Quotable of the Day – Tea

 

I’m not sure what it is about a nice hot cuppa in a favourite mug that is so comforting.  It’s an entirely different experience from grabbing something on the go, and all the better if you can share it with favourite friends.  There’s often talk about the cafe culture in different cities, and I believe it’s the perfect way to connect.  Meeting up with a friend at a coffee shop is a great way to connect while you solve the worlds great problems.  Inviting a friend for a cuppa & biscuit at home was a great way to connect when you’re a stay-at-home Mum, especially if your kids play nicely while you sip & chat.  Even when I’m home alone (ahhhh, the bliss!), if I really need to sort something out, I prefer to sit with a cup of tea in my favourite mug, and make a list, or just look at the task at hand, sketch, or soak up the winter sun & watch the birdlife in my garden.  It’s a great way to centre yourself.

It doesn’t matter if it’s tea, coffee, chai or something else … a nice brew in a favourite mug is a beautiful thing

Show & Tell Monday – Tea Station

My kitchen is kind of small.  When we moved in I had to adjust from a monster sized kitchen with walk in pantry, to this small walk through kitchen with tiny pantry.  Thank goodness for the previous owners who built in a new linen press … remember them from ‘Know your Pantry‘?  A couple of years ago we had some extra cabinets built around the dishwasher & fridge, which not only added storage space, but solved another dilema.  You see, when we have a big family gathering at our house I am generally cooking all morning like a crazy lady, and inevitably as I would be juggling preparation of several dishes on my limited bench space someone would want a cup of tea.  The kettle & tea/coffee stuff were right in the corner, and I’d have my workflow interrupted by the tea making.  Not only was it a little annoying, but it was pretty dangerous navigating hot cups of tea, hot dishes and small nieces & nephews zooming through the kitchen!  So when we added to our cupboards we added bench space over the dishwasher & bin cupboard, and a shelf for recipe books above it (and there’s a cupboard above that).  Oh the bliss!  Now the family could make a nice cuppa and I could keep on cooking and serving up, much safer and more convenient.

BUT … over time it has become a bit of a dumping ground.  Instead of taking the recycling down to the little bin in the garage, it would get dumped here.  Hubby’s coffee machine started to gather dust as soon as he realised it took more time to make a coffee than it took to drink it, and let’s not discuss the sink full of washing up that was created making that one coffee!  Our fave mugs would sit up on the bookshelf, and had to be moved every time I wanted to retrieve a book.  It just wasn’t working.

So, I brought the recycling bin up out of the garage (gave it a long overdue clean *gross*) and it now sits in the kitchen (in a nice nook created by the extension).  The coffee machine is gone, the mugs are in a better place, and the whole things just works better.  No longer is it a dumping ground.  I can access all of my recipe books with ease.  It works!

Is there a part of your kitchen that just isn’t working?  Could a quick shift of appliances make your life easier?  Are there things in your kitchen you just don’t use?  I’d love to hear about it in the comments below, and you can always share your pics over at the Cake & Enemy Facebook page.