I'm not a gadget girl. I like a paring knife to chop onions, a chef's knife to chop carrots and a serated knife to cut bread. A classic pepper mill, a cutting board, some sharp scissors. I need a vegetable peeler and to open a bottle of wine, I just want a classic restaurant corkscrew. A couple of heat-proof rubber spatulas, some wooden spoons, some stainless ladles and a good quality can opener. Some cast iron pots, a couple of non-stick frying pans and my beloved le Creuset Dutch oven, along with some stainless steel pots.
Each summer we spend two weeks at a wonderful cottage. The first year we went, I brought a few of my tools (just in case). The list has grown every year. It stems from a combination of being pickier and forgetting what they have. My favourite knives, cutting boards and pans are a must! Still, I struggle. This year, for example, I didn't bring my can opener, because the cottage has two. However, one left my can with three large uncut spots, the other was the cheapest kind of opener that left huge welts in my fingertips. I left my scissors at home and the two pairs at the cottage had trouble cutting through just about everything! Oh yes, and we went pepperless for two weeks. We used the barbeque, but everything else was cooked in the two pots I brought from home. The water is not safe to drink, so every bit of water used for cooking or washing has to bottled. There is no dishwasher, so we struggle with keeping up with the dishes - I resorted to paper plates and cringed at every meal, being an environmentalist at heart! And for some reason this year, there were hardly any dishtowels! I go through about three per day in my upstairs kitchen (where I have a dishwasher!) and five or more in my downstairs one! Here, I struggled with 4 for two weeks, obviously I resorted to a laundromat.
Having said all that, it wasn't camping (which you could probably imagine is not my thing!) and two weeks away from the regular schedule was wonderful! Meals are simpler at the cottage and there is a strange sense when buying groceries that the end is in sight. At home, any leftovers can go into the fridge without thought towards using them up. At the cottage, everything has to be finished within the two weeks. The extra eggs get made into French toast for breakfast and devilled eggs for lunch. Cheese is made into grilled cheese and cut into chunks for snacks. That home-made salsa I brought was used for nachos and tacos and dipping. The last few days is a crazy mish-mash of meals using up any and all leftovers, I guess it is part of the cottage appeal!
As we approached day 12 and 13, I started allowing myself to think of my home kitchen(s) and I really started missing them. Part of it is just that I like my own stuff. I also missed having a dishwasher and the familiarity of my things. We are home now, and the glow of our cottage vacation has faded. But I haven't forgotten the simpler life and the closeness of our time together that the cottage offers us. That cosy kitchen is a special place that feeds my family as nature and relaxation feeds our souls. Until next year!
