A Crumby Situation

Cooking is where my creativity flourishes...where artistic expression can explode with every sweet of savory creation. Anyone who really knows me can attest to how much I love food and how cooking, eating, and learning about food is always on the forefront of my mind. Lately, I have been cooking at my boyfriends apartment (bigger kitchen!) and have run into a bit of a problem...I am not the neatest of cooks! For some strange reason and without failure, by the time our meal is ready to eat, crumbs always speckle the counters and floors.

(cooking in my tiny kitchen was not so fun. What you see in this picture was all the space I had!)

This was never a problem until now, because my small kitchen did not allow for a mess... I would have to clean up while I was cooking. That was before I started cooking in John's spacious kitchen (where there is enough space to spread out and clean later). Thus, a situation has risen...

You see, my boyfriend has a bit of an obsession with clean floors and counters...I mean, of course he is obsessed with cleaning the two things I tend to dirty the most! Now that I am cooking with so much counter space, my attempts to be like Martha Stewart seem to be diminishing with every crumb left behind.

...What to do, what to do...

This may seem like a simple problem to fix, but this is where things get a bit complicated. When I try to make less of a mess, my focus leaves what I am making and our meal suffers (which I consider a sin), and when I leave the mess to clean later, John's focus tends to wander between me, the meal and the crumbs that landed on the floor (thus a very distracted conversation with our meal). Our predicament is wild really. Wild because it's like these damn little crumbles silently and consistently beckon John to get that broom and sweep them away.

Before this dilemma reaches a point of ridiculousness, I have decided to figure out a solution that will help to keep our kitchen crumb free, but still allow my creative juices to mix, measure and stir freely.

www.bambeco.com (great website!)

The first fix I have found is a fabulous cutting block that is made with two pieces of bamboo. The top is made with lines of wood that leaves empty space for bread droppings to fall, while the second solid bamboo block catches and consolidates the mess until you are ready rid it away. I love this block because it is eco-friendly, easy to use, makes my cooking style more like Martha's, and keeps my boyfriend happy. In life, it's about the little things.

Stay tuned for other clean-up quick fixes... what works for us, may just work for you too!