I am not sure how it took me 3.5 years to realize a good and proper counter top with a bench that’s height is just right for small people to see up high is an absolute necessity.  In fact, it has been such a wonderful asset to our lives that I would recommend all new mothers and fathers consider this type of thing when starting a baby registry.  Forget the pack and play, think about how you will cook supper for the next decade!  Truly, having their “help” has been a joy now that it is simple and convenient.  In other houses we have lived in since becoming parents it seems that the space is just not there or the set up is just not right.  (You know poor Miles has called five places home in his short three and a half years, and Rowan trails behind with three in his two.  Oh putting that in writing makes me feel incredibly guilty for making them go through all that!)  But as many of you know, attempting to entertain a child, or even set them up with some sort of activity while you give supper a go is nearly impossible.  Children want to be close to you.  And by close to you I mean ideally they would like to be touching you at all times.  So, a space where they can see you and be with you and help you is precisely the thing to make an easy transition into the next meal.  And this go it, I feel our kitchen is nothing short of perfection.  Not too big mind you, but much larger than the closet sized ones we are accustomed to.  And trust me, I like to spread out.

Yes its true, when my dear man and I first began living together, had our first grocery trip together, had our first meals together, he slowly gathered a fact he would come to know quite well over the years: I cook like a slob.  I can admit it, it’s completely accurate.  I can’t be bothered with little details such as tidying up while I am in the midst of creating a masterpiece! (Or so I like to think…)  When serving a meal, I have been known to announce, “This may look messy but you should have seen the kitchens I use to work in after a Saturday night in the summer!”, to which my husband sighs and reminds me I made four meals.  Four.  In comparison to the hundreds of plates we put out,  I am not allowed to weigh the two, it really just doesn’t make sense.  But, I don’t care, I am sticking to it.

Regardless, this counter top is treating us well.  I have diced many a vegetables and kneaded several balls of springy dough and rested many beverages upon it already, all with the help from two little munchkins who are undeniably becoming avid little cooks themselves.

Miles and I like to toast a job well done with a full wine glass of kombucha and a long trail beer respectively.  (Oh the breweries here are plentiful!)  It always wraps the night up quite nicely.  

So whats cooking in your neck of the woods?