My New(est) Studio

Sorry, this is not a tour of my sewing studio. I would love to give you one, but alas, I actually create there so it is not picture ready. That is part of why I love my sewing room. If the kids need me, I can walk away from my projects and close the door so that I can come back and pick up where I left off. Maybe I can virtually give you a virtual tour!?! Here is how I want you to picture it: Shelves neatly stacked with fabric (there is a rack of 6 strong shelves); fun containers neatly kept on a shelf (well, you see the picture, the containers are repurposed from jobs they no longer need to do); thread holders hanging from the wall with colors grouped and arranged neatly (the thread holder is there, you can see the top row); ribbon organizers organized (the organizer is there and ribbon abounds, it also exists in a big box unorganized); my three machines with plenty of space around them standing ready for their next task (they are ready and willing at least). Well, I digress...

My newest studio is the kitchen!

We all have them. Ours is the center of the house. For some, the kitchen is the center because they just love food. That's not really us. Ours is convenient to all the places we actually live during the day and it collects everything. Food at our house is characteristically normal and at times just food. The saying "eats to live" most aptly applies to us, we don't "live to eat." (Thanks, Mom for that saying) Meals are generally nutritious, balanced, at least semi-homemade, and occassionally completely frozen or ordered in.

I recently started focusing more on what we cook, how we cook it, and trying to find ways to better utilize our resources, even waste less. (I see saving money as a sport, so if I can be more efficient with our food and money, awesome!) To reduce garbage can waste, we even bought a compost bin. So far, the racoons think it is the best thing ever. Once we figure this contraption out, I will write more about it.

Like many moms I know, I dread dinner-time. It seems like it sneaks up on me EVERY DAY. From the time the kids wake up from naps until they go to bed, my house is organized chaos. The moment my husband walks in the door, the kids attack him, and I seize the moment to sneak into the kitchen to try to steal a few precious moments of thought.

A week ago, with very little time to prepare dinner available, I decided on pasta and meatballs. For us this meal is a magical mix of warming, heating and baking that results in a decent meal in less than thirty minutes. The water was boiling on the stove and the Pillsbury Crescent Rolls (the Reduced Fat kind to avoid Trans Fats) were in the oven. The meatballs had been pulled from the freezer and were patiently waiting in their microwave safe container for their tomato sauce bath.

Open the fridge, no sauce. Pantry, no sauce. A few other likely places, no sauce.

Darn. Think. Think. Alfredo? Nope. Darn.

Kids are hungry. Trying to balance "helpers" a dog that is always in the way and no sauce to be found. Back at the pantry I get new hope, cans of diced tomatoes, stewed tomatoes, and tomato paste. Thank you Publix BOGO and the impulse to have some "on hand" just in case something I decided to cook called for these ingredients. It was internet to the rescue for a recipe and moments later I had created something that resembled, and tasted like tomato sauce.

It was this moment that I realized a kitchen, with the help of my trusted computer, can really be a studio. A great place to create.

Time to work on being more awesome in the kitchen.

So, this past week, I have tried to think of cooking more as creating. It has put a new perspective on this daily chore.

Since then, I have tried my hand at homemade soup, and thanks to Sam's Club Warehouse, more than six quarts of pasta sauce and croutons made out of fresh bread that started to go stale too quickly (buying fresh bread in bulk apparently doesn't really work for us)!

I actually thought to take a picture of the sauce ingredients, maybe that will be another post!?!?

On that, its time for me to go practice in my cooking studio. The monkeys will be hungry soon.

Happy creating!