Bringing joy back into the kitchen
In times of meal making fatigue, world weariness and general gloom, here are 10 ways to restore joy to your kitchen.
I consider myself an enthusiastic, if unskilled, cook. I love a TikTok recipe trend (hello 3 ingredient airfryer doughnuts!), I read cookbooks cover to cover (recent obsession: So Good by Emily English, worth buying for the chocolate orange porridge recipe alone), I am a fan of a condiment (have you tasted the M&S deli mustard?) and I am easily swayed by the clever marketing of obscure kitchen gadgets (Yes, I do want one of these wrap sealers).
But, I also have periods of time where I lose the love for cooking anything and the kitchen starts to feel a little sad. It happens in times of chaos and too many after school activities, bouts of illness or just seasons of general gloom. I find myself resorting to the very basics; dinner looks like store bought mashed potato with a piece of salmon and some salad, or nursery suppers of boiled eggs and soldiers.
In such times, there is no sourdough starter bubbling on the side and no bolognese bubbling on the hob. Instead, there are piles of random bits of paper, a kitchen table top that badly needs scrubbing and a poorly organised pantry where I can’t find a jar of tinned tomatoes, let alone any inspiration for cooking and entertaining.
Because this is a cycle, I know what it is I have to do next - a little refresh of the menu planning and a little refresh of my kitchen. Both activities are creative and tend to make me feel better immediately. As I’m currently just emerging from one of my cooking lulls, I’ve spent this week thinking of all the best ways to bring joy, love and creativity back into the kitchen. So here we are:
Get planning. Grab a cup of tea, get all your favourite cookbooks or saved recipes from socials and sit down and decide what you want to make in the coming weeks (note to self: be realistic about how busy you are, the season, your capacity!) If you are the kind of person that gets a thrill from home organisation, check out the Lazy Genius podcast - My main meal planning takeaway from her - have a dinner “queue” - a list (mine is at the back of my diary) of meals that everyone in the house likes (it is amazing how we can actually forget what they are). Each week, pick some things from this reliable list and maybe try out a couple of new things too. If they are a win, add them to the dinner queue. Simple.
Meal planner with magnet from Good Tuesday - I love this brand’s cheery and stylish planners AND crucially, they come with optional magnets so you can stick it to the fridge Does your crockery bring you joy because mine really does not. And I have to stare at those plates and bowls multiple times a day - dishwasher drudgery I’m looking at you! When I was a teenager, we spent several summers returning to the same house in Provence. The house was part of an ancient chateau and everything about it was beautiful. At lunchtime, we’d take it in turns to come in from the pool and garden and fill the baguettes with whatever cheese, ham and pâté we had picked up that morning. I still remember the plates, hand-painted with pink flowers in thick brushstrokes, heavy and robust- I loved them. I imagine they were probably Spanish and although I haven’t found the exact ones, these are pretty close. Go forth and find plates that make your heart sing.
Change up the tea-towels. It is such an easy and inexpensive little swap. I like vintage ones and always have an eye out for those. Otherwise, you can’t go wrong with really nice striped linen ones. The sink will look more dressed up and drying up will seem less arduous.
Chic tea towel from Rebecca Udall Get a lamp - us interiors boffins love a lamp in the kitchen. We are universally agreed that overhead lighting is abhorrent and little lamps makes us feel all cozy. I’m currently lusting over a new collaboration between lampshade brand, Beauvamp and fabric artist, Natasha Hulse - it has resulted in the prettiest, painterly lampshades - if you are just going to have one lamp in the kitchen, you might as well make it look gorgeous - plus all that texture and fabric really helps soften kitchen surfaces, which can otherwise be quite hard and cold.
Beauvamp x Natasha Hulse lampshade, Credits: Natasha Hulse @natashahulse_design Will Slater Photography @willslater53, Callow Hall @wildhiveuk Is it time for a pantry restock? I’m not suggesting a complete pantry sort out (although there are times when I find this incredibly cathartic) but perhaps you need to do a stock take, see what needs to be eaten, or refill your jars of staples. Our pantry is always more appealing when I know how many tins of chopped tomatoes I have and the jam jars are full of spices. I do like to decant some of my pantry basics as I find it easier to see everything that way. I’m always in need of containers and I love these storage jars from Tooka - perfect for after school snacks. Even a digestive would look fancy in there!
Storage jars from Tooka Candlelit breakfasts. Years ago, I went on the most wonderful holiday to the Île de Ré with a good friend. We stayed at a sweet B&B in Ars-en-Ré - now a much fancier hotel - and every morning we were treated to breakfast by candlelight and a soundtrack of classical music. It was deeply relaxing and a lovely start to the morning, before we got on our bikes and spent the rest of the day pedalling around the peninsula. I adopted the ritual and most mornings, I still light a candle in our kitchen in Shropshire - I honestly think it helps keep us all calm. I am fickle when it comes to candles and have a new favourite candle pretty much every week, but I have never lost the love for Malin and Goetz’s Tomato candle - total heaven.
A little corner of our kitchen in Shropshire, breakfast candles at the ready. I do actually have a lovely little study with a beautiful antique rolltop desk - but I confess I rarely use it. Usually I park myself at the kitchen table on the Aga side - it is warm, near the kettle, and a light, sunny space to be. But working from the kitchen table does tend to clutter things up. So I’ve got a new system - a basket for my laptop, pens and notebooks - it’s a quick way to corral them when I’ve finished working and need to set the table for tea - and it stops that otherwise inevitable pile of papers on the counter. I put the bits in the basket and then move the basket to a cupboard in the next door room. It’s all about the systems!
I’ve decided it is time to start a table linen cupboard / basket / drawer. A beautiful linen collection full of interesting napkins and tablecloths would make me feel a lot more excited about dinner - whether that’s just setting the table for a simple meal for my husband or entertaining a crowd. I always look for tablecloths in charity shops as they are so expensive. Also - top tip - if you need a massive one, consider looking for inexpensive fabric sold by the metre and just buy the length you require. It is super easy to get it hemmed or do it yourself.
Find your sense of kitchen fun again. We’ve all seen those cool Insta chefs using squeezy olive oil bottles. I feel like I would enjoy making dinner that little bit more if I had one. I’ve seen them on Sous Chef (FYI one of my favourite places for exciting kitchenware and condiments that you won’t be able to get in the supermarket). Or, I like the look of this one, and it would make for excellent counter candy too.
Treat yourself to a new wooden spoon - probably one of the most used items in the kitchen. I feel like a new spoon is the equivalent of getting a new notebook - it is symbolic of intention. I like this one in acacia wood. Alternatively, show the spoons you already have some love and give them a good clean. There has been a big trend on socials for boiling them, but satisfying as it might be to see a big pan of filthy water at the end of it, it isn’t good for them; instead use warm, soapy water to clean your spoons. Then I like to leave mine to dry on top of the Aga or outside in the sun.
