i have been dreading the day that our journey to minimalism lands in the kitchen. so many gadgets in so many drawers and so many pots/pans/bowls on so many shelves – i have no idea where to start.
until today. i just found an awesome article at the new york times: A No-Frills Kitchen Still Cooks. mark bittman, a professional chef, decks out an entire kitchen for $300 with every cooking utensil that you would need to cook like a pro. not only does he list every utensil that you need, but he lists exactly how much to spend on it. and i love his philosophy that “it needs only to be functional, not prestigious, lavish or expensive.”
it’s a must-read for anyone tired of their kitchen clutter.
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I just discovered your beautifully-designed blog via The Simple Poppy. With such an appealing design, I’ll be happy to receive my email updates and make visits.
I agreed with almost everything in “A No Frills Kitchen…” One of the more frustrating things that happened when my husband and I got married was that people thought we’d want lots and LOTS of kitchen gadgets. Wrong. Though I wasn’t aware of it at the time, I was already starting an inward journey towards minimalism. The more I do in my kitchen, the more I realize how little I need. My favorite things are the simpler things: wooden spoons, a set of metal mixing bowls, and three good knives.
The one exception I took to Bittman’s article was the bread machine. After 3 years of trying various ways to get good, whole grain bread to our table, my husband and I decided a bread machine was a worthwhile addition to our kitchen. I tried making our own bread for a while and ended up in tears far too many times after an entire batch failed. Buying good whole grain bread was ridiculously expensive at an average of $3 for a relatively small loaf. With Christmas gift money, we got a good bread machine and we’re so glad we did! I can simplify our grocery list down to basics like flour, eggs, milk, and oil, but we’re enjoying things like whole grain pizza dough, pumpernickel bagels, whole wheat soft pretzels, and a hearty, whole grain, unbleached white bread. For us, simplifying meant getting 1 workhorse piece of equipment that does a lot of different things. It also meant less driving to the store at the last minute for bread.