Indeed its not the kitchen that makes the cook. I cook in a hostel kitchen, but its pretty well equipped i think, with a hotplate, kettle, microwave and tiny oven toaster, but i manage to do so much with it. Most of the stuff i put up on my blog are meals i make in this kitchen space. Also for about 2 months, there was only the small hotplate working, so i had to fry using a heavy bottomed pot a friend has nicked from her mum’s kitchen. Last year, i made all my meals in a 2-quart saucepan, as well as a half quart one i later found. hhaha. It just required more careful planning thats all. My only real luxury, is a german-made knife. But even that is a paring one i use for everything from julienne vegetables to disjointing whole chickens, It just does not feel safe to have a $200 super-knife lying around in a shared kitchen. Neither do i want to store it in my four by four room. So i’ll just make do for now.

When i was young, my grandmother’s house had a huge outdoor kitchen and dining area. It was a corner of the house, and was included in the roof part, but it had no sides where the outermost walls should have been. I have so many wonderful memories of that kitchen, running around, or watching my mum, grandma some aunts and all the domestic helpers from our different households working together in the same kitchen. There was a big charcoal stove that would be taken out of storage during festivals to make big pots of soup. In Singapore, it’s warm year round, so such an open concept was possible. all one needed was roll down bamboo blinds to keep out the rain. Also, I have also seen a few homes with an external kitchen. Because its outside, its easier to deepfry or stir fry, and not have to deal with the smell permeating the whole house. That said its not so much another kitchen as a simple extension of the existing kitchen.

Yes, the kitchen and bathroom work we had done has significantly raised the value of our home. Actually all of the decorative work in the house has probably raised the value of it considerably. It would be neat to have a realtor look at it now, but I plan not to move from here until I am old and feeble and cannot go dashing up and down stairs all the time!

Another reason for upgrading one’s kitchen is to increase the potential value of the property. After that, it’s supposed to be the bathrooms!