someone's in the kitchen with dining

I was going to save the best for last.  But the kitchen struck me as being the next obvious room on our tour.

So, here it is.

I will confess that it did not strike me as the best room in the house when I first walked through in August.  There were quite a few things that struck me as -- well, odd.  But I have changed my mind on each of them.

We are now back to geometry.  If the bedrooms are the corners in our square, the kitchen (on the west) and the living room (on the east) constitute parallel sides of the square.  Because of the overall design of the house, both rooms are much longer than they are wide.  The lack of width, of course, is lessened because both rooms open up on the full courtyard.

I love to cook.  Darrel loves to cook.  Christy loves to cook.  That meant I needed a house that was designed to be more than a one-person kitchen.  And I found it in this house.

That is not surprising.  Remember, this home was designed to house four unrelated couples.  The kitchen needed to reflect that philosophy.  It does.

This should give you a good idea of the general layout of the kitchen.

It is anchored by a mock granite working-eating space that runs almost the full length of the room -- with a double stainless steel sink about one-third from the work center end.  Everything in the room is designed to evoke smooth surfaces.  The counter.  The sinks.  The glass-fronted storage.  The wooden workspace.  The refrigerator surfaces.

The kitchen is the room where all of the architect's philosophy comes into practical play.  I say "practical" because the kitchen, of all rooms, must be as utilitarian as it is aesthetically pleasing.

And this kitchen works.  Because it was built as a multi-family kitchen, there are ten bar stools to allow occupants to either eat in the kitchen (not my eating place of choice) or in the courtyard.  I suspect I will eventually move out some of the stools to allow for more kitchen work space.

This is the working end of the counter -- the burners.

I use the microwave for warming up leftovers, and, even though there is a fancy electric convection oven, I am not much of a baker.  Having said that, our family likes to consume huge chunks of meat.  I see many a prime rib in our future.

But most of my cooking will be done on these three burners.

When I first saw them, I thought they would be inadequate for the type of cooking our family does.  I was wrong.

Unlike my previous two stoves, these burners are professional quality.  They put out enough heat that I can revive my sautéing and stir fry techniques. 

My original thought was to replace them.  Not now.  I have plenty of other projects that need my pesos.

My first impression of the storage area was luke warm.  I was impressed by the amount of storage space.  Kitchen storage is rare in Mexico.  Large pantries are almost unheard of.

What bothered me was the glass.  It did not seem to fit with the rest of the wall.  But it did not take me long to figure out that the uniting theme is smoothness.  The surfaces of the pantry doors and the refrigerator doors actually complement one another in their contradiction.  The fragility of glass.  The strength of steel.

What I never doubted was the utility of the refrigerators.  Again, this much refrigeration in a Mexican home is a rarity.  But, as you can see, I have already put them to good use.

The remnants of my giant soup extravaganza are there on the second shelf.

If all goes as planned, and that never happens, I will be spending hours in the kitchen cooking for my own enjoyment -- and the enjoyment of guests.  Even though I am a solitary person, I do enjoy company.

I foresee some interesting movie nights and supper parties in my future.