Home sweet (labor intensive) home.

I haven't done a lot of exciting cooking from scratch lately.   A lot of what you see above (Rice, Veggies, Egg).  Why?  Because I've been cleaning my apartment, and not just a cursory running a vacuum over the floor cleaning. I've pulled stuff out of every closet, out of every drawer. I've washed my clothes, dishes, furniture, floors, and everything else (except maybe the high up windows).

*** A disclaimer. This post isn't about cooking, exactly. I'm good with that. There's more in my life.***

Here's the kitchen.  I live in an apartment so it's not exactly big or blessed with storage. Especially considering the specialty equipment I have.  But it's a fairly functional apartment kitchen. . . especially given the extra storage I put in the living room . . .

Here's the extra storage, in my living room. I like that The espresso machine (my best friend at times) is plugged in where it is.  On these shelves I mostly have appliances (Mixer, Blender, Food Processor, Ice cream maker, spice mill), baking dishes, and big serving trays. My cabinets are fairly shallow, so anything bigger than maybe 14 inches in diameter doesn't fit. 

Also on these shelves are my pet lizards. They're on the bottom. I feel that's more sanitary. Allow me my delusions, please.


 My living and dining area is slightly odd shaped, but it works.  See that bookshelf? That's where the cookbooks live. The reading books live in my bedroom. I'm not joking. You can ask anyone who has been to my place.

This is the bedroom. I nap here after a particularly heavy meal. Or a long cleaning day.  I'm going to need a rest.  I like my room, despite my noisy bed. It makes a sound any time I move.  I can sleep through it.  I can't sleep through the flock of parrots who likes to land on my balcony at 4 am. They're loud.  Would feeding them rice be wrong?






This is my desk. It is upstairs on a little loft. The loft houses my desk, electric piano, and washer/dryer.  It's nice to have a space away from distractions to study. I do about half my studying (but all of my printing) at my desk. I do about a quarter on my couch, and a quarter at the table.  I don't study in bed. I always fall asleep when I try.

This is the view from my desk. See how clean it is?  When I finish laundry I throw it over the side of the loft and fold it on my couch.  That's fun to me (the throwing, not the folding).  It's the simple things.

This is the balcony. That's a big butcher block under the tarp. It was the counter space in my last apartment, which had no counter space whatsoever. Now i use it for drinks and stuff when I throw parties. The hammock is comfortable, a really nice place to nap.  


I feel like my balcony is way better looking than this picture shows. of course, if I could keep plants alive, it'd be better still, but we're taking baby steps here.


So that's my place. Pretty conducive to cooking from scratch, I think. I love living here.

As far as food goes, I need to make more bread this week. And I think I'm going to tackle pasta. We'll see.