Kitchen

5 Kitchen Organizers for Functionality and Space Optimization

After we renovated our small kitchen, we were worried about getting the most out of our limited storage space.

A few changes in the layout meant that our available cabinet space was likely decreasing ever-so-slightly, and we were already at near capacity even before the renovation.

To help with this, we looked at novel storage options to help better serve our space, and a few have been game changers. Some of this has been for the storage issue, and others have been for ease of access as well!

So, in this one, we thought we'd share a few kitchen organizer purchases that we truly love having in our limited space!

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7 Uses for an Instant-Read Thermometer – Our Go To Tool

When we first picked up an instant-read thermometer for our kitchen, we thought it'd be a handy gadget to measure the temperature of meat and seafood to help us get a better cook every time.

But, as it turns out, these devices are quite handy and can be used for an array of applications in the kitchen, and our thermometer has become one of our most used products.

So if you are thinking of picking up an instant-read thermometer but want more ideas of how to use it, we've got you covered!

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5 Things to Do With Koji Rice – From Amazake to Miso

Koji is an amazing culinary product rich in enzymes that transform food textures and flavors.

Traditionally used in Japan to make miso, sake, and myriad other traditional Japanese ferments, koji has seen a recent growth in popularity in Western kitchens, resulting in lots of creative new uses for koji.

Here we outline some traditional and not-so-traditional ways to use koji in your home kitchen, including a brief primer on what koji is and how to source it.

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7 Things to Buy When Building a Temporary Kitchen Setup

There are a number of reasons you may find yourself without a full kitchen and needing to build a temporary kitchen at some point in your life, whether you're doing a kitchen renovation, living in a temporary space like an RV or camper van, or something else even we cannot predict.

If you're like us, the thought of eating out three times a day during a kitchen-less transition period is enough to make you cry. That's why during our recent kitchen renovation, we set up a temporary kitchen where we could cook simple meals at home while waiting for our dream space to be finished.  

The process to set up our temporary space took a lot more thought and planning than we had anticipated, and there are things we wish we had thought about beforehand. In this post, we outline how to set up your temporary kitchen and things to think about to make it as smooth of a process as possible.

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7 Pros and Cons on Having a Second Refrigerator and Freezer

We aren't going to lie- we got terribly frustrated being a one-refrigerator house.

For many years, we were content with having a fully loaded refrigerator and freezer with minimal free space for extra items. But when the COVID pandemic hit, we knew we had to expand in order to increase our storage capacity (particularly so we could buy meats in bulk).

But as it turns out, we found out a number of benefits by adding a second freezer and refrigerator into our basement as well as a few unexpected cons. So in this one, we thought we'd share a breakdown of each!

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10 of the Best Cookbooks to Improve Your Cooking at Home

What makes a good cookbook? As someone who reads cookbooks at bedtime like they're novels, my idea of a great cookbook is one that is more than just lists of ingredients and instructions- I love it when authors inject their personalities and ethos into the writing interspersed amongst the recipes. This truly helps convey their expertise and gives a sense of origin to each and every recipe.

A great cookbook also teaches you something, whether that is a new technique, a new ingredient, a new flavor combination, or a new way of thinking about a dish or ingredient. If we were simply relying on lists of ingredients, we have to admit we could probably figure out a recipe on our own- so learning anything beyond ingredient lists is key.

Finally, a great cookbook is one that I keep going back to time and time again until the pages are worn. These are the cookbooks in our house that have oil splatters, tomato sauce stains, worn spines, and countless dog-eared pages to name a few. If you're going to spend money on a cookbook, it better be one you reference all the time to get your money's worth! 

So, keeping all that in mind, we have ten cookbooks that we go back to again and again and consider must-haves in any kitchen!

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5 Reasons a Kitchen Designer May Be Worth The Price

We have been planning a complete kitchen renovation for far longer than I'd like to admit.

First, we delayed our project because of financial issues (there are a lot of zeroes involved with a kitchen renovation). Then we delayed our project due to COVID. By the time we finally got around to pulling the trigger to start our renovation, we felt like we had a very good idea of everything we wanted. Those extra years gave us a ton of time to think about it (and save for it!), after all.

But we had this nagging feeling that we could still do better. That we were, perhaps, missing some glaringly obvious issues or that a contractor would not fully understand our vision and something would get lost in translation from what is in our heads to the final delivered product or layout. We have seen this repeatedly at friends' houses, and we did not want to make a mistake simply from not knowing any better.

So we decided to hire a kitchen designer for added peace of mind and, in particular, get contractor-ready drawings for our project at large. 

As it turns out, we loved having our designer, and when it comes to looking at whether or not they were worth the fee, we thought we'd share some of the things you'll likely get out of your partnership!

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How Long Until a Sparkling Water Maker Pays Itself Off?

Raise your hand if you are mildly addicted to sparkling water.

This was us at the beginning of the COVID pandemic when we found our consumption of sparkling water increasing to record proportions (often to the tune of four or five boxes a week). So when we realized just how much money this was costing us, we thought there had to be a better way.

Enter the Aarke sparkling water maker, and after just a few minutes of research, we knew acquiring one of these seltzer makers would really be a game-changer for our consumption.

But the real question to us after the fact was not “how good is the machine?” (we love it), but whether or not it was actually a worthy investment to begin with. So we did some math to see what the payback period would be for different scenarios!

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