldn't eat it. He was a nice guy though.
A friend of mine started a small baking business making mostly muffins. It was small run out of a rented kitchen, in the basement of a strip club. Yeah that's right. Girls were taking off their clothes upstairs and we were baking muffins downstairs. Some of them would come to get a muffin from us wearing next to nothing . I didn't know where to look, during these interactions. This was my first kitchen job, where I learned about producing food in large amounts and about baking. I don't consider myself a baker to this day.
Intermission
Fun facts
- I do not own a matching set of dishes glasses, mugs or utensils.
- I eat a lot of salad but have never owned a salad spinner ever.
- I have never owned a real chef knife and my favourite knife is from China town, purchased for 8 dollars.
- The last pots and pans I got were from the garbage.
- We never have dinner guests ever, I mean never ever.
My first line cook job in a restaurant was twenty years ago. Since then I have been on and off working in various places and for the last 12 years in restaurant kitchens.
The real inspiration to learn about different foods came when I stopped eating animal products. I discovered a whole world of food that I didn't bother with throughout my life.
I have learned many things from the amazing and talented Hive chefs from around the world. If it wasn't for Hive my inspiration to prepare food would have not been what it is now.
Now for the part where I invite someone at the last minute to join in. It's crunch time. I will invite @lizelle, @hindavi and @aera8. @nurfay has already been invited, but I will ask once more. I hope it's okay to invite more than one. I just know it's kind of late so perhaps one of those people will.... show us their kitchen!.
Thanks for dropping by and have a nice day.
design by: @KidSistersPhotos taken with a Nikon D7500 by me except for the ones of me, taken by my other half.