Sheri's Kitchen

Come behind the scenes at Donuts, Dresses and Dirt for a #KitchenTour and see Sheri's kitchen in Irvington, New York.

(Photography by Duncan Urquhart)

Oh for sure my full-size freezer and fridge! I bake CONSTANTLY and having a large, easily accessible freezer is a dream. Not only for chilling sheets of cookie and pie dough but for storing all those baked goods!

Tell us about your kitchen?

The kitchen is about 18' x 15'. I spend most of my waking hours here - all of my freelance work is food-driven, as is much of the content on my blog. So this is not a "for show" room - it's a workhorse! It's also where we eat our meals, do homework and have game night! It's the true heart of our house and even though we have a separate dining room this is where we LIVE.

What have you done to make your kitchen cosy, functional, beautiful or inspiring?

I was VERY lucky to be able to design my dream kitchen. And even though I hadn't started blogging yet, I was a very passionate home cook and baker. I love the warmth of the dark cabinets and the Carrera marble countertops. I'm not an "island" person but use the large farmhouse table instead. My most-used appliances - stand mixer and food processor - are permanently on the counter so that I can easily start any baking or cooking tasks (which happen pretty much every day) quickly.

How do you keep organized while cooking?

I'm the queen of mise en place. I prep and organize all of my ingredients prior to starting so that I can just pour, mix and stir as I go. I couldn't imagine cooking any other way. It literally removes all of the stress of meal prep (along with a bourbon on the rocks!).

Any tips & tricks for organising your pantry, fridge and ingredients?

Prepping produce before it ever hits the fridge is my favorite tip. Trimming and washing celery, carrots, etc. means that snacks and ingredients are ready (or almost ready) to go. And a regular purge of all cabinets, fridge and freezer allows me to "find" ingredients that need to be used or tossed!

Do you do a lot of cooking and what are your favourite dishes to make?

Oh yes! I am currently obsessed with all things "sheet pan"! I love the simplicity of sheet pan meals, and I find that high heat cooking in this way creates beautifully browned and crispy edges on all of our favorite proteins and vegetables. A side of rice and dinner is done!

Where do you turn for new recipe ideas?

Pinterest, The Kitchn and Food52 are my web resources, and I still subscribe to Cook's Illustrated, Bon Appetit, Martha Stewart and Real Simple.

Do you plan out your recipes for the week or do you like to be spontaneous?

Plan! My husband does the food shopping on Thursday evenings. So sometime during the day I plan out the week ahead and cut and paste the ingredients on a document (in addition to printing out the recipes so they're "at the ready"). I then organize the ingredients by type to make shopping easier. And this is how I've meal planned for over 20 years. I then only have to pick up things like fish and other perishables during the week. Easy peasy.

If you had three wishes, what would you do to make this your dream kitchen?

I am SO lucky to have my dream kitchen! But if I really wanted to step things up I'd have two dishwashers instead of one!

Whose kitchen would you love to explore? Send us a message!