MORE ABOUT THE KITCHEN UPGRADE

A few features of the 1949 kitchen (see previous post) stood out to me:

·       Built-in dividers in drawers. My mother’s kitchen had those, but mine never did. I use those store-bought organizers, and I have never found them to be satisfactory.

·       Nice deep drawers. Someplace along the line, the men who build our kitchens decided that not only do we not need drawers but the few they provide should have no depth. I have one bank of inadequate drawers in my modular home kitchen. My first purchase after moving here was a tacky little rolling plastic three-drawer unit to hold plastic lids and other odds and ends. I stashed it in the pantry, and I wish I didn’t need it.

·       The circular (or lazy susan) cupboard (mentioned in the previous post). I admit those aren’t perfect, but they do make for better, more accessible use of a deep corner. 

·       Kitchen desk. The concept comes up from time to time. My mother had a kitchen desk, and it was pretty much a catch-all for clutter. I’ve also had a kitchen desk, and I don’t recall sitting there except to talk on the phone. I can write a grocery list anywhere, and the family financial center was elsewhere in the house.

·       Bins. I'm okay with not having bins. My mother’s kitchen had a flour drawer and the sugar was in a big canister in the drawer below. That system was handy when it came to measuring. But -- is it advisable to keep loose flour in a drawer? Flour does get old, and at what point do you renew it? I do remember that Mother cleaned the flour drawer from time to time, but I'd rather wash a canister. Bins for potatoes and onions would be wasted in my kitchen, and while I’d love a better system for spice storage, I’m not sure bins would work for me. KW

MORE SEARS SAGA

The Kenmore refrigerator, delivered in August, seems to be working all right. We agree that it’s better than the previous one, which we believed wasn’t cold enough. However, the cooling seems inconsistent.

Actually, we had another Sears event relating to the new dishwasher. In loading it one day, I pushed the top rack into place and a thingamabob fell off the runner. (They call it an end cap, but it’s really a thingamabob.) I discovered this little plastic piece is very important. It keeps the rack from sliding off the runner.

 

So, Mike called the customer service number and was referred to the parts people who readily agreed to send a replacement thingamabob. A couple days later I found it in the mailbox.

Subsequently, I received an email asking me to complete a survey with regard to this transaction. “Your experience is important to us,” read the message. “Please tell us how we did.” I had to laugh. For weeks Sears had shown no concern for our satisfaction with the $2000 refrigerator, while the parts division wanted to know if we were satisfied with a little $10 plastic part. Clearly, the parts manager and the customer service manager are not the same person.

 

No, I didn’t complete that survey, nor did I complete it the next time they asked. As for the end cap, it wouldn’t stay on. Mike suggested a service call, but I was afraid it might count against us if we need other service within the year. So Mike crimped the arm a bit to keep the thingamabob in place. So far so good. But again, although it’s a small issue, it’s still a new appliance with a problem. KW

SHADES OF GREEN

Today is St. Patrick's Day and I attended a meeting where 25 individuals wore 25 shades of green -- Christmas green, spring green, gray green, teal, yellow green, etc. Some of those shades didn't belong in the same room together.

That reminds me of the avocado green of the 1970s when I was married. I was never a fan but it's what was out there and so I received a number of kitchen gifts in that peculiar shade of green. I still use some of them. I always thought when I got to this stage in my life I would get rid of the odds and ends of this and that and outfit my kitchen with some truly nice stuff in colors I like. Well, now that I'm here at this stage of my life, I find I just don't care that much. I've had my hodge-podge of bowls long enough that I'm a little sentimental over them.

Take for instance the set of three Pyrex casserole bowls that our elderly Orofino neighbor Eunice Merrill gave me as a wedding gift – three different sizes, two green and one white, with flat lids that just sit on the bowls. The gift came with a nice note wherein Eunice said she felt our marriage was a right one. No, I can't recite a list of my wedding gifts, but I do remember that Eunice gave me those bowls, and when I think of replacing them, I just can't quite do it.

In fact, I broke the white bowl. It cracked when I poured hot liquid from the crock pot into it when we still lived on 12^th Avenue. It's likely that it was already cracked. I was disappointed but life went on with the two green bowls and three lids. Yesterday when Mike and I were at GoodWill, I spied one of those white bowls. "Why not?" I said to myself, so I replaced my white bowl for $1.99. (They don't give things away at GoodWill any more.) KW