I definitely realize the easiest way to keep something clean is the whole "a place for everything and everything in it's place" approach. We had more space on racks to put hot pans to cool, a dedicated stainless table for the mixer & food processor and another dedicated prep table. Plus we had a rack for storage of the paper goods like treat bags and compostable take out boxes,an ingredient rack and a rack for baking pans, cake pans, etc. The organization made baking more fun and the kitchen easier to take care of.
Which was good because we had houseguests coming. This was in August and we had just started using the basement. A couple who used to be my next door neighbors in Warm Springs were planning a road trip to the lake and then to see Washington, Madison and a couple places in between. We were so thrilled about their visit. I missed my friends from my old "cute little historical town" and couldn't wait to show them my new "cute little historical town." The plan was that they would meet us at the market Saturday and then spend the night with us before leaving early to see Madison on their way home.
So even though our new kitchen was easier to clean, we cooked late into the night (sometimes all night) and then early in the morning so there were always dishes to finish when we got home. Unless Reid stayed behind and did all the dishes while I was at the market, we would be bringing our houseguests into a less than company ready home. I had already been secretly dreaming of hiring someone to do dishes so we discussed finding someone to go ahead and clean the whole house while we were at the market that Saturday. That way we could focus more on getting everything arranged better to have company and then someone could come behind us and do a good scrub on the house.
Well that Friday I was making Better Than's and noticed that my dough was really sticky, almost wet. It didn't make any sense because there isn't any water in them. I added some more flour and finally got it to a consistency where I could roll them up to slice. Well they baked up really funny looking so we tossed them. Then I tried making pound cake and had a similar result. Instead of crust forming the top looked almost wet even when it was fully baked. I finally had an "ah-ha!" moment and figured out it was the humidity. Rather than have everything I baked turn out off, I moved my mixer back upstairs. (I definitely got a great workout running up and down the stairs every time I forgot to bring up the baking powder, etc.)
At this point, I was soooo grateful we had already called Bertie Mae. She had assured me she and her sister would take care of everything Saturday morning and the house would be spotless when we came back home. So Saturday morning while we were loading up the car with treats, the two most wonderful ladies who I hadn't even met yet in the world drove up. They could have been riding a white horse. They walked in, gave me a great big hug and told me not to worry at all. I felt like a little girl who had gotten herself in way too deep and they were swooping in to rescue me.
Reid came to the market with me for a couple of hours and then went back home to put any final touches (I say final but I mean interim touches...I'm not sure our house will have final touches on it for a while!) on the house. He called me and said "Oh Sugar Britches, let's see if they will come every week. You won't believe this. Our house looks awesome." Those might have been the sexiest words he's ever spoken to me. Of course I wanted them to come every week! The thought of our house getting a fresh start every Saturday, especially while we were in the middle of trying to still move in and run a little business was beyond awesome.
When I was single the best thing I did for myself was have someone come and clean on a regular basis and before any dinner parties. I learned that even though I could "technically" (i.e. stay up all night) do it all myself, I enjoyed having company over a lot more when I just focused on the parts I was really good at and let someone else do what they were really good at. It also helped me keep my house in order because clutter never looks clean no matter how much you dust it. When we got married and I moved, I missed Ms. Betty dearly but I didn't want to seem like a high maintence wife so I tried doing it all myself again. (I loved Martha, one of the Green Overalls Club members, for reminding me at the market to know what you do best and let others do what they do best!) So when Reid called to say how great it was, I was beyond thrilled he was just as enthusiastic as I was about having some help!
The weekend with my neighbors ended up being so much fun, not the least part of which was coming home to a transformed house. They had brought a convertible so Reid showed them all of our gorgeous Washington homes riding around with the top down. We called some of our new neighbors over to eat dinner with us (which is when Ricky taught me how to fry onion rings-drop them in at 350 and take them out when the temp gets back up to 350) and had a great time catching up. (And a couple week's later Katy sent me the cutest apron monogrammed with "Southern Scratch" on it along with a list of bible verses that related to the "entrepenuer!" It was so sweet!)
That next week I went to Poss hardware and bought a hygrometer to measure the humidty. With that little tool and our dehumidifier we were able to bake a lot more wisely with better Better Than's and crusty pound cakes. A couple times we still had to run upstairs but for the most part we were able to do all the cooking in our "new" dedicated kitchen. We could keep the upstairs a "Southern Scratch Free Zone" which lent a lot more peace and order to the house even though we still felt some of the strain of having a business inside our home.
One issue with having the kitchen in the basement was that we still actually needed our basement. There was a wood burning stove which we would have loved to have a little den around, Reid would want to start working out again (and maybe drag his wife along with him!) and also give us a place to work on other household projects like the furniture I wanted to paint or the doghouse Reid wanted to build. There was already a built in work bench ready to go but of course we didn't want to risk doing any kind of non-food related work down there. So even though the space we used took up half the basement, it really took up all the basement.
The other issue with having the kitchen in the basement was that it would still need some renovations which a plumber & electrician would have to handle to be a fully certified kitchen. We just weren't sure if doing any kind of commercial overhaul on our house was wise. We had talked to one of my uncles who had recommended if we wanted the kitchen on our property to just build a new building (like one of those steel ones) that could be moved which made a lot of sense. (But didn't really want a steel building you could see from the road.) Then we went back to maybe building a little house for us closer to our pond and making the entire house the business (hey, it already had those gorgeous drop ceilings right?). But then we would be taking on a huge project and being in even more uproar than we already were. Or what about renting a cute place on the square? Well we didn't really need a "storefront" or full service restaurant so that would be kind of unneccessary and also force our little business straight into a "make it or break it" mode.
Another thing we had to consider was that Reid and I were in reality incredibly blessed. Like I mentioned earlier we had our "good car" as well as Reid's "red baron" (oh what a disaster...but a paid for disaster. If you see him at the gas station, yes he is using a claw hammer to get the fuel door to open since the lever broke off. And yes, it kind of makes you laugh and cry all at once if you are riding shotgun). We inherited this gorgeous farm and comfortable house and didn't want to make any risky business decisions that could compromise that or fall into what Reid calls the "I'd trade it all for just a little more" syndrome. So even when I would lie awake at night trying to convince myself (and sometimes waking Reid up to try to convince him) that if we just "went for it" and built our dream kitchen our business would grow, Reid would be the voice of reason and tell me "not yet." At times I thought he was just being too frugal or couldn't see the "big picture" but come to find out, his nearly decade more of life experience comes with some more wisdom too.
We wanted to try to be responsible in growing our business so that we didn't give up the peace we had when we went to bed at night. Our view of "financial security" meant being able to sip coffee & make grits and eggs on Sundays before church without worrying about Monday. Starting the business from our yard sale profits and putting everything back into it had meant nine months of me not bringing in a paycheck but we had everything we really needed with Reid's job (but you better believe I sometimes mentally translate how nine months of me having a "real" job could have translated into painted walls and custom drapes!). Luckily Bambi held my hand and helped me with the numbers I'm not so great at and showed me what to do to keep us, our business, God and the government all happy. (She also informed me that enjoying coffee & grits on Sunday morning was not inherently exclusive to growing our business!)
We had been praying every night for our marriage and business and that we would make wise decisions regarding both. (I know our families were doing the same, probably in overdrive!) In the last months I felt like I was finally learning that "waiting on God" didn't mean "sitting around doing nothing" and that surprisingly, God didn't need me to "just help him out a little." (Oh if I had only learned this years ago...but then I wouldn't have half the stories to
Anyway, back to the basement kitchen and us scratching our heads trying to figure out if/where/when we needed to move to a fully bonafied kitchen. A little over a month or so ago I happened to be at the LeGette's house one evening picking up vegetables from Lazy Willow Farm and mentioned to Sandy I would be glad when we got a more permanent kitchen figured out, so for one we could then focus a little more on getting our house ready to be able to entertain. I told her Reid and I decided we had given up for the moment to figure out our next "move" but thought we may know after Christmas and would just be patient until God led us in the right direction.
Well, the next time I was over there, Sandy said to me: "Hey, I'm not sure if you would even be interested in this but we have this house out in Tignall that is great for entertaining..."
Next and final (I promise) post on this kitchen stuff: Three compartment sinks and a very important little piece of paper...
