parasitegirl | Entries tagged with kitchn

I'll admit it. I've drank the kool-aid. The KonMarie "The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying" blend of decluttering, or as she calls it "tidying". Decluttering is a term avoided in book because she doesn't want to focus on the idea of getting rid of things...preferring to put attention on what people feel is worth keeping. It's all about gathering the items for category X or Y, putting it all in one place so you feeland see the amount you have, and handling each thing to feel if it "sparks joy." If it doesn't and there isn't another reason not to keep it (like "it's a work uniform and I can't go naked" or "I really want a new X that doesn't SUCK like this one but cash is tight and I use it everyday.") you discard/recycle/whatever.
( KonWee )

I cleaned the sink! This was to be a task on day 16...and I finally did it. And I put away all the dishes! I don't know when that last happened...so I took photographic proof.

And then, that evening, I kept going into the kitchen to look at it...as if it might vanish. As if what I had previously seen was not real.

The Kitchn Cure Day 17: Tuesday, September 2
Assignment: Clean out trash can and wipe it down.

Easy. I do this regularly.

Almost all the trash in my entrance way is out. Tomorrow is recycling day but my major victorywill be this Thursday.

It's the elusive once-a-month "Chinaware, Glass, etc. : Once Monthly" which, at my place, is the 3rd Thursday of the month. You can well imagine how easy that is to remember. What this means is that I generally break some dishes, put them in a safe place so I don't have a bag of things I can hurt myself with in my entry way...and every few months remember that I need to put them out...and promptly forget. I never remember which day is the take out day and am too lazy to remember to go outside, down the stairs, across one street, and check the sign on our metal trash container....

Thursday I will get to put out that bag.

100 days of 20 Goodbyes, day 87.

Yesterday I dragged more than 20 books to GoodDay Used Books in Tokyo. This doesn't mean that all my books fit on my bookshelves but it's getting close. I will see my 100 days plan to an end. I never promised those days would be consecutive. Maybe i'll get them done before Dean Mommy visits never month...maybe I won't!

The Kitchn Cure Day 19: Thursday, September 4
Assignment: Buy something nice for your kitchen!

Where's day 18? The Kitchn is not the boss of me. It involved too much cleaning and I didn't feel like it. I'll do it tomorrow or the next day.

I skipped ahead to random purchases.

Day 19 Task: Buy Something Nice For Your Kitchen

Yeah. It's not exciting. It's my new dish-soap dispenser. It's designed to dispense shampoo but I'm a rebel.

I also never use special pumps for my shampoo and conditioner because being in the shower often means it's morning and I don't have contacts or glasses in...so I don't trust anything that isn't clearly labeled or needs me to remember which is which. I'm blind and abscent-minded in the morning.

That evening I went a little crazy cleaning my shower? Well, it wasn't JUST my medication not being right yet, it was also due to the fact that I switched over to soft contacts again and experienced my shower as something other than an off-white blur. My shower/bath is in a separate room from my sink and from my toilet...and I wore my hard lenses as little time as humanly possible...so I rarely actually SAW that room.

It was just a perfect storm that my shower area came into focus as my anxiety started ramping up.

My new soap dispenser blends in with its surroundings, which is what I like. I got it home and then made a walk to my local 100-yen shop and stocked up on dish soap/sponges/the net things that go in the drain.

This does all seem to be working..I'm making yummy food for myself again.

My medications are balancing out. My brain seems to be knitting back together.

The Kitchn Cure Day 16: Monday, September 1
Assignment: Clean out the under-sink area and evaluate your cleaning tools. Throw out anything gross. Make a list of anything you need. Wash out the sink

I didn't wash out the sink yet. I did an impressive undersink cleaning and that's enough for one day. See? The medication is working. Not everything needs to be cleaned all at once. In fact my kitchen is now fairlyuntidy as bags of stuff wait so they can go out on the appropriate trash days this week.
( UNDERSINK! )

What's that thing on the far left? Earthquake backpack. I have a smaller bag near the door with things like a spare set of glasses but my entrance is tiny and the backpack fills up 1/4 of it.

The "green cleaners" seem to be working and now I can fit them under the sink.

I also did decide to buy sometihng for myself. I bought a small, hand held, chargable vacuum cleaner. Exciting, ya? The thing is, I have long hair. I leave hair and sequin tumbleweeds wherever I go. Free-roaming hairs are univesally unpleasant. My upright, plug it in, skinny vacuum cleaner isn't cutting it.

MY EXCITING BUT NOT TOO EXCITING LIFE.

My moods are slowly getting a little less erratic.

I'm napping a good bit...but it feels like its the sort of napping your body does on the mend and not the "We hate everything, life is bleak, and that last peak was a doozy" sleep of depression.

I'm coming up on a busy week. On Wednesday I'll start teaching in Ikebukuro (an area of Tokyo) at a community center. The Sunday lessons at Viange in Shibuya are gaining steam. I've usually got between 4-7 students now. I'm not packing them in like the burlesque teacher before me but the faces are becoming more familiar (returning students who want more).

The Kitchn Cure Day 13: Wednesday, August 27
Assignment: Declutter dishware, glassware, utensils, gadgets, and tools. Make a list of anything you need.

The Kitchn Cure Day 14: Thursday, August 28
Assignment: Clean cupboards, shelves, and drawers.

Well, I did do some insane amout of cleanign and decluttering last year...so this was easy.

I tend towards basic, bland, dishes and bowls. They're uniform and easy to stack AND my kitchen is bright and colorful enough without having to force the issue.

I also like how food looks on off-white/white/black. I just prefer it.

How bland and orderly are my shelves?
( So bland... )

The Kitchn Cure Day 15: Friday, August 29
Assignment: Restock your pantry. Buy any tools, gadgets, or utensils you really need.

I'm going to hold off on this. I could use and stash a good mortal and pestle and I may need to replace my mandoline in time. A couple more knives would be nice...but no rush.

I may get a silpat, as I go through a good deal of cooking parchment paper.

Changing trains recently I got caught in a strong crosswind in the station. I stopped, letting the wind crash into me. Stopped there to feel it. I may be at that stage of anxiety where I want to feel something. It's not that I'm numb it's the constant buzz of anxiety. I want to be in the rush of something. I want to connect these feelings to something...because situations, conflicts, problems give the anxiety a context and hopes for solutions. I am looking for causes for this anxiety and fixating on things...chasing them as if they may help.

My next shrink appointment is in about 48 hours. I probably should have rescheduled and bumped it up a week.

The Kitchn Cure isn't as absurd as it was last year. I continue to do it because it gives me tasks. It gives me some small section of my kitchen to "cure" and gives me an idea of how many things to tackle are "too many things."

The Kitchn Cure Day 11: Monday, August 25
Assignment: Declutter the pantry and make a donation box. Make a list of anything you're missing or need.
The Kitchn Cure Day 12: Tuesday, August 26
Assignment: Clean and organize your pantry shelves, or wherever you store

Once more, it would make little sense for me to declutter...put everything back into place and then take everything back out to clean.

First, let's look at unrealistic pantry pictures from the Kitchn
( (giggle) )
These kitchens belong to no tribe of my people.

Now my before and after shots.( Not stellar but better )
Something from my pantry I will never be able to get rid of...

The Kitchn Cure Day 6: Monday, August 18
Assignment: Evaluate your pots, pans, and small appliances. Discard what you don't need.

This was a the day I scrubbed one of my pots with baking soda, dish soap and water with scrub brushes until it was silver again. I also scubbed the bathroom by many means and removed calcium build-up with a pumice stone... for about 3 hours...and then didn't sleep.

Thus was the cue of "You need your yearly higher dosage of LEXAPRO!" ...I am on it.

I don't have very many small appliances. This would be the current list:

Microwave.

Coffee grinder (hand)

combination emersion blender wand and food processor (best thing ever)

rice maker.

I also jumped ahead to day 10's task: Buy that pan or small appliance you need.
61SCy8DZC-L._SL1500_

My tupperware is/was...um...a cloudy, warped, unevenly textured, uninviting collection of things that don't stack well and are hard to see into. I replaced about half of it with these glass food containers with plastic tops pictured above. I don't know how spill proof they'd be to transport but I have my fine collection of bento boxes for that. Next month I plan to get some similar ones in larger sizes for my larger food-holding needs.

Here they are in their natural environment. My fridge might seen barren but I've been cooking daily and there are now go-to foods for eating waiting for me when I don't feel up to full cooking. It's an improvement.

I've also been mining www.budgetbytes.com for recipes as they are generally simple and tasty. They are not >always< cheap for me because she's using what she can get in America easily. Feta Cheese is expensive here. Hoisin sauce isn't easy to find.

The Kitchn Cure Day 7: Tuesday, August 19
Assignment: Clean the oven.
The Kitchn Cure Day 8: Wednesday, August 20
Assignment: Clean your stovetop and range hood.

These get lumped together because...well...I don't have than much "oven" to clean. My microwave doubles as a convection oven and then this is the range and oven we're working with.

Those are the curtains I made last year. They serve as my summertime protection from the sun. Without them the kitchen floor was notably hot under my feet come midday and entering my place (the entrance nook is right next to the kitchen) in summer involved a lot of swearing.

The Kitchn Cure Day 9: Thursday, August 21
Assignment: Clean your small appliances.

Microwave: The inner tray of the microwave was part of the day I cleaned all the things with baking soda before admitting that my prescription needed to be increased.

Coffee grinder (hand); Took it apart, cleaned it.

Combination emersion blender wand and food processor: Baking soda day.

Rice maker: We shall never talk of the horrors I saw. Still, it's better than my first rice maker...About two years I realized that it had a little resevoir in the back for catching rice-water that condensed on the hood of the inside and then trickled into the resevoir when opened...that was a horrible day. It involved wall scrubbing.

The Kitchn Cure Day 10: Friday, August 22
Assignment: Buy that pan or small appliance you need.

DONE!

The weekend has come for the cure.

Last year that meant the staff would kick back, eat hand-crafted bonbons from Etsy, and muse on the ephemeral joy to be found in certain dry vermouths...and there were no 'assignments'...this year is no different.

So, I shall review some of The Kitchn's photo choices.

( photos )

These days were (2) clear out the fridge (of the gross things and expired things) (3) clean the fridge (4) clear out the freezer (5) clean the freezer.

I did this over two days. It was much easier for me to clear out and clean the fridge in one day and then do the same for the freezer the next day...because I still have a small fridge and freezer and almost no counetr space.

It should be noted that all four of these tasks were lumped into ONE DAY last year in The Kitchn Cure...because they are mean bastards.

Here are the before and after pictures...they are boring and sparse. They are proof that my cooking habits went out the window in the last few weeks...but tomorrow morning I get to sleep in and then go for local produce in the morning. I think it's time to start making pitchers of gazpacho.( boooooooring pictures. )

Maybe you're wondering what's going on in the blue container. That is a WIDE COLLECTION of different types of ice packs. because...dancer. The bottom of the container isn't black...but the ice pack made to wrap around my ankle is.

After this picture I went back and labeled that lonely Tupperware container. It's full of little frozen dill blocks from my garden. Dill likes to bolt early here.

I keep feeling like The Kitchn Cure is just waiting to be horrible to me...like it was last year.

...ETA....

The Kitchn posted this:

Bonus Weekend Assignment

Keep your cleaning momentum going this weekend with a little bonus assignment: wash the dishes after every meal, and don't go to bed until the kitchen is clean. This isn't a mandatory assignment, but we encourage you to do it! (And we know many of you do this already!)

One of the problems I have with getting all the dishes washed is that my lack of great amounts of drying space means I often don't have enough room for everything to dry. I try.

And "Don't go to bed until the kitchen is clean"

BAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAA!

My shrink is currently on watch for, and worried about, my yearly pre-anxiety/pre-depression manic spree of productivity. My September appointment has been bumped up a week because of how predictable my need for the higher dosage is. If I start thinking that the KITCHEN MUST BE CLEANED BEFORE BED that is a HUGE indicator that I need higher dosage STAT.

This is what my kitchen looks like right now...no cleaning before snapping.

( Pictures )

Today's Assignment (estimated time: 20 minutes)

Take a walk around your kitchen: Easy.

Make a list of things you like and dislike about your kitchen:

Star the things you're capable of changing:

My kitchen is adorable. It's bright and fun and there are poppies and shit. It's reasonably clean. I can see most of what I have which makes things easy. In the Summer the Sun God tries to kill me, but that's why I made those curtains....it's ok because in Winter the Sun God helps me stay sane.

However, I don't have much counter space and I do have tends to quickly become cluttered. My area for tupperware/ containers quickly becomes a mess. The dry goods storage isn't in one place and becomes a pile o stuff.

Get ready to clean the fridge and freezer!

WHITE VINEGAR AND BAKING SODA. PROTECT ME FROM THE GRIME.

Preparation:
The Kitch wants me to make sure I have the following:

Camera: I will try not to subject you to many pictures.

Sharpie and painter's tape: I have a million Sharpies, I think they mate and have more. I also have painters tape because I went through a repainting spree last month and should share that with you

White Vinegar:

Baking Soda:

Spray Bottle:

Ok. White Vinegar and Baking Soda. I feel like I should always capitalize those words. My co-worker/boss, M at LilNinjas, is a white vinegar and baking soda ZEALOT. THE WAY OF THE CLEAN CLEAN! I've been at the Dojo Annex when he gets his 6kg deliveries of baking soda and humungous white vinegar bottles. It reminds me a little of Dr. Bronner...but I don't think N.Z. people really know the full magic that is Dr. Bronner's ALL ONE GOD SOAP.

Because M is romantically/friendly/dojo/whatever linked to H at the studio, H's place is also alarmingly stocked with Baking Soda for when M is over...and because he's taught her THE WAY OF THOSE THINGS. When things are not going smoothly with M, H looks at those GIANT BAGS OF SODA with a side eye.

I sometimes wonder if M takes baking soda baths the way chilchillas take dust baths.

I now have these things, in moderation, and M and I swap White Vinegar cleaning tips. I also ponied up for rubbing alcohol and potato starch because I like to have a slightly more refined mix for different tasks.

Airtight Containers: who doesn't...but this may be an excuse to get a less miss-matched collection in the hope that they can be more reasonably stacked when NOT in action.

Clean Toilet Brush or Other Long-Handled, Nylon Bristle Scrub Brush: Always can use more.

Disinfectant Spray: I ALREADY HAVE THE POWER OF WHITE VINEGAR! I

Broom and Mop: I don't have a real mop.

Music Player: To drown out the swearing? OF COURSE!

I thought I had quit The Kitchn.com.

Last year I "Participated' in the yearly Kitchn Cure and it drove me a bit batty. (You can check the kitchn tag.)

So when I saw they were doing another cure I thought "Oh, FUCK you!"

And then I looked at my kitchen...and then looked back at the web page.

"20 Assignments, 20 Days

We've tweaked the formula a bit each year. At times the Cure has been an 8-week project. Last year we cut it down to just two intense weeks. We heard from many of you that this was too brief a time to deep-clean the kitchen, especially when juggling busy schedules.

So this year The Kitchn Cure is back to a 4-week schedule of 20 brief assignments that can be done in about an hour or much less each day."

The insanity of the tasks last year (deep clean your kitchen is not a task, it is a lifetime) plus the "now you can buy more stuff!" posts soured me.

But my life is different now. I have a less busy but more irregular schedule. The regularity of my former schedule gave me a better idea of when I would need packed lunches and what times of the week food prep would be best. Now I find myself eating more often on the go and relying on convini food even though I should have more time to cook. The physical demands of my new life also would be best served by cooking more.

Oh. And a few weeks ago I started making my own laundry powder and ordered a bunch of white vinegar and such for making "cleaner" cleaners...so my spray bottles are ready.

So...into the Cure I plunge.

The end of The Kitchen Cure has come and gone.

The Kitchen Cure Ends:

Day 10 was not, as I predicted, self-loving yourself in the middle of your newly cleaned space.

Day 10: Friday, October 11
Assignment: Plan a dinner party

That's not going to happen. Not in the numbers they want me to do it.

"My ideal number for your first dinner party to come from your cured kitchen is between four and eight. Less than four and you're not flexing your muscles and showing off enough; more than eight and it's just pure chaos."

I don't even have enough chairs for 4 people. Well, maybe if two get desk chairs and two get the IKEA-eque Muji loungers I re-upholsered. We could always eat on the floor in one of my rooms but THAT would mean buying more pillows.

So much of the entry speaks volumes of the class issues of The Kitchn:

"This dinner deserves any special touches you have for the table. Don't overdo it, but don't skimp on the little luxuries that elevate a meal; linens, flowers, candles, a centerpiece, nice platters and serving pieces. I'm all for mismatched and high quality over match-y and disposable, plastic or otherwise depressing cheap everyday tableware."

Don't get me wrong. I LOVE me some aesthetics. That's why I make stuff and enjoy fixing cheap finds up...to have a place where I like what is around me...but FUCK YOU you goddamned snobs.

The reason I don't have many people over is a because of where I live and our schedules. Many of my friends are an hour away. If people >do< come over I love feeding them. I take joy in it. It's not easy, because I only have two gas burners, a little slot for broiling fish, and a microwave that doubles as a so-so convection oven but I love doing it so I do do it.

It's also cultural. I don't know ANYONE here who has dinner parties. In 12 years I've been to ONE dinner party in an apartment here and we all brought food to pass...two parties if you count a gig I did. I'm been to a couple "everyone drinking and getting fucked up hippish parties" but even those are scarce. I've been to a big dinner with families before, but nothing like a "dinner party" of friends. It's much more common to reserve a whole room at a restaurant ahead of time for a certain time slot and have your party and social time there.

My Washing Machine Dies:
It's Sunday of a three-day weekend. My legs are TOAST from dance so I know I can't do much more than foam roll them and rest. It feels like I did hours of squats. Tomorrow (Monday...holiday) I fill in for one teacher's two dance classes. This week, with the NHK and the substitute classes, I'll teach 9 dance lessons and be working on the two upcoming WS. I think one of the WS is almost sold out.

I would have probably tried to go out and be social, legs be damned, but last night my washing machine decided it had given me 9 years of moaning but solid cleaning...and had been used to begin with...so it was time to stop spinning...cue soggy sheets and such. I knew my Sunday would have to start with getting a new-to-me-machine and arrange for delivery, installation, and proper removal of my dead one...(I got my fridge replaced last year, so I know one way to do that and I'm sticking to it) I figured Sunday would be best spent just getting that done, do some important cooking prep, and rest.

This morning I found one at a recycle shop that's only a year old and will fit in the space I have. They'll install and swap things next Sunday.

I'm currently making a large batch of soup-stock to freeze in batches of ice-cubes for the next few months of cooking. I THOUGHT about doing this in "restock your pantry" time of The Kitchen Cure but figured I should pace myself for all the hard work to come...not knowing that soon they'd just ask me to shop a bunch and do things I already do.

(veggies have been roasted...this is a shot from right before the simmering time starts)

100 days of 20 goodbyes:
I do get to count today as a decluttering day. I cleaned up much of the balcony garden and got rid of the plants that are no longer producing (and won't ever again) or have died. Much dead soil has been removed...unneeded plastic containers as well...and a few items replanted. I cut back many of my herbs and will think about what needs to come inside in a month.

I hope to have the "balcony" cleared enough that I can enjoy a few fall drinks and meals out there while the weather is still nice...and trying to make sure two people could sit and have a drink/coffee there before the winter.

Day 9: Thursday, October 10
Assignment: Cook yourself a meal

Camera pulls in tight on eyes.
Twitch….twitch…twiiiitch.
And….cue the scream.
AUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Listen here, The Kitchn. Do you know why I thought I’d participate in your CURE? Why I looked at my kitchen and thought there was room for improvement? Because I cook EVERY DAY. I touch surfaces and things spill. Quick wipes-ups are not always what they should be. Things dry, cake-on, solidify, and get ground into cracks and hard-to-reach spaces.

My idea of falling behind in cooking is not having time to prep and make items for eating outside of my apartment (my bentos). This means that I have been squeezing in meal-cooking time for all of these days. I >have< to. I like the idea of shaving a few minutes off any of my meal-making and meal-clean-up time so I can do more meal enjoying

I used to go to your pages for food/meal ideas. I’ve adjusted to the increase of “oh, buy this cute item” and non-food-kitchen-porn (ooooooooh, subway-tiled backsplash, ooooooh) between the food items.

Ok…let’s look at the specifics:

"The penultimate assignment in The Kitchn Cure is always to cook yourself a simple meal. This isn't your big graduation brouhaha; this is a simple meal you are to cook yourself right away. As in tonight."

I know you feel proud of yourselves for using penultimate in a sentence. I can feel the pride slipping through the tubes of the internet and leaving residue on my keypad.

I can’t read and reply to more of this.

What do I expect tomorrow as the ULTIMATE ASSIGNEMNT from The Kitchn?

Day 10: Thursday, October 11
Assignment: Take Pride in your Superiority.

(Estimated time: 30 minutes – the rest of your life)

1. Actively explore your joy in your newly beautified space.

This assignment takes a little bit of preparation but it is worth it. You will first need to protect the pristine floors you so diligently scrubbed when we delightfully unveiled the 4th assignment of deep cleaning. If you’re on a budget you can delicately unfold a generic tarp over your floorboards. If you’re on the Buy Stuff path-- because you know you are worth it-- we’ve got links to the finest, hand-woven, up-cycled, protective flooring mats.

(insert etsy links)

Bring whatever Apple product you are using to connect to us onto your mat. It’s time to bring music into your sacred space.

(insert Spotify playlists assembled by our ebullient interns)

Now is the time to harness the collective power of #kitchcure hashtags to bring forth images to inspire some good, old-fashioned, self-pleasuring. IF you’ve kept up with your hashtags then bring yourself to climax with your own trail of triumph. Those who’ve fallen behind…we have options for you as well. Unleash the estacy of superiority by browsing kitchens that aren’t up to your standards…and let the rush of seeing how many people quit early on carry you over the edge and into enlightenment.

2. Breathe. Breathe deeply.

(insert links to pranayama breathing apps)

3. Clean up. Don't go back to your old ways. Aside from the perfume of your new-found serenity - (wink)- leave the kitchen as you found it.

4. Create a Pintrest board to collect the images that helped you achieve that effervescent orgasm.

5. Bask. You’ve completed your journey. Your space is uniquely yours…and better than the space of the masses. Never forget that.

Current Location: Japan, Chiba-ken, Nagareyama

The Kitchn Cure Sucks.

“Day 8: Wednesday, October 9
Assignment: Bring fresh flowers or a plant into the kitchen”

Already there. NO reason to bring more. When winter comes some of the outdoor herbs will come and live here as well. You are twee and I hate you, The Kitchn…and Mailman Dan.

“ 1. Bring something living into your kitchen. “

Men. I will bring men. I will post pictures of food I make and men will be all “Om,nom,nom feeds me” and I’m all “dude, come over.”

“This means, get a plant, or a vase and a bouquet of flowers. Wait, there's a catch: this assignment comes with a commitment. “

No. It doesn’t. It means men...and sometimes female friends. And you’re not the boss of me. You can’t tell me what to commit to. I’m not listening to the rest of this point that you are making. I want the time back from the time I spent reading about the weekly flowers you bought at a Manhattan deli every week. You are what is annoying about food/kitchen blogging.

“2. Make a beauty shot of your living, breathing, beautifying element with one gorgeous photo on your social media accounts and tag your work with #kitchncure. Do a side-by-side before/after if you want. But remember, today is supposed to be easy, so don't overextend yourself fussing with photo apps! “

I repeat. You are what is annoying about food & kitchen blogging.

Next task? I’m still thinking it will be go buy: Kitchen linens and/or CURTAINS/and or New Light Fixtures. Any bets?

Current Location: Japan, Chiba-ken, Nagareyama

Day 6 and day 7

Day 6: Monday, October 7
Assignment: Consider appliances, gadgets and tools

Today is the day when you are allowed to bring in a few things that aren't perishable, so choose wisely. If you have a budget set aside, today is a shopping day. If not, it's a dreaming day. Either way, you'll have some fun. Before clicking through, take a long deep breath and promise yourself that you won't just fill up the new empty space you created during the last few days. Really consider whether or not you need anything new and know that the best cooking comes from having a positive attitude and a few skills, not from having the latest gadget.

(there's more on the site)

Are you goddamned kidding me? You frontload the cure with cleaning and purging...the sort that took >me< longer than and hour and I am a single woman who spends a lot of her time using her kitchen, making sure it is well-thought-out, and who knows her medicine is off if she goes on ANOTHER kitchen organizing spree.

You take Saturday and Sunday off...which is when many sane people might be able to handle crazy items.

You don't broadcast whats coming up or what future things to start thinking about so people can budget time or say "I can clean more when they are telling me to shop!!"

You spend TWO days (5 and 6) telling us to buy (or think about buying) new things?

I did buy 5 new things but that's in part because they were on a past list of things I'd been planning to get AND when I observed classes of my "might be future job today" my way home passed the Ikea...on a weekday afternoon.

New items:
A new knife
A new set of measuring spoons and a new measuring cup because having one of each doesn't make sense for me. Cooking often goes quicker if I have one/one-set for dry stuff one for wet stuff.
A knife magnet bar
A new spatula
A table runner that was in the marked down items that works as a tiny table cloth for my tiny table.

Day 7: Tuesday, October 8
Assignment: Special project

This is where it gets really fun: it's Special Project time! Your special project is about improving the functionality of your space, with a slight eye toward the aesthetic. I've seen people repaint their kitchens, strip wallpaper, replace faucets, and create new systems for storing knives or compost. Some Special Projects take an hour or two, some take longer — have you ever painted a small room and thought you could finish in one evening?! — so just get started today, don't stay up all night.

(there's more on the site)

In a prior post I wondered if The Kitchn would ask me to carve out a meditation space in a newly cleared pantry...this is maybe that.

Remember I just dis-assembled, sanded, primed, painted and reassembled an Ikea step-stool that doubles as a surface to put things on and some-times chair for me. I've done this.

oh...about pantries. There were many comments (on The Kitchn) I read during the pantry purging. There was a long conversation about pantry moths that I kept parsing as panty moths. I've thought a lot about panty moths since then. I imagine dusty drawers and wings flittering out from elastic-ribboned boarders. Since then I have had a hard time reading or typing the word pantry correctly.

Bet: sometime in the last 3 days they try to get me to buy more kitchen linens.

The Kitchn is quiet about commands for The Kitchen Cure.

I guess this is what they mean by it being 10 days spread over two weeks. They came in, shock and awe style, sent people scrambling to not be left behind and then...the bitches don't call.

I can't imagine what else is left to do. I suspect it is pretentious. Maybe I'll need to carve out a meditation nook in a newly cleared pantry.

Today I finished my own kitchen project, predating The Cure, of painting my stained and battered Ikea stool.

Let's see how my colorful kitchen looks now and remember: A Goddamned Adult Lives Here!

( Behold, my kitchen! )
I've got a better angle of it here:( Enjoy...and some more blather. )

Easy-peasy.

Day 5: Friday, October 4
Assignment: Restock Ingredients

You mean there were people who were tossing way-out-of-date spices and such in the pantry clean who weren't immediately making a list of which items needed to be replaced pronto? That night I was picking up containers at the 100 yen shop and ordering baggies of spice. I'm not one of The Kitchn people who is doing this because I want to encourage myself to cook more. I'm doing this because I do cook to a degree where very few things can be out-of-stock for long...and because the dark days are coming.

I did restock my brown sugar.

Let's celebrate the ease of this assignment with Miss. Platinum:

The Kitchn does give an option for those who don't want to spend a good deal:

The Buy Nothing Path: If you feel well-stocked already, or simply don't want to spend any money, use this time to think about how you want to cook going forward. What kinds of dishes do you like? Can you rearrange your cupboards very mindfully, making sure that the ingredients you use most are most accessible? Make a list of dream ingredients and add one each week to your shopping list, then it won't seem like extra spending.

This is already what I do. Except the dream ingredients. I don't dream it. I buy it, cook it, eat it.

(Pinkmaning) Nailed it, bitch!

I am looking forward to having my step-stool back. It's almost all spray painted, sanded, sprayed again...and after a few more spritzes it will be ready to be re-assembled.

I am still going to count this as a decluttering day, because I did freecycle a few things away.

I am grateful to come home to a very clean kitchen.

I'd almost finished all of this yesterday:

Day 4: Thursday, October 3
Assignment: Deep clean every part of your kitchen

So when I came back from my three lessons in two locations I was greeted with a clean, shiny, kitchen. I need it.

Here I am headed to location one...I might not radiate sexy bellydancer here but I've got the cute thing down and enough of a baby-face to sell the dance as YOUTHIFYING!

It's been a disheartening day.

Not all bad:
In my Saturday morning Turkish Roma class I have a new regular student (she's been taking the class for three weeks at the non-member price while deciding and this week signed up/paid for a studio membership and bought a ticket for the classes) .

In my Saturday Zill-Choreo and Turkish Roma classes I have a new student…recently joined the studio and is a member.

Both have previous bellydance experience…which tends to be my core student base. Students who already love the days and want to work on specifics.

The downside?
So far the tally of students lost due to the teacher changes…30. 14-15 at the studio and the same amount or so at culture studios…and we're still getting damage reports. H is in a bad emotional place right now.

I started my new class at the NHK culture studio in Kashiwa. OMG HUGE ROOM.

Two students have signed up for the 3 month course…maybe three. Only one was in attendance today. This is a loss of students but I didn't have the heart to ask H how many. I just put on my cute clothing and taught that student for and hour and 20 minutes.

So…after my new class, my third class of the day, I went and bought groceries AND sparkling sake.

And…I came home to a text from H that we've lost a once-a-month WS teacher at the studio. It's not connected to drama. She lives far away and student attendance is low. I totally understand where she is coming from because I had to make the same choice about her studio almost two years ago. I get it. It's unrelated but it feels like another layer of gloom.

I am psyched that my kitchen is clean. I simply plan to finish the deep clean, only a few items from the microwave to scrub. Then I will make myself a nummy stew:

http://almostturkish.blogspot.jp/2008/07/sour-eggplant-stew-ekili-patlcan.html

I shall eat it slowly, on this rainy day, drink my sparkling sake, reflect on the new students and things I can work on...and then let go and let myself feel tired.( A comparison of my shelves last February and now. )

Day 3: Wednesday, October 2
Assignment: Declutter appliances, gadgets and tools

Because of OMFG CLEAN CLEAN CLEAN last February...which you can read about here on the day with the most photographic proof of how much I scrubbed the kitchen down...this went quickly for me. I don't have many gadgets and tools that I don't use regularly...all my specialty tools (ricers, zesters) get used and cleaned and put away. I got rid of anything I didn't use and haven't had to restock much.

Crazy fact: My kitchen is currently cleaner and more organized than those photos.

I'm actually 75% through the next "Kitchen Cure" Task:

Day 4: Thursday, October 3
Assignment: Deep clean every part of your kitchen

Because last weekend I scrubbed down my kitchen floor, the few places I have to store stuff got cleaned in task 2 and 3...and my kitchen simply isn't that big. I haven't tackled the microwave or my washing machine but that will be quick. I did clean for about two hours tonight while watching episodes of Luther.

I also swapped out my summer time "curtains to protect from the heat" for the fall/winter "OMG I NEED LIGHT" mini curtains.

I am looking forward to finishing painting my step stool...because while spraying it I've come to realize how much I rely on it as a thing to place things on in the cooking/cleaning/living process.

( Goodnight Kitchen. )

Part of the kitchen before bedtime. The kitchen mat is currently in the spray-down area of my bathroom, drying.

I have started to count The Ten Day Kitchen Cure as part of my “100 Days of Goodbyes” in which each day 20 things are banished from my living space. This is because I am getting rid of a bunch of stuff each time I do a cure day.

Also, with tags to 100 days you can play “Watch Kathryn’s Mental State and why she has to report to her shrink that she’s cleaning ALL THE THINGS!! …again.”

Those new here might wonder why I sometimes refer to my meds. I live with depression and anxiety. It has a strong seasonal (winter) component. I am now on medication that goes up in dosage when the seasonal issues start ramping up.

How this relates to cleaning:

The Anxiety, when it starts to ramp up, starts out with a burst of energy and activity. My body is ready to DO STUFF! This can be difficult to detect because I am, at my most functional, a busy person who does a lot of overlapping creative things. The anxiety, when it starts, is hard to differentiate between early mania. I won’t reach mania…I transition through “All This Energy & I Must Do Something” to “There Is Something I Should Be Doing.” and then “What Haven’t I Done?/Why Do I STILL Feel This Way?!” until I am just at “doom. hello, bed. you understand me.”

This year we cut back my winter medication (while trying to figure out if it was causing an ear problem) a little too early . During that time my decluttering/kitchen cleaning got a little out of hand. This actually makes “The Kitchen Cure.” a little easier for me. I did a lot of this earlier this year because…I couldn’t NOT do it 200% when I started.

Day 3: Wednesday, October 2
Assignment: Declutter appliances, gadgets and tools

I did an insane amount of this early this year. I felt like this would be easy for me.

You can read the list here

You can also come to the conclusion that Kimchi has come to that the staff of The Kitchn have control issues. I agree. I kind of hates them. They are unprecious.

In reading some of the bloggers doing The Kitchen Cure learned this fact:

Williams Sonoma used to have a Star Wars line. If I’d known about it when it was out then my kitchen Chewback Clippie would have friends. I would have needed the spatulas.

http://www.williams-sonoma.com/products/star-wars-storm-trooper-darth-vader-flexible-spatula-set/

http://www.williams-sonoma.com/products/star-wars-r2d2-spatula/

Epic.

I haven’t gotten to day three yet but I did throw the containers I use for my tupperwear storage into the shower area and hose them down. They are drying. Much of this adventure will involve my putting things in my bathroom and spraying them down. Remember, I live in Japan. My “Bath Area” has a shower area with a floor with a large drain ouside of the tub area. I spray the shit out of stuff there.

When I have finished things I will report back… and count this as one of the 100 days.

Current Location: Japan, Chiba-ken, Nagareyama

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Buggirl's Increasingly Strange Tokyo Tales...

...the all powerful Ozma has spoken.

Entries tagged with kitchn

KonWee and Me.

Kitch Cure (2014) 17 & 19. Plus 100 Days of goodbyes; Day 87

Kitch Cure (2014) 16; Under the sink.

The Kitch Cure Day 13, 14, & 15(2014)

The Kitch Cure day 11 & 12 (2014)

Kitch Cure (2014) 6-10

The Kitch Cure (2014) the photos.

The Kitch Cure (2014) day 2,3,4,5.

Bonus Weekend Assignment

Kitch Cure (2014) Day One: Make a list.

This is what my kitchen looks like right now...no cleaning before snapping.

Today's Assignment (estimated time: 20 minutes)

Kitchn Cure (2014) Prep

Kitch Cure? YOU MUST BE CRAZY!

100 days of Goobyes: Day 66: Kitchn Cure day 10

Side-eye for The Kitchn

The Withered Kitchn Cure

The Kitchn: My increasing hatred of The Kitchen Cure...

The quiet Kitchn.

100 days of Goobyes: Day 64: Kitchn Cure day 5

100 days of Goobyes: Day 63: Kitchn Cure day 4

100 days of Goobyes: Day 62: Kitchn Cure day 3

The Kitchn: day 3