Old kitchens...

I know that these days people look for granite, stainless steel appliances and tile floors. These new, modern kitchens are lovely. I'm sure I covet them as much as the next person. However, I find something beautiful about an old kitchen. A kitchen from the 50s and 60s or even the dreaded 70s, has a charm all its own.

Those kitchens were the workhorses of America. They turned out jello salad and meatloaf on a regular basis. They fed families and neighbor kids. When I stand in the middle of my old, outdated kitchen I often wonder about the women who did the same before me. Were they making a midnight snack while they worried about their children out past curfew? How many holiday Turkeys sat on the counter waiting to be carved? Did the woman who moved into this house when it was brand new just LOVE! LOVE! her new white and gold counter tops and dark wood cabinets?

My kitchen is small but the layout is perfect. I had intended to take a picture but the batteries on my camera died. Maybe another day. I have no fancy kitchen island. No pendant lighting. No prep sink. The bones in my kitchen are good though.

It seems that now everyone wants a new shiny professional grade kitchen. And they go in there and whip up exotic sounding dishes or heat up mac and cheese. I think that if you look beyond HGTV you'll see a whole lot of Moms still toiling away in their old outdated kitchens turning out meatloaf and holiday turkeys. We are doing it without a six-burner stove, a pot-filler, a prep-sink and a convection oven. We are still worrying over the kids out too late, stretching the family budget and baking cookies. How often do we let the discontent in? How often do we wish for those fancy kitchens in those fancy houses that sit empty while the family grabs takeout?

You know what? It isn't what the kitchen is made of, it's what is made in the kitchen. Memories of toiling hands peeling potatoes and hot meals even in the toughest of times. Give me an old outdated kitchen filled with love, laughter and family. Give me simple honest and old fashioned meals turned out in love. If I am blessed with one of those fancy kitchens some day I gaurantee it will still be turning out meatloaf, jello salad and holiday turkeys.

For now, there is comfort in my old kitchen.