Grass is Green & Kitchen is Pink, Grey & Yellow

The rolling green hills of Golden Gate Park

It is the rainy season here in San Francisco, and the park’s ground is covered vibrant green grass, new buds are poking out of the branches, and tiny blooms are filling the underbrush. On Saturday, Nik and I took a quick walk through Golden Gate Park to see the ducks and test out his new camera lens. The day was simple, but beautiful as we watched a flock of seagulls dodge the wrath of hawks at the lake while another hawk was being pestered by a pair of crows on 25th Avenue. I love that I live here with a man that enjoys the unexpected beauty as much as I do.

Muscovy ducks perching on the side of Loyd Lake

Before

Meanwhile, we have been working on giving our favorite room at home, the kitchen, a little more life. To be fair, the “before” photos were taken before we moved into this apartment in 2010, so they have absolutely NO life!! But the changes we have made are simple enough that I think our landlord will approve, and they make the space so much cozier. Below is a list of what we have done:

1. Painted the counter nook dark grey
2. Removed layers and layers of white paint from the cabinet & drawer hardware revealing beautiful glass knobs and stainless latches
3. Removed layers of white paint from the edge of the pull-out cutting board
4. Took out one small drawer that couldn’t be used because the stove was in the way, and lined the opening with a wrapping paper
5. Painted the back of the buffet bench a matching dark grey
6. Replaced the bench cushions
7. Covered the wood ikea table that had been shottily covered with polyurethane so that the entire surface was sticky with a festive Mexican oil cloth

After

After

Now that I can hardly stay out of the kitchen, I baked a couple loaves of bread!! The only bread I have ever made was my grandmother’s rolls that we used to make at Thanksgiving. I never really understood the whole rising thing or paid attention to the dos and don’ts of break making, so this was all new to me. Luckily, Nik has an amazing book called The Tassajara Bread Book that was first published in 1970 by the priests at the San Francisco Zen Center. The book illustrates and describes every single step of the bread making process perfectly. Now I am not afraid of yeast, and will always have whole wheat flour on hand.

My first loaf of home made bread!!