Baby boomers are downsizing. Our millennial kids are moving out on their own, into much smaller spaces than where we raised them.
Now in our mid-50s, my husband John and I recently sold our big house, and transitioned temporarily into my 89-year-old mother’s little two-bedroom home with our teenage daughter. Though the kitchen was much smaller than what I was used to, I made it my mission to continue cooking robust, full-course meals that were healthy, enjoyable and digestible for our multi-generational family living in close quarters. It was here in my mother’s kitchen where I started my blog, Food for the Ages™.
After a summer, fall and winter with Mother, John and I retired from our long careers and downsized yet again, this time to a high-altitude micro-condo at the base of Colorado’s Winter Park ski area.
In addition to a much more active life of skiing, biking and hiking, I was able to devote full-time attention to my passion of cooking well in support of our outdoor, energy-burning lifestyle. Though my kitchenette is now as tiny as one can be, I remain committed to living large, staying healthy, and enjoying the gift of good food.
In my new tiny kitchen, I faced the challenge and found ways to build the basics of all the great meals of my heart’s desire. My passion today is to share my path toward a well-rounded and well-satisfied diet, all prepared without compromise in my tiny kitchen with two-burner stove, convection/microwave combo oven, dorm-room-size fridge and far less storage space than ever.
I had spent the last 35 years periodically walking into top-drawer kitchen specialty stores to see what I didn’t need in them. Garlic press? No. Use the back of the cleaver, like I was trained. Mandoline slicer? No. Use my Sabatier Jeune that I bought when I was a 20-year-old journeyman apprentice. I used to leave the stores with nothing but a smug little smile full of the knowledge that I didn’t need most any of that fancy stuff.
But when we downsized, and had to part with things, I was shocked at how my kitchen specialty collection had grown over time. The garlic press shaped like a bird, given to me by a sister, and never used to press garlic, sat above my kitchen sink as a decoration…and the possessions seemed to go on endlessly from there. I had every size pot, pan and bowl; drawers and cabinets full of utensils, silverware and all manner of complex machinery such as my meat grinders, jelly bags, mixers, blenders and you name it. When had I gotten so acquisitive? Well, if it’s true that nature abhors a vacuum, then it made sense that every nook and cranny of our 4,000- square-foot house was packed!
Though I’ve had to part with many tools of the trade, I haven’t parted with those most important that I started with: my good knives, stainless steel pots and pans and my china. To make room for some of this, we sacrificed the small dishwasher for a bit more storage – John is happy to do the dishes by hand, with no garbage disposal, as he appreciates my creations with every breakfast, lunch and dinner. He is also happy to burn off those healthy calories, and it makes me happy to cook for someone who appreciates the gift of great recipes and balanced meals. It is the gift of a great partner my John that I want to take along wherever I go. As long as he’s with me, active and eating well, I feel that I have everything I need.
In our new micro condo we’ve learned that you don’t need a grandiose kitchen to live large and eat well. We enjoy all manner of cuisines, from homemade pastas and breads to the mother sauces of great national culinary traditions, from Mexico to Italy, from France to China, and of course to our own American classics such as sourdough, soups, sandwiches, barbecue and the best burgers and stews you’ve ever had. With a little more attention to planning your meals, you can become a more conscious cook. What we called downsizing has come to feel more like “rightsizing."
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