Info FOr You kitchen drawers- the range side
Monday, July 2, 2018
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I wrote my first "kitchen drawer" post (here) after my niece, Jenny, said she would like to be visiting the farmhouse, having a glass of wine and looking in my kitchen drawers! I figured if Jenny wanted to look inside the drawers then some of you probably did too! Since the kitchen is all drawers it seemed best to break up these posts. Having recently received her first piece of All-Clad, Jenny asked me how I cared for my cookware , and with that in mind I decided to show the "range" side of the kitchen next which houses my "collection" of All-Clad to show Jenny... and you!
I keep several All-Clad pots on the stainless shelf above the range, and the rest are kept in the drawers. Oh, and to answer her question I use my favorite Bar Keepers Friend to clean the All-Clad.
This is also Ella's favorite side of the kitchen- you can see her food and water bowls, and her "cookies" in the jar on the counter. (And, might I add, that when we had lunch with Bunny Williams and John Rosselli here that I noticed that her dogs have that very same wicker bone-shaped mat! :)
The view looking towards the kitchen dining area.
The top drawer on the far left side holds my Le Creuset dutch ovens and Le Creuset Bouillabaisse pot. I love Le Creuset and highly recommend the investment over the imitators. (I gave Jenny a large white dutch several years ago and she loves it too!) I adore the ovals (they don't cook any better I just think they're pretty;) and bought the black 5 quart dutch first. While it's great for some recipes it isn't large enough for others, so I then bought the larger jade 6.75 qt dutch. My suggestion, if you are looking to buy one, is to buy a larger size since you can make both large and small recipes in it and you only have to buy one! I have found the 6.75 to be perfect, but if you have a really large family I would go with the 8 or 9 quart. I purchased all my Le Creuset from their outlet stores where you can find some great deals on seconds. I placed the heavy pots on a top drawer so that I don't have to bend over to get them out.
I used clear plastic, non-adhesive drawer liners from Ikea in all the drawers.
Below is my cast iron drawer. The skillets on the left were inherited from my grandmother and the Le Creuset skillet is a favorite for fish. And, every good southern girl has an iron cornbread stick pan, yes?!
Next up we start with the All-Clad. I have the "stainless" All-Clad. I've noticed over the years that All-Clad will add/delete lines from their collections, but the stainless seems to be their "classic" and is always available. They state on their website that it is their "most popular" line. It is the line that you see Martha and Ina using on their shows.
The kitchen is where you start to see my hoarder "collecting" gene come out! :) My logic is if one pan is good, then three is better! And, they're just so pretty you can't buy just one! While I'm a hoarder buyer of good cookware I'm also frugal... my initial set of All-Clad was purchased at Bed, Bath & Beyond back when you could use their 20% off coupons (unfortunately, they quickly wised up and exempted All-Clad from the coupons) and since then all other pieces were purchased from either TJMaxx or here.
Below that drawer are my wooden salad bowls- I love wooden bowls! The smallest one is a vintage Hawaiian piece and was my grandmother's and the largest one (okay, I have two;) is 17-1/2"! A Bonjour coffee press, a Chantal jade tea kettle and the Michael Graves teapot, which was a gift from a friend some 30 years ago, fill the deep drawer.
The top drawer to the left of the range is my miscellaneous drawer. It holds a Salter scale (which i love btw) and my margarita straws from Ikea! I find that cutting off the bottom 2" from the straws makes them the perfect straw for margaritas in my favorite Marta glass from CB2. And, apparently we eat a lot of corn on the cob with all those corn handle holders! :)
All-Clad skillets!
All-Clad steamers.
This top drawer to the right of the range holds tongs, spatulas, pot holders, a timer and a digital thermometer. The red silicone pot handle holder is actually used as a warning -I place it on the handle to the oven door so that I don't reach in and grab a HOT skillet handle, and trust me I have! The little piece of foil is to wrap the Le Creuset lid handles when the oven is above 500 degrees (I think that is the temperature it needs to be wrapped?) The blue wires in the back are Wolf temperature probes that measure the internal temperature of foods while cooking.
The shallow little woven baskets that I use for organization in many of the drawers I found at Walmart (for around $5.) To those that inquired about them; you'll find them in the "bath" hardware section (think towel rings). I just purchased several a couple of weeks ago, so they still carry them.
Several crepe pans and All-Clad Teflon skillets. I only use the Teflon on occasion- mainly for eggs. Have I told you my crepe pan story? For years Dan "waxed poetic" about how his grandmother made him crepes. He made it sound like every time he saw her she was making crepes for him. And after visiting France and watching him get so happy having a crepe from a street vendor I came home and took a "crepe class" at Sur la Table in Dallas to learn to make his beloved grandmothers' crepes. It was only after I took the class and while making the first batch for him that he mentioned that she had only actually made them for him once... ONCE! ha!
The baking drawer!
More baking! This drawer just makes me happy! My favorite popover and Madeleine pans. The scalloped white porcelain baking dish is a favorite from HomeGoods- it's the perfect size for so many things and is just so pretty! The antique English white ironstone leaf inside it is my spoon rest that I grab when I need one on the stove. I have Slipat, but honestly I've never been a big fan- you?
The All-Clad big boys! 15" skillet and saute pan with smaller lidded saute. This is also Dan's BBQ essentials drawer with the extra long tongs, lighter and the remote BBQ thermometer.
More baking...
And, this final drawer is deep enough to hold files of recipes (this isn't my only recipe filing system- I also have several large notebook binders of recipes that I keep with my cookbooks.) You can see that my current obsession is finding and saving "shrimp and grits" recipes. I haven't actually made any of the recipes yet, so if you have a fabulous recipe please email it to me!
This drawer also holds my Reynolds Handi-Vac vacuum sealer. I love this little device! It does an amazing job of sealing meats for freezing without the cost or storage requirement of the large and pricier versions.
So, that's this side of the kitchen!
The next and last "kitchen drawers" post will be the sink side. Told you- there are lots of drawers for Jenny to look inside!
For more drawer organization and storage:
To see the drawers on the sink side click HERE
To see the drawers on the island click HERE
For more drawer organization and storage:
To see the drawers on the sink side click HERE
To see the drawers on the island click HERE