Dear Paul, I am Having Fun in a Kitchen Again – My Tiny Kitchen!

Dear Paul,

I’ve been thinking: it has been nine months since you died and things are so much clearer to me. I am stronger and yet vulnerable. I am more assertive and yet defer in certain situations. I am happier and yet miss you so very, very much. But, I have to tell you one thing: moving in to this small cottage, this place of my own has given me my kitchen ju ju back. And, you know how much a kitchen gives me joy!

Honestly, I cannot believe what I can pull off in this tiny kitchen, which has been nothing short of shocking. I have that small wood block island but it is in a corner holding my Kitchen Aid mixer & a lamp; it is too heavy to move when I need it so that is not an option. Instead, I am using a beautiful wood butcher block cutting board, well, a huge piece of custom built block as an extension in my kitchen. This sits between my sink and my tiny stove top. This one single piece of wood has been a lifesaver in this kitchen.

Friday night is still a blur because the week was absolutely exhausting. I think I ate what I could throw together, watched a movie and went to sleep by 9:30. Saturday night there was much more activity in mi cocina. After dinner listening to music at the Sandbar Grill, Zeke & I went home to make a quick salsa from the garden: I roasted my tomatoes, and used the Cuisinart to chop onions & an odd looking pepper from a friend’s ranch. On Sunday, I added fresh lime juice plus cilantro to finish it off. Gifted the neighbors all afternoon! Sunday night, I made a tomato-avocado panzenella salad with arugula that I bought from the Capitol City Market yesterday. WOW it was delish.

Thank goodness I was able to get your barbecue because that has been my outdoor cooktop this summer. I found a beautiful table and chairs from Ennis that fit perfectly inside the tiny house, in the “dining” space. I was gifted a wonderful teak table and six chairs for the outdoor patio; all it needed were new cushions to liven the set. I have the seating thing covered for my dinner parties, which I am hosting again, too.

Somehow, some way I am going to do a bit of canning this Fall in my tiny space.  I think that food dehydrator will work perfectly for all the pears in the backyard tree. I am definitely going to make a batch of the garden herb salt this weekend.

What I am trying to tell you is that I have my ju ju back from having a kitchen of my own again. For me, playing in a kitchen gives me the peace and joy I need right now. It’s just delightful!

#griefiswaning #cooking #tinykitchen #happiness