Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Kitchen design and coffee

Those who have known me for some time know that I am new to coffee.  I never drank it.  Except on rare occasions when I'd add a little to a mug of hot chocolate.  I didn't care for the bitterness, though I always loved the smell.

Fast forward to a few years ago when our daughter was born.  When pregnant with her brother I developed a taste for watermelon, something I hadn't liked at all since I was a kid.  After Little Miss came along I began adding more and more coffee to my cocoa.  Then came a day when I just needed a break.  Hubby stayed home and I went for a walk.  I found myself at Tim Horton's (hard not to walk anywhere and find oneself at a Tim Hortons around here).  I was chilled and wanted a hot drink, but wasn't in the mood for the cloying sweetness and fake taste of their hot chocolate.  I don't know what possessed me to do it, but I got a coffee instead.  Doctored up with a lot of sugar and cream, mind you.  But it was, I think, my first cup of coffee.  And I enjoyed it.

Not long after that I began buying instant coffee and making a cup for myself in the mornings.  Hubby was in the habit of taking tea with him in the mornings, or making a coffee in his single serving coffee maker.  But I figured that coffee was coffee and instant was easier.  I was teased by friends on Facebook for drinking instant and not realizing that there's a noticeable difference between that and brewed coffee.  So I relented and brewed some up.  Wow, definitely a difference.

We went out and bought a coffee maker that brews up either one or two travel mugs or a thermal carafe.  And since then (a couple of years ago?) I've had a mug of brewed coffee most mornings.  It's still just Foldgers, mind you.  I'm not a coffee snob.  And while I'm sure a gourmet single plantation brew would taste nice, I'm not so much of an enthusiast that I am willing to spend that much for my morning cup.  Though I may treat myself to some fair trade beans at some point, if I get a grinder.  I don't imagine I'd go in for one of those single cup coffee machine thingies.  Unless we won one.

Having said all that, there is one thing I do want.  I want a coffee station.  Right now our coffee maker sits on the counter near the stove.  The tub of coffee sits next to it, tucked back against the wall.  The sugar sits somewhere around there too.  It's a cluttered space, with the mugs on the other side of the (admittedly small) kitchen.

I don't know if it was online or in a magazine that I saw a wonderful coffee station.  It had a deep drawer to hold all the mugs and whatnot.  It was its own space in the kitchen, not amongst the clutter.  My imagination has taken this and run with it.  Imagine a lovely French country sideboard, like this (I want a French country kitchen)


Now, combine the left and middle drawer into one and double their height.  In there go the mugs and plates and sugar and spoons.  On the counter goes the coffee maker and a decorative container of coffee. And maybe a matching one for cookies.  On the right, change the drawer and door into a single door, with a small fridge unit inside.  That's where the cream, the cream liqueurs and flavoured syrups go.



Anyway, as you can see, I've given this much thought.  Of course we could just unclutter our kitchen to make the coffee space more morning-friendly, but a gal can dream, right?

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