The Holiday Cottage Kitchen
We stocked our holiday cottage kitchen with foods grown and produced locally.
I was just asked this morning whether I had spent the past week at a "holiday cottage" or was I visiting family. I paused, beguiled by the unfamiliar phrase "holiday cottage" - my friend is British. Then, I answered out loud as I thought to myself, "Yes. Yes, it was a holiday cottage." The term so aptly described our Michigan vacation.
Just being on the Lake Michigan shore was a holiday, a celebration of sorts of the sun, sand, water, fresh air, family and all there is good in life. And it really was a holiday cottage in that here we had so dramatically broken from our daily routines. The holiday cottage had a holiday cottage kitchen, a special little corner with many breaks from the cooking routine.
The kitchen was a sunny square area so small you could scramble eggs with one hand and wash dishes with the other. Efficient. Really what made the space so efficient was what the kitchen lacked, not neat features or upgrades. The list of “lacks” that I came to appreciate were:
No space.
No island.
No dishwasher.
No garbage disposal.
No trash compacter.
No tea kettle.
Not even a clock.
These “conveniences” I rely on daily in my home kitchen and think them a necessity. But here in the holiday cottage kitchen these things became not just useless; it was actually their absence that contributed to the sense of holiday.
No space meant everything had to be useful, and it was; a few pans but even more strainers for the fresh blueberries, peaches, cherries and other wonderful produce grown nearby. No counter island meant no clutter, no "stuff" annoyingly and haphazardly abandoned like at home. With no dishwasher there were no dishes to unload or negotiation of whose turn it was. With no garbage disposal or trash compactor there was no mechanical groan to interrupt the sweet solitude of shore life. No tea kettle made me realize I don't need a new one, or even one at all. And the absence of a clock made it impossible to be late.
What we lacked in "conveniences" we gained in different sorts of luxuries.
Now back home, I miss the holiday cottage kitchen; its two sunny windows with the cool lake breeze blowing in, along with it the distant voices of people walking down the road. I'm boiling water for tea in a saucepan now, the old tea kettle gone. And so far, the fridge is only stocked with enough produce, eggs and butter for the next few days. Later this week I will restock per the SimplyCooking® Pantry. But for a few more days I will savor the simplicity, luxury and grace of the Michigan shore and of the holiday cottage kitchen.
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