help, please -- tiny, tiny kitchen

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Author	Topic: help, please -- tiny, tiny kitchen
fleamktgirl Housemate	posted 10-10-2004 07:50 PM am about to move into a wonderful, cheap apartment that has one drawback. no real kitchen. a small fridge, which is fine with me, but i hate microwaves and need to buy a burner and toaster oven, i guess. what i'd love is your advice. have researched toaster ovens but if i do minimal cooking, is there a multi-purpose something that i can get instead of a burner? for instance, can i boil water and heat up soup in a crockpot? use an electric kettle instead? what does everyone think? IP: Logged
kena Housesitter	posted 10-10-2004 08:37 PM Laurie Colwin has a wonderful essay in her book "Home Cooking" about her first tiny New-York appartment, where she cooked all kinds of wonderful meals - mostly on a hot plate - in her so-called kitchen which didn't even have a sink. Probably not extremely useful in itself, but her description of her experience is so charming you won't resent the size of your appartment. (And the rest of the book is a most read for any foodie) IP: Logged
Aryn Housemate	posted 10-10-2004 08:50 PM A hot pot! This is what got me through college. It's small, it costs $10, and it heats up water really quick. I used it to cook everything, pasta, soup, mac&cheese... anything liquid. As far as a toaster oven, I'd buy the biggest you can afford/fit if it's going to be your only oven. That way you can bake something in it if you want to. There's all sorts of other gadgets these days, so you don't even need a stove, like george f0reman grills, bread machines, smores makers, and all sorts of sandwich presses and things. I have a quesadilla maker, which my husband loves. My sister's hurricane kitchen (when the power goes out) is her fondue pot. I guess you just have to think about what you're going to be cooking, and what you'll need. It'll be different for everybody. For what it's worth, we don't have a microwave in our kitchen (not enough counter space) and the only time I miss it is heating up leftovers, but most of the time I can do it in either the hot pot or the toaster oven! IP: Logged
gemini Housemate	posted 10-11-2004 05:18 AM I'm a huge fan of my waffle iron with reversible slabs. It makes, you know, waffles. But more importantly, the waffle parts can be flipped over and it will be a sandwich press. Or you can open it up and lay it flat and it becomes a griddle that you can fry anything on. Mmmm . . . fried stuff. Here's a link: waffle iron (Sorry, I don't know how to make it pretty.) edited to try to make the link pretty. thanks merimoo! [This message has been edited by gemini (edited 10-13-2004).] IP: Logged
Aryn Housemate	posted 10-11-2004 06:16 AM yee-fan's article today is great! she mentioned some stuff I forgot. IP: Logged
tippygee Housemate	posted 10-11-2004 08:25 AM quote: yee-fan's article today is great! she mentioned some stuff I forgot. Gee, fleamktgirl, sure you weren't an advertising plant for today's nourish article? I saw it and went, "Wasn't there a thread started about this yesterday?" Tee hee. IP: Logged
quarkiegirl Housemate	posted 10-11-2004 09:18 AM quote: Originally posted by gemini: I'm a huge fan of my waffle iron with reversible slabs. It makes, you know, waffles. But more importantly, the waffle parts can be flipped over and it will be a sandwich press. Or you can open it up and lay it flat and it becomes a griddle that you can fry anything on. Mmmm . . . fried stuff. Here's a link: link (Sorry, I don't know how to make it pretty.) that's an awesome waffle iron. so, since it has 2 griddles, can you put bacon on it and then close it? i like my bacon flat so it cooks more evenly. [This message has been edited by quarkiegirl (edited 10-11-2004).] [This message has been edited by quarkiegirl (edited 10-11-2004).] IP: Logged
Merimoo Housemate	posted 10-11-2004 09:23 AM gemini, to make the link pretty, when you edit your post, the URL will be repeated twice. The first time is the actual link, the second time is the text that shows up on the screen, in between the square brackets like so: ]remove this link and replace with your text[ Does that make sense? IP: Logged
sneakers Housesitter	posted 10-11-2004 09:34 AM Tangent: I read this as "tiny,tiny kitten" and thought about all sorts of solutions I know about for baby kittens that won't eat. But for kitchens? Nothing new to add, but that waffle iron sounds awesome! IP: Logged
Isabelle Housemate	posted 10-11-2004 10:50 AM Tiny kittens and waffle irons don't mix well, though. In our last place, we had a kitchen smaller than a guest bath. We couldn't even open the freezer door all the way. The one thing that saved my sanity was one of our wedding gifts. It is sort of like a Ge0rge F0reman Grill, but with removable plates - one set is grill-like, one set is for waffles, and one set is to make hot sandwiches. Since storage was such an issue, we got a pretty armoire and kept it in the dining room to act as a pantry. IP: Logged
fleamktgirl Housemate	posted 10-12-2004 08:33 PM I'm so embarrassed to admit that Laurie Colwin is my favorite author of all time, and yet I forgot about that essay! I must dig it out -- oops, my books have yet to be moved. And it's funny, I'd thought of a hot pot just last night. Thanks for everyone's advice. . .I need to figure out exactly what I'll be cooking. And I guess that'll be after I figure out just where to fit everything else. P.S. Love the tiny kitten tangent -- but no tiny kitten here. (Huge cat and medium dog.) IP: Logged
gemini Housemate	posted 10-13-2004 05:37 AM Ooh, another book about eating in less-than-perfect circumstances is MFK Fisher's book "How to Cook a Wolf." It is about eating and living during WWII rationing, but it is so beautifully written and really full of practical suggestions. Mostly, though, I liked it because she did such an amazing job of reminding the reader that it is possible to create beauty and dignity in your life with even the scantiest supplies. IP: Logged
quarkiegirl Housemate	posted 10-13-2004 06:12 AM that books sounds really interesting, gemini. i'll have to check that out. i sometimes forget that not that long ago it was pretty much impossible to buy ready-made foods! IP: Logged
pollyhyper Housesitter	posted 10-13-2004 07:22 AM quote: Originally posted by Isabelle: It is sort of like a Ge0rge F0reman Grill, but with removable plates - one set is grill-like, one set is for waffles, and one set is to make hot sandwiches. Do you remember the brand name or anything? IP: Logged
Isabelle Housemate	posted 10-13-2004 03:03 PM Just back from checking... It is a Philips 3-in-1, and I think it can be found at Tar-jay. Even in our new, bigger kitchen, I use it several times a week. IP: Logged
pollyhyper Housesitter	posted 10-14-2004 06:56 AM So Isabelle, I couldn't find it on the Target site so I did a search and ended up finding this. Dammit! I have been searching for a grill with removable plates for FOREVER. IP: Logged
quarkiegirl Housemate	posted 10-14-2004 07:03 AM polly, i found this, but it doesn't show a picture of it with the plates off. that george, he thinks of everything. IP: Logged
pollyhyper Housesitter	posted 10-14-2004 08:54 AM Gawd, I hate to always be the bearer of bad news like that. Checking out the GF. IP: Logged
Isabelle Housemate	posted 10-14-2004 02:33 PM Aw, man. I just checked the bottom of mine, and indeed, I have the evil electrical-fire model. Hmmm. Are easy, tasty meals worth setting fire to the rental house? I guess not. Drat. IP: Logged
bekkaboo Housesitter	posted 10-14-2004 03:01 PM Nothing to say except I commiserate on the tiny kitchen, and EVERY press-type grill appliance should have removable plates (I'm looking at you, quesadilla maker) IP: Logged

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