Friday, May 30, 2008

Can My One-Room Apartment Have Its One Room Be A Kitchen?

I'm in my sister's apartment in DC, applying for jobs.

She's got a studio, which is actually a pretty nice place; hardwood floors, etc.

Except for the kitchen.

The primary problem with my sister's kitchen is that the refrigerator blocks access to the cupboards and countertops. Seriously. The kitchen has a single wall of cupboards above/below a counter, but someone had the good sense to put the refrigerator right in front of them.

The secondary problem with my sister's kitchen is that it's too small for anything but the refrigerator. The sink is tiny (and has only a single drain), making dishwashing torturous and time-consuming. Not to mention that every dish has to be hand-dried immediately after washing (see "no counter space, above," otherwise I'd be out buying a wooden drying rack immediately).

I've cooked every night I've been here; Madhur Jaffrey's "cheese vali gobi" the first night, yellow bell pepper pizza the second, and tonight, inspired by House ep. 2:15 --

HOUSE: What's that smell?

WILSON: Stuffed bell pepper.

HOUSE: What are they stuffed with, vomit?

I made stuffed tomatoes with farfalle, peas, ginger, pesto, fresh garlic, and parmesan.

So clearly I'm surviving.

But it's made me decide that the most important factor in my future apartment or group house will definitely be the kitchen. I don't care about a crappy showerhead or a window that looks out over a back alley. Give me countertops, and places for storage, and a sink with two halves so that I can wash and rinse. Give me a kitchen large enough that I can actually prep in the kitchen, instead of using a table in my sister's bedroom.

Before that, of course, give me a job. ^__^ But once that's in place... well, we will see what kind of kitchen I can find.

1 comment:

ctrlalteredmind said...

this post triggered a massive dose of deja vu! someone needs to patch this glitch in the matrix.