It was with not a little despair that Stephen and I looked at our messy kitchen this morning. It had been thoroughly cleaned before bed last night and yet…there it was.  But as I commented to my beloved, it’s because we use it.

This morning we had ongoing: soaked pancakes, a double batch of sourdough bread, water and juice kefir, slow cooker stew, a test batch of birthday party cupcakes and milk warming to make yoghurt.  That makes for quite a mess and we hadn’t even finished breakfast.

When Stephen designed our house I asked that the kitchen be in the centre of the open plan ground floor.  I wanted it to be literally and figuratively the heart of the home.  I can be happily working in the kitchen (or less happily cleaning the mess which seems to take even more time!) and can see what the boys are up to.

We cook here, eat here and even do work at the kitchen counter.  It feels like everything flows out from this space, it is the engine of our family life.  As I become more and more fascinated by the traditional style of eating and the use of cultures, soaking and even more home made goods, our  kitchen is even more a place of production than ever.

Imagine how much mess I’ll make when I have a cow!  I hope your Monday morning is productive and tasty too.