Features
By
Melanie M.
Come behind the scenes at A Virtual Vegan for a #KitchenTour and see Mel's Kitchen
My favorite thing is the pantry! I've never had one before in any of my kitchens. I love that all the food is in one place and not scattered between different cupboards.
Tell us about your kitchen?
Our house has an open plan living area, so the kitchen, dining area and living room are all one big open space. I had always had a separate kitchen in our past houses so was a little a worried about how it would be when bought this house, but we are really enjoying it. It's a much more social way to live.
What have you done to make your kitchen cosy, functional, beautiful or inspiring?
We only moved in to this house 2 months ago and it was a new build, so we haven't needed to do anything to the kitchen.
How do you keep organized while cooking?
I don't! I'm an incredibly messy cook. I always have good intentions of clearing up as I go, but it never ends up that way and the kitchen looks like a disaster zone by the time I have finished.
Any tips & tricks for organising your pantry, fridge and ingredients?
Transfer grains, nuts and flours etc that come in bags into glass jars instead. They look better, take up less room and keep for longer as jars are airtight. I keep any attractive looking jars that jam and sauce etc come in instead of recycling them, clean them up, remove the labels and use them for storing seeds, nuts, grains etc. Group items you tend to use together in a container, so you just have to pull it out rather than hunt for individual items. Things like common baking ingredients -- vanilla, baking powder, baking soda, and salt -- in one basket and flours and sugars in another.
Do you do a lot of cooking and what are your favourite dishes to make?
I love to cook, both for fun and for my blog which is now my full-time job. So I tend to spend most of my time in the kitchen. I like to cook all sorts of things, but my passion really lies in baking. Bread is one of my favorite things to bake.
Where do you turn for new recipe ideas?
I get new recipe ideas from all sorts of things. When I'm at the grocery store and see new products, or from some great looking fresh produce, things I see on TV, eating out at restaurants and sometimes from other recipes in books or online.
Do you plan out your recipes for the week or do you like to be spontaneous?
I'm more spontaneous. It all comes down to what I'm craving on the day.
If you had three wishes, what would you do to make this your dream kitchen?
My kitchen is very functional, but it is pretty compact. My dream kitchen would be much bigger. I would ideally like to incorporate some open shelving into the kitchen at some point. I love the look of it. I'd really like one of those under counter vacuum systems that suck up the crumbs and save you getting the dustpan out!
Whose kitchen would you love to explore? Send us a message!
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