Kitchens

First have to apologize that this is late. I've been having issues with blogger. I'm seriously considering moving to a new blog.

The theme for our roundup this week is kitchens of the Foreign Service. I'll start with mine. Here's an excerpt from a past Roundup post about housing:

Your kitchen will probably be completely closed off and not very large since kitchens are made for housing staff to be in (although depending on rank, you could have quite a sizable kitchen). Your kitchen will have granite counter tops and probably very few drawers, although you may have quite a few cupboards. Warning - you may not have a dishwasher. You will have a water filter installed in your sink, and probably one in your fridge as well (the water here is potable though, and it doesn't taste very bad). Some kitchens I've seen recently have built in stoves, and I've seen quite small ones, you should make sure the size of your oven before bringing baking dishes.

with dining room in the background. We have a swinging door to the
dining room, we wish it had a lock

The door in the background is to the laundry room. 

As far as my kitchen goes, the cupboards might look good in a picture, but some of them are a little crooked, and something about their finish lends to them always looking dirty (even the ones out of reach of the kids). I love having granite, but the color choice makes it really hard to see when and where the counters are dirty. I don't like that it's so closed off, but I do love the size. It's the biggest kitchen we've had since we were in our first house. I wish we had more drawers, but I love the cupboard space. The kitchen has enough space for both John and I to enjoy cooking together, and I LOVE that.

We enjoy our kitchen, but in Manila I'm hoping for more drawers and a pantry.

Kitchens: The Huge, The Average and the Tiny

Donna at Email from the Embassy didn't have time to write up an entry for the roundup, but she did send me a link to an entry that shows her kitchen after her UAB arrived. All I can say is: here I come Amman!

Becky at Small Bits said there wasn't much special about her kitchen except a cupboard that isn't quite kid friendly.

Chelsea at  A Fisher Out of Water shows off a sleek if not somewhat lacking in storage kitchen complete with a homemade rug and table for her daughter.

Sadie at Sadie Abroad surprised me this week with how small her kitchen is. Stepping into her kitchen you'll see some of her favorite things which have to be "stored" on the counter. She's also included quite a list of her favorite kitchen items with links to check them out yourself.

Carla at I Run, You Run compared her past kitchen in Arlington which was just as tiny as one of the kitchens John and I had in Texas to her current kitchen in Manila. While she's gained square footage she hasn't gained very many drawers so she still has to be creative.

James and Sarah Talalay recently blogged about the energy efficient qualities of their home in India, including quite a special drying rack for their dishes. You can find a picture of their kitchen in this entry where they give you a tour of their home. And in THIS entry, you can see how they make pizza in their kid sized oven.

And in other (food related) news:

Like nomads, but with more stuff, wish they had a garden but do go to the rinok to get their in season fruits and veggies.

and finally:

Worldwide Availability is not a big fan of Hello Kitty, but thinks Hello Kitty Town isn't that bad of a place to bring their little one.

Thanks everyone for your submissions and suggestions, and again I apologize for it being late. Next week is going to be hosted by Sadie, the week after that is still open, please go by the State Department Blog Roundup Calendar and sign up.