My kitchen on Isla is proving to be just adequate. I know that I’m spoiled by my just about perfect for me kitchen in Miranda so my standards are high, but there are serious issues with this kitchen. I’m not a fussy cook who needs a ton of equipment, but if I’m going to be living somewhere for a few months, I’m a little more particular.

First, the good stuff about this kitchen. The fridge is huge, newish, and runs cold. The stove has four burners and an oven and, most importantly, runs on gas. The microwave is super powerful and may actually get me hooked on making some things in the microwave. There’s more counter space than I’m used to having. There are some nice pots and pans and all the absolute basics, like plates, cups, utensils, and serving bowls.

But… considering the size of this house, the amount of storage in the kitchen is absolutely ridiculous and inadequate (and, yes, I know that it apparently has more storage than the average Mexican home). Unfortunately, the unit between the fridge and stove was left out in the damp and smells absolutely mildewy. I would not feel comfortable storing anything in it.

So much potential for storage, but the smell is terrible. 🙁

Same thing with the cavernous under sink storage area. I’m fine with storing empty totes and my water bottle there, but forget using it for food storage.

The cabinet above the counter is adequate for storing food prep items, but there’s a serious lack of pantry space.

I’ve filled this cabinet to the brim!

The pots and pans are nice (I LOVE the wok-type pan), but there’s no lids for the smaller pots. The plates and bowls are plastic, which is already staining. I am going to pick up a single setting in china because there’s no way I’m going to make it through the winter without ruining those plates. I also need a decent sized mixing bowl and I’d like something other than my cast iron pan as ovenware.

I also dislike that there’s only a single bowl sink, but at least it’s big and deep.

But my biggest complaint is that the kitchen is so far from the water heater that I can let the water run for a half hour and it never gets hotter than tepid. I’ve been heating a bowl of water in the microwave to do my dishes. It’s a pain when I’m washing up a lot of things, like I did tonight.

When I was packing back home, I made the decision to bring quite a bit of kitchen stuff, including my beloved cast iron pan, a lot of my cooking utensils like tongs and serving spoons (the ones here are plastic, which I dislike, so good call!), and my food processor.

I wish I had known to bring a colander (bought one), a cheese grater (for shredding veggies), a chopping knife, china place settings, a mixing bowl, a Pyrex dish for oven cooking, and my pots.

A pantry would make the single biggest difference to this kitchen. I am thinking of suggesting to the landlady that I could pick up a pantry cabinet at Walmart or Home Depot and seeing if she’d be willing to take that off my rent. There’s plenty of room for one.

Even though this kitchen is far from ideal, I’m making it work! I took advantage of being able to cook again by making quite a spread for dinner.

Haven’t had to use the four burners at the same time yet. I rarely use three burners at home; not enough space on my stove for that many pots and pans! 🙂

The veggies are carrots, chayote, and white onion, with some spices. There’s also rice cooked in chicken broth. Finally, there’s the chicken that I purchased today. I cubed it with my kitchen shears (which I brought!) and marinated it in soy sauce, lime juice, a bit of sugar, and a roughly chopped red onion, adding a bit more soy sauce at the end.

Fun fact about chicken in Mexico: it’s corn fed, so the meat is kind of pale orangey and the fat is bright yellow! I’m glad I knew that or I would have been quite concerned about my chicken today! At any rate, it was very flavourful and moist!

Yummy dinner. I was getting a little tired of ‘Mexicany’ flavours.

All whining aside, I’m really glad to have a kitchen I can use here, remembering all too clearly the dingy kitchen in the apartment I rented in Lethbridge for the ’11 to ’12 winter. I can tell that this place wasn’t designed or set up for someone who does a lot of cooking. I’ll make do this year and if I come back, I’ll know what to pack!