The Kitchen Table

Jim and I were sitting at our kitchen table one morning this week having breakfast and, for some reason, it got me thinking about the subject. Our table is tiny, more of a desk really, however we do spend a significant amount of time at it; chatting, eating, planning.

As I mentioned way back in post number … the kitchen has always been my favourite room in the house and somehow everyone seems to feel much more comfortable and relaxed there than sitting formally on sofas or at the dining room table. In these days of the open plan kitchen/dining/living space I find I miss the intimacy that the kitchen with the table as the centre piece offers. Although everyone is within view of each other there is that separation whether physical (an island bench) or psychological (the cook is ‘in the kitchen’).

As a family we spent most of our ‘social’ time at the kitchen table – meals, homework, birthday parties as small children, my father would do his monthly accounting there after we had eaten in the evening. The dining room was saved for special occasions or dinner parties, until we were old enough not to break anything or drop food (although the dog still sat under the table expectantly).  

When we were children the kitchen table was laminex, pale yellow with black and grey star-like pattern and fitted into an alcove with a ‘box seat’ along one side that my younger brother and I sat on. After we all left home our parents down sized to a timber version.

The student house that I shared with three girl friends, in Sydney during our nurse’s training had the typical terrace house kitchen at the back and the table sat under the window sandwiched between the back door and the door through to the bathroom/laundry. It was the only table we had so all our dinner parties took place there, something I know Nigella Lawson for one would approve of, -  no chance of the cook being left alone!

For most of my adult life I have lived in places with tiny kitchens, more like alcoves or nooks than actual kitchens – hardly room to stand let alone sit at a table. Although our kitchen in Brixton was large and airy with pink and white stripped wall paper and a small kitchen table. One of the main events, I remember, at this table was my friend Hilary’s birthday breakfast when she was visiting from up north.

The kitchen table seems to be significant in other’s lives as well. Put ‘my table’ into Google or Amazon search and you will get a good number of results, mostly cook books including one contribution from Australian cook Donna Hay. Elizabeth David was a big fan of the kitchen table and even in a tiny London kitchen managed to fit in a large scrubbed pine table. She is photographed sitting at it on the cover of her biography and a posthumous collection of her best know recipes is titled At Elizabeth David’s Table.

 With our kitchen renovation plans we are considering a bench arrangement which will divide the sink area from the cooking area but still provide a place for 4-5 people to eat comfortably, and bench space where anyone lurking can be pressed into service with a chopping board or just to perch, with a glass of wine and snacks to keep the cook company.

 This past weekend I did actually spend Saturday in the kitchen and the table was pressed into service as I bottled the Christmas fruit mince and turned 6 butternut squashes into gnocchi. Photos and recipes to follow later in the week!

I did contact my mother and a girl friend from the student house days to get photographs to include here but unfortunately they have not arrived yet so you will have to be content with a walk through a few of the kitchens with and without tables that I have known.

The kitchen of the only house I have actually owned (it was in Darwin) at least the becnh had space for stools so it felt being at a table.

 

My kitchen 'space' in Bogani Road, Karen. The cottage was so tiny I did not even have a dining table we used to sit on the kilims and carpets on the floor, Arabian Nights style.

My friend Louise (in green) in the kitchen renovation she waited years for. Of course it is girls in the kitchen, Irene in pink, and boys, Matt and Rob looking on with a beer in hand!

Probably my favourite kitchen so far! A tiny nook but so well planned and spacious. I rented in Darwin for 18 months from friend Jenne Roberts who did all the renovations and I got to enjoy it whilst she went abroad to work.

The table sat in the walk through between the living area and the hall way. That is a few of the 250 cook books and my elephant tea cosy from Singapore.