nostalgia

There is something that just grabs me when I see old food advertisements. Today as I was wandering the Santa Cruz County Fair I came across a lovely display of old apple crates complete with the labels still intact.

My friend Judy was admiring them too, and let me know that I could find them on Ebay! (which means I do not need to figure out how to pack them in my two suit cases.) I did a little browsing and Judy was totally right, I found all sorts of vintage food signs and labels even in foreign languages for next to nothing!

Then I rounded the corner of the Old Farm display and discovered a nice wall display of old glass jars of different colors. Sadly they were behind glass so my pictures did not turn out that great but you can still get the feel.

More and more I am discovering my attraction to the vintage kitchen look.Maybe not quite this old, but I just love how welcoming it is. It reminds me of Anne of Green Gables for some reason. Like when Martha was standing in the kitchen making pies, it makes me want to bake a pie.

Mmmm warm apple pie...that is something American that I will be adding to my kitchen. That is if I have an oven, many Romans do not have ovens I have been told.

la cucina

Image by wallyg via Flickr

"Accessible in that it seems so ordinary, unpretentious and 'just like mine,' and extraordinary in that it contains the actual tools and equipment collected, used and cared for by the beloved Julia Child."

Today I went to watch Julie and Julia for the second time, this time with my littlest sister. As I watched Julie blog about cooking her way through Julia's cookbookI could not help but think of my own neglected blog. So here I am motivated once again dear readers to share my hopes and dreams of my Roman apartment with you.

With Julia still in mind and images of her kitchen floating through my head why don't we focus on the possibilities for my kitchen. I have been thinking a lot about my kitchen this week, as I have had the house kitchen included to myself. (I live with an amazing family, not my own as I wait to move to my new home)Due to the lack of people to cook for, I invited some friends over for a BBQ this weekend, and rekindled my love of food and cooking for friends.

So now that I am inspired by my friends, food and film the essential ingredients in any of my good pondering lets discuss my favorite room of the house la Cucina.

There are of course aspects of Julia's kitchen which are worth replicating, let's face it her husband was responsible for the design of war rooms, so it is safe to assume that the kitchen he laid out for her was functional. I like the idea of having things assessable, like the peg boards for her pots and pans, and utensils. I think that this would make cooking and cleaning much simpler, not to mention the warmness and homeyness that it offers the space. I also enjoin the classic colors found in Julia's kitchen, the pale greens and blues, and might lean that way myself. Though I have been thinking along the lines of burnt orange. There is also tucked away in the corner the must have kitchen appliance the Kitchen Aid. Something I have longed to own for quite sometime. Julia's was Colbalt Blue, I however am not sure which color I love most. Part of me loves this pale blue (Tiffany color) and part of me loves the red, and yet part of me just likes the simplistic black or silver. As I added the picture I am pulled more and more towards that one, it is just so, lovely is it not? I mean if I cannot have a ring that comes out of a box like that I should at least have food that comes out of such a precious mixer. Lets be honest I would rather have the mixer than the ring. In fact for future reference if someone ever wishes to propose I would take the mixer and an inexpensive ring any day.

This post is getting long, so I will pause, more to come on kitchens I am sure, but let me know your thoughts and ideas!