P has become my sou-chef in the kitchen,
so there is an ever present step stool for her.
A while back I was so excited to get a set of canisters from our cool neighbors. As amazingly cool as those canisters were to look at, they weren't very practical for my kitchen routine. I ended up with two different sets of canisters on the counter and none of them contained anything I used on a daily basis. They were basically just serving a decorative purpose. Unfortunately, the look wasn't turning out as I had hoped. The kitchen looked cluttered with so many ill matched canisters on the counter. And despite all those containers, I still had to pull down more every time I cooked.
I cook daily. I cook a lot. I make everything from scratch; salad dressing, pancakes, waffles, pomodoro sauce and once upon a time baby food. It was while I was pregnant that I began to eat organic. But it wasn't until I started looking into baby food for our 6 month old, at the time, that I became aware of every single ingredient. I slowly eliminated anything pre-made. It's necessary to add preservatives and extra salt to food that's suppose to stay on a shelf for an extended period of time. I didn't want the added chemicals in our systems. If you're interested in the subject a good book to start with is this.
So, back to the canisters. One day I realized that I pulled out my jar of flour 2-3 times a day. It got me thinking. Why didn't I put the things I used most often out on the counter in big, cool looking jars? Great. Now I knew what I wanted but I also had a set of requirements for these jars:
- Well sealed, so no bugs or air got in the food.
- Big enough to comfortably hold an entire bag of flour with extra room for easy scooping.
- A wide mouth for ease of scooping and measuring.
- Easily open with one hand, as often the other hand is holding another ingredient.
- Look cool.
And the jar that fit the bill was the Montana jar by Anchor Hawking. They're not Mid Century or totally modern but they do fit all the functionality points and come very close to the design point.
I've had these jars for four months and I love them. I can't even begin to tell you how much easier it is to scoop out flour that's right there in a jar beside the food processor. Before I had to haul out another canister and figure out where I'd temporarily put it with all my already existing mess. I risked pushing the ipad right off the counter. (btw, the ipad has been incredibly useful in the kitchen. More than I ever imagined.)
Fortunately for the overall design and color palette, the ingredients I most often use are also of similar color: flour, sugar, oatmeal and rice. The last jar is for my weekly baked goods; cookies, muffins or bars. (We just finished off the last round when I took this picture.) I believe a jar full of something homemade makes everyone happy; specially a little host and her little guests.
Labels: etc, kitchen
