Kee Chen

[gonzo914]

Those of you who seem to be opposed to the idea of cat boxes in the kitchen probably are also opposed to boxes with actual frozen cats in the freezer, too, aren't you?

[emmline]

You know I hate - I really really hate certain types of kitchens
1. Pretty little dolly house kitchens
2. Glossy bossy nouveau riche kitchens
3. Dirty or untidy or cluttered kitchens.

I can explain these if you like.

Explain #2 please. I'm sure I've seen such a thing. Heavy on the stainless steel? Actually, I'm not quite clear on #1 either. Would this involve gingham curtains and farmhouse bric-a-brac?

I assured myself for years that I'd have a kitchen not characterized by loose insulation, exposed electrical conduits, rotted exposed framing, and crumbly old cabinets by the time I was 40. (that kitchen, btw, fell squarely into Talasiga's third category.)
We actually achieved a decent kitchen about 2 years after that (2 years ago,) although I only finished installing the floor last year.
I'm with Scottielvr on the drawer thing. Drawers are great. Counterspace is nice. Light is nice. A big sink is lovely. Room to circulate is essential in a house sometimes inhabited by 6.

[chas]

My kitchen is way too small

My kitchen is very small

I've never met a kitchen that's big enough. My first house I was ecstatic over the kitchen. Turned out you could barely get by with the dishwasher door open. Two peope could barely pass each other. Now I'm in a much bigger kitchen. The problem isn't so much the size as the layout and lack of cabinet space. Two people can't be at the sink at the same time. I can't be preparing food while my wife is loading the dishwasher. We'll be doing cabinets soon, which will involve a lot of rearranging, hopefully resulting in a second sink and more cabinets.

[missy]

What do people bake that makes their oven so dirty? I cannot think of the last time that I had something burned to the oven. If I am going to bake something that may boil over (pecan pie etc) I just put a cookie sheet down under it.

.

I do the same thing. The mess isn't from spills.

We do a lot of cooking on wood planks - that tends to make a mess because of juices "spitting" around the oven.

And the last time we cooked a ham (smoke cured, not water cured), it made a HUGE mess - should have taken more of the outer layer off of it beforehand.

[Doug_Tipple]

My question about three cat boxes in the kitchen was rhetorical. However, on a recent trip to my brother's house, I couldn't help but notice the three separate cat feeders on the kitchen floor. They have a large, modern kitchen in an expensive house. The three cat boxes (one for each cat) were positioned down the hallway. Cats were walking all over the kitchen counter tops. Not very sanitary if you ask me. But, I ask you, can you have cats in the house and reasonably expect them not to jump up on the kitchen counters when you are not looking?

More personally, I am moving into a house with an existing cat (16 years old), and the cat box is barely out of the kitchen by the back door. I don't especially like the situation, but, when you are living with another person, you do need to make concessions and not try to have everything your way.

With regard to the question about the health hazards of having gas appliances in the kee chen, here is a link to one website that I found. I knew that this was a problem because I did some literature research on this topic years ago when I was working for a pulmonary specialist at the University of Arizona Medical School. here

[Joseph E. Smith]

My kitchen is way too small

My kitchen is very small

I've never met a kitchen that's big enough. My first house I was ecstatic over the kitchen. Turned out you could barely get by with the dishwasher door open. Two peope could barely pass each other. Now I'm in a much bigger kitchen. The problem isn't so much the size as the layout and lack of cabinet space. Two people can't be at the sink at the same time. I can't be preparing food while my wife is loading the dishwasher. We'll be doing cabinets soon, which will involve a lot of rearranging, hopefully resulting in a second sink and more cabinets.

I'm not too particular about how my kitchen is, but I absolutely hate not having enough room to move around let alone cook.

[Cynth]

My question about three cat boxes in the kitchen was rhetorical. However, on a recent trip to my brother's house, I couldn't help but notice the three separate cat feeders on the kitchen floor. They have a large, modern kitchen in an expensive house. The three cat boxes (one for each cat) were positioned down the hallway. Cats were walking all over the kitchen counter tops. Not very sanitary if you ask me. But, I ask you, can you have cats in the house and reasonably expect them not to jump up on the kitchen counters when you are not looking?

No you can't. So you do need to wipe the counter with soapy water if you are going to do something on it. We have to do that---it is no big deal really. I could live with cat boxes in the kitchen if they were properly taken care of. They should not smell, they should be scooped daily, no matter where they are. If they are unpleasant for a person, they are unpleasant for the cat too.

More personally, I am moving into a house with an existing cat (16 years old), and the cat box is barely out of the kitchen by the back door. I don't especially like the situation, but, when you are living with another person, you do need to make concessions and not try to have everything your way.

That's for sure ! Also, I would hesitate to mess with a cat's catbox arrangements. It might be sort of set in its ways, and then with having a new person moving in and all, it might be best to keep as many things the same as possible. Worse than having the catbox near the kitchen would be if the cat started not using the catbox or something because it was scared or upset.

[Denny]

Those of you who seem to be opposed to the idea of cat boxes in the kitchen probably are also opposed to boxes with actual frozen cats in the freezer, too, aren't you?

...based on my inability to formulate a witty response that was not likely to set off a firestorm.

[gonzo914]

Those of you who seem to be opposed to the idea of cat boxes in the kitchen probably are also opposed to boxes with actual frozen cats in the freezer, too, aren't you?

...based on my inability to formulate a witty response that was not likely to set off a firestorm.

No more trollish or even trollsome, I would say, than Doug's rhetorical cat boxes, for these freezer cats actually existed, although I will admit in retrospect that I should have been more specific in describing the contents of said freezer, such as "frozen cats in boxes" or "boxes of frozen cats." I purposefully avoided the phrase "frozen cat boxes" because it is too imprecise and leads itself to misapprehension, for one never knows whether it refers to frozen boxes of cats or frozen boxes for cats.

My kitchen, although not large, is definitely not a number 1 or a number 2, and whereas during battle conditions it sometimes approaches a 3, especially when the brandy flares a little too high, ordinarily it is fairly tidy and well-organized. But, the occasion has twice arisen when it was necessary to temporarily entomb an ex-pet in the Westinghouse pending spring thaw and the making of suitable arrangements. Bad feng shui? Only if one doesn't pay proper attention when selecting the Sunday pot roast.

(Girl Scout leaders take note of this potential selling point -- Thin Mint cases are just the right size to make excellent kitty catafalques.)

[Nanohedron]

My kitchen is way too small

My kitchen is very small

I've never met a kitchen that's big enough. My first house I was ecstatic over the kitchen. Turned out you could barely get by with the dishwasher door open. Two peope could barely pass each other. Now I'm in a much bigger kitchen. The problem isn't so much the size as the layout and lack of cabinet space. Two people can't be at the sink at the same time. I can't be preparing food while my wife is loading the dishwasher. We'll be doing cabinets soon, which will involve a lot of rearranging, hopefully resulting in a second sink and more cabinets.

I'm not too particular about how my kitchen is, but I absolutely hate not having enough room to move around let alone cook.

I sort of like a smaller kitchen. As long as I can swing my French knife knife in an arc that covers 1/3 or more of the standing area, it's just right. You do NOT want to be kibitzing when I'm making soup.

[gonzo914]

Remember the Japanese chef for MacHale's Navy? They called him Kee chen? Remember?

I thought his name was Fuji. Are you referring to the Japanese POW that served as the crew's servant, cook and laundryman?

[hyldemoer]

I have a gas cook top because I feel its controls are more responsive/faster to my cooking needs than electric.
My next house will have an electric oven because they maintain degrees of heat for baking more evenly.

When ever I cook or burn moxa in the kitchen I turn on the massive exhaust fan over the stove and open the window a crack.

The walls, tiles and appliances are white. The cabinets are light oak with glass doors so I can see my grandmothers' china. The floor is maple. The table is a round butcher block with oak chairs. The chandelier is pewter colored metal, Arts and Crafts style, with glass shades covering the full spectrum light bulbs (I hate staring at light bulbs).
The windows are huge and curtainless but with frosted glass in them.
On the walls I have my collection on art tiles & plates and an assortment of shelves/altars displaying statues of various Goddesses.

When we had a security system installed it cured the cat I had then of going on the kitchen table when the morning sun hit it. A deafening siren would sound.

The kitty litter box is out on the backporch were we leave our outside shoes.
Yes, if you come over to play music in my house, wear clean socks because you will be leaving your shoes on the back porch or front foyer.

[Tyler]

This is my kitchen

...my auto grocer...

...i grow all my produce right there in these things...

my coffee machine...

...and this is where my cat leaves his byproducts...

...and this is my kitchen control unit (with all this fancy jazz, I have to have it computer operated)...

[beowulf573]

Our new place has a slightly smaller kitchen than the old, but it's servicable. I do wish the oven was larger.

Having recently become addicted to <a href="http://www.altonbrown.com/">Alton Brown</a>, I've been spending more time cooking much to my wife's delight (most of the time.)

It's somewhat sad that I'm exicted about buying a Kitchenaid mixer this weekend so we can start making homemade pizza dough and other goodies.

[Coffee]

...and this is my kitchen control unit (with all this fancy jazz, I have to have it computer operated)...

Hal! Open the oven door Hal!

Tyler? What are you doing Tyler? This is highly irregular.