Just for fun - daydreaming, foodie style...

January's a slow, enjoyable month, and I've had time to daydream. What are your foodie dreams ? If you had unlimited funds, what would you have ? My friend Dave would have his own smokehouse, and maybe our Paul W would have a Chinese-style "wet" kitchen (complete with water-cooled wok unit). Me, I'd have my own wood-fired oven in the backyard, and maybe a tandoor as well. And on a smaller scale, there is this Emile Henry Flame Claypot which I've been eyeing off for a while now. What about you ?

That one's easy: a wood-burning pizza oven. A wok station would be in second place. No need for a tandoor here.

But first, I'd sure like to have a real stove instead of the toy I'm stuck with...

Interesting question Celia!

I would have grown children who have moved out and a food-loving hubby...oh wait, you said if I had unlimited funds! LOL!

I would love to have a large wine wine cellar with a tasting room and lots of wonderfully rare and aged wines. I would also like a first class plane ticket to England where I would buy two sets of the WOLL pot and pans that you posted about. They look fantastic!

That one's easy: a wood-burning pizza oven.

Hey! He stole my answer!

Just a full time personal chef who could build the kitchen of his/her dreams- that's all.

Actually, Liz and I have just had delivered/installed our new fridge, range and range hood, all in stainless steel, and are very content (at least for now).

I would have Randy Buckner's set up in my colors.

I might take aspects of these and put them together.

Cool Kitchen.jpg

White Kitchen.jpg

There would be some other modifications.

rwj

Great ideas ! I must admit, I've pretty content too with my kitchen and what I have in it; it's been a long time since something has truly aroused my foodie lust. Jim's chocolate tempering machine would be nice, but I've got no where to store it. But I've just remembered there IS one thing I would have - have always wanted - a walk in coolroom. Imagine the possibilities !

Robert, interestingly, I don't like U shaped kitchens. I find them very space inefficient - or perhaps just bad for me. I tend to fill the corners with junk, and lose usable bench space. When Pete built the new kitchen for me a few years back, he tried to make sure there was as few inward corners as possible - we like to say he designed the kitchen around my limitations. Shelves are narrow, so I can't bury anything, and pot shelves have no doors, so I can't put anything but pots there..

An island with a 2" thick satin finish marble slab. Between candy making & pastry it would be a dream come true.

I have a small 1/2" thick piece for candy & a counter board for pastry. It would be great to have enough room to roll out dough when making puff pastry or to setup metal bars when pouring caramel. I don't have a single pan that doesn't warp somewhat at that high of heat including some of the same type I used in restaurants.

Jim

Ooooh, Jim, what would be even better is if you had some sort of thermastat on the slab, so you could cool it down when you need to work fudge or candy on it...

I guess if money were no object, I'd have to go for a different house that had a kitchen that was more workable than ours. Ours is relatively small with four doors going into it that insure workspace is very limited. For various reasons, that layout can't be changed.

Short of that, I'd wish that our mythical kitchen re-model that we've been discussing for the last six years or so would actually occur. (Like Stuart, a stove would be high on the list, but my wife's company had a really good year and we may actually finally replace our 70's vintage Tappan with its two broken burners and broken oven door.)

I would have Randy Buckner's set up in my colors.

WA Trip 032.JPG

I would have Randy Buckner's set up in my colors.

WA Trip 032.JPG

You betcha!!! By golly, wow!!

Goodness, I can't see how you could improve on that, Jo Ann. Even the colours seem perfect !

I guess if money were no object, I'd have to go for a different house that had a kitchen that was more workable than ours. Ours is relatively small with four doors going into it that insure workspace is very limited. For various reasons, that layout can't be changed.

Short of that, I'd wish that our mythical kitchen re-model that we've been discussing for the last six years or so would actually occur. (Like Stuart, a stove would be high on the list, but my wife's company had a really good year and we may actually finally replace our 70's vintage Tappan with its two broken burners and broken oven door.)

Mike, maybe you'll appreciate our story. We had a bargain priced kitchen put it when we moved into the house - we were newly married and all of 24. When you're 24, you truly, truly believe that you'll keep that "lovely" white tiled floor clean. It drove me crazy. There was no bench space. The layout was notoriously inefficient - any more than one person in the kitchen at a time, and it was crowded. The underbench oven was rubbish, and in the end we had to jerry-rig it with bungies to keep the door closed.

One day, about four years ago, we were in the seconds section of our local electrical goods store, and saw a factory second Smeg free-standing electric oven with five gas hobs. Big too, 90cm across, what I refer to as a "Four Fruitcake Oven". It was $1000 off the usual $4000. We put a deposit on it, spent a year paying it off, then another year storing it, because we didn't have any money to do anything with it. It necessitated a complete kitchen remodel, since the old oven was 60cm wide, and built into a wall. It took six months after that, with my husband doing almost all the work, but I finally got the kitchen I wanted. It's still not very big (we decided against knocking down walls), but it now works brilliantly. Four people can now comfortably move around each other within its space. Everything has a spot, and it flows well (no taking a plate out of the dishwasher, then having to close the dishwasher before you can put the plate away etc).

Don't be put off by a small space - ours is only 97 ft2 (9 m2). Maybe sliding or bifold doors could increase your usable space ?

Celia

I would like a kitchen slave. Someone to clean up after me, get me stuff when my hands are greasy, do the shopping, wash the pots and pans, that kind of thing.
Someone who never complains, no matter how big the workload.

Yes, I'll have one of those.

I guess if money were no object, I'd have to go for a different house that had a kitchen that was more workable than ours. Ours is relatively small with four doors going into it that insure workspace is very limited. For various reasons, that layout can't be changed.

Short of that, I'd wish that our mythical kitchen re-model that we've been discussing for the last six years or so would actually occur. (Like Stuart, a stove would be high on the list, but my wife's company had a really good year and we may actually finally replace our 70's vintage Tappan with its two broken burners and broken oven door.)

Mike, maybe you'll appreciate our story. We had a bargain priced kitchen put it when we moved into the house - we were newly married and all of 24. When you're 24, you truly, truly believe that you'll keep that "lovely" white tiled floor clean. It drove me crazy. There was no bench space. The layout was notoriously inefficient - any more than one person in the kitchen at a time, and it was crowded. The underbench oven was rubbish, and in the end we had to jerry-rig it with bungies to keep the door closed.

One day, about four years ago, we were in the seconds section of our local electrical goods store, and saw a factory second Smeg free-standing electric oven with five gas hobs. Big too, 90cm across, what I refer to as a "Four Fruitcake Oven". It was $1000 off the usual $4000. We put a deposit on it, spent a year paying it off, then another year storing it, because we didn't have any money to do anything with it. It necessitated a complete kitchen remodel, since the old oven was 60cm wide, and built into a wall. It took six months after that, with my husband doing almost all the work, but I finally got the kitchen I wanted. It's still not very big (we decided against knocking down walls), but it now works brilliantly. Four people can now comfortably move around each other within its space. Everything has a spot, and it flows well (no taking a plate out of the dishwasher, then having to close the dishwasher before you can put the plate away etc).

Don't be put off by a small space - ours is only 97 ft2 (9 m2). Maybe sliding or bifold doors could increase your usable space ?

Celia

Sounds like it worked out well, Celia. I think ours will be fine, once we get going on it. What's held us up has been mostly my wife's unwillingness to get started until she's sure she knows exactly what she wants to do. I think we have that narrowed down now, and once it's done it should be a huge improvement. And with luck, the stove thing will start the dominoes falling. The new stove will be a little bit larger than the old one. That means we should probably move the fridge, which means taking out a cabinet, which means......

Honestly, I'm pretty happy with the tiny kitchen in my little apartment right now. I have pretty much everything that I need within an arm's reach. For the things behind me, all I have to do is pivot. It's a lot like a restaurant kitchen in that sense. No wonder it feels so good. But it is fun to day dream.

rwj

I would like a kitchen slave. Someone to clean up after me, get me stuff when my hands are greasy, do the shopping, wash the pots and pans, that kind of thing.
Someone who never complains, no matter how big the workload.

Yes, I'll have one of those.

My husband has one of those. It's called a WIFE!

[Robin Garr]

Robert, interestingly, I don't like U shaped kitchens.

I love my U-shaped kitchen! For all the reasons someone (Robert?) gave in this thread - it's like a restaurant kitchen - everything within reach, yet plenty of room for it. I can make every move I need to make from prep to plating with only pivots, no more than a step or two. (Yet the U is within a larger room, so it's not a cramped feeling.)

When Pete built the new kitchen for me a few years back

I'm trying to remember if he had just done that or was just about to when I was there last. I remember that I loved your kitchen, so I guess he must have just done it.

On the "attainable" side, I would like a warming drawer.
In the "probably not attainable" catagory I'd go with Stuart on the wood fired pizza oven. (Although I have to wonder much use it really would get...)

Honestly, I'm pretty happy with the tiny kitchen in my little apartment right now. I have pretty much everything that I need within an arm's reach. For the things behind me, all I have to do is pivot. It's a lot like a restaurant kitchen in that sense. No wonder it feels so good. But it is fun to day dream.

rwj

Yeah, I don't really mind the size of our kitchen although it's a touch awkward. It's too big to qualify as a galley kitchen but too small to do an island or anything like that. It's all I really need, though, even when my wife is trying to bake while I'm trying to cook. We've gotten very good at avoiding each others' elbows and not cross-contaminating.

How good is it that we can all daydream, and yet still be content ! I'm happy this thread didn't make anyone feel bad about what they've got...