THE KITCHEN

When we were children the kitchen was the center of our family activities. Mom cooked and we helped or we sat around the table and talked while she worked. When Dad came home he would "freshen up" and come to the table for dinner. In those days, dinner was served shortly after he got home from work. Our lives were scheduled around his work day. That didn't change when Mom went to work. She was home in plenty of time to have dinner ready when he got home. It was often the left-overs from school lunch. Mom was the cook at the elementary school in our town and the left over food could not be served, so it was brought home and/or shared with other school employees.

For a few years Dad was a trucker and as such sometimes was out of town for days or most of the week. During those times, since only Mom and I were home for the most part, dinner was whenever she felt like warming something up or I did. My brother still lived there, but he wasn't home often because he worked evenings most of the time. My sister was married and came for dinner frequently because her husband worked second shift. I also spent many evenings at her apartment with her and one of our favorite meals to make together was macaroni and cheese and you aren't gonna believe this, but we made grilled cheese to go with our mac/cheese! We had no sense of healthy eating nor did anyone else in 1965. We had a lot of good times together and I will never forget "polishing" her kitchen floor one evening. It didn't shine enough for our liking so we decided to use Pledge on it. Wow, it really shined! It looked amazing from the living room looking out over it; it was a large and expansive floor...all the way to the bathroom which we also did! Okay, in an effort to share an important safety message here, DON'T EVER DO THIS! That floor was not only slippery as ice, it was also very difficult to remove. We ended up using Spic~n~Span. And then, of course, waxing it all over because Spic~n~Span removes wax. It turned into a long night of floor recovery. BUT we did have some fun sliding in our socks on the heavily Pledged surface. :)

 Our kitchen today is much smaller and less inclusive by design than my childhood home, but somehow it still becomes a very crowded area when the family is here. I love that and sometimes miss the big country kitchen I had in the home where my kids grew up, but this one functions perfectly for my every day living and I do have another kitchen downstairs for the holiday cooking.

 Amazing, no matter the circumstances, our kitchen always seems to be the family room, of sorts.

What happens in the kitchen, usually ends up bringing a smile, one way or the other. How about your kitchen?

 Jo