When we moved house in February I knew that I wanted to do lots of work to our new house and had some big decisions to make for what, when and how. As well as a loft conversion we had our heart set on a new kitchen and I took a very long time ruminating over exactly what I desired. It was dark and cold back then and I couldn’t face starting anything serious until the summer months arrived with sunshine to coat all the building work in a film of light but now the seasons are moving back into early sun sets with late rises and our big build is nearly complete. We had a summer of madeness but it will have all been worth it.
As I sit in my kitchen writing I am surrounded by a very nearly perfect kitchen that I could only have dreamed of when we lived in London and with just some painting work and arrangements of a few small aesthetics to go I am feeling very content. We had some problems along the way (what build doesn’t?) but nothing serious and nothing to do with any of the things I thought it might. Our new oven is a Range style, something I’d wanted for a very long time but something which would never have fitted in our old cupboard sized kitchen and finally, FINALLY, we have it installed.
The first one which arrived didn’t work and I had to wait a couple more weeks for a new one to be delivered (there was a bit of an issue with the company on this one) but it’s here now and I’ve been getting to grips with how to use it. I actually realised how old I am when my friend came over for coffee and we spent a good few minutes just looking inside it at all the shelves talking about how many different things we could cook at once. We both realised at the same time that we were being sad old ladies, checked ourselves and vowed to talk about something more interesting but… I can’t stop looking at that big oven of mine and planning the meal I will cook for our first Christmas in our big new house.
I’m going to do a peek through the keyhole very soon, when the decorating is finished and I have everything just so but I couldn’t resist writing down all the things I swear I won’t utter in person to anyone because it really does show my age and make me seem very unexciting. I love having a big oven and can’t wait for that festive day when I can cook my roasties, meat, veggies, pudding and all sorts of other trimmings because my oven can fit everything in!
I had a very small oven in London, particularly small in fact, to go with my particularly small kitchen and it’s a true revelation being able to not plan a juggle every time I want to cook a meal. It’s also dual fuel whcih means I have a gas hob and I totally couldn’t cope with anything else. I love the immediacy of cooking with gas and though my fire is real and my oven is fan assisted the hob HAD to be Mains Gas From Flogas. You can rely on gas, it’s immediate and always there when you need it. I wouldn’t feel right cooking on electric and I’m so pleased we stuck to our guns and got an oven which has this syle hob.
I suppose it’s what you’ve been brought up with and my Mum always had gas in the home so I was used to using it. When I was younger we always had a gas fire too and I love how that just used to spark up with instant warmth too. These days and we have a wood burning stove which takes far longer to get going and uses a lot more effort. It’s not an effort I was prepared to go to when it came to the cooking side of things.
I will show you around my new kitchen and new home room by room soon but for now I’m just pleased we have our oven in situ in the kitchen. Anyone for some beans on toast? Well, I may have the oven but I didn’t say it came with cooking skills!
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