Biscotti and Burritos

Suzy has no real need to ever cook in my little kitchen again. That’s right, her renovation is complete and her brand spanking new, state-of-the-art, spectacular, poke me in the eye kitchen is officially open for business. (By the way, that’s not her stovetop! I forgot to snap a photo. . .next time!)

We gave her kitchen a sweet and savory start with a few of our favorites: biscotti and burritos. (Although at the last minute she decided to make empanadas since she found a few burritos hidden in her freezer.) I have to admit I felt a bit melancholy pulling up into her driveway, lugging my bags in through her new back entrance. I miss the narrow steps and rickety storm door that used to stick when I tried to open it– a fond reminder of many nice moments spent in Suzy’s old kitchen.

Instead, I was welcomed into the new kitchen, up onto a beautiful deck and in through a new French door, which opened with a smooth and simple pull. As I stepped into her fabulous new kitchen, I was greeted by the same bubbly Suzy as always. It didn’t matter where I was – new kitchen or shabby old one – what mattered most was my effervescent hostess.

I felt at home the second I walked in. Her kitchen was mine and for that I was thrilled! I joked the other day with a friend that I cook with friends so I don’t have to move, or bother with my own renovation. Why bother with my galley style kitchen when my friends let me cook in theirs all the time. I have many kitchens, all of which I love to cook in. I think there are many truths in that observation.

There’s going to be a bit of a learning curve for me, in terms of finding where things are in Suzy’s new kitchen. I opened a few wrong drawers, but for the most part I think I’ll adjust pretty easily. She has a few luxuries for communal cooking, like a double oven which she christened with our biscotti, one tray on top, another on the bottom. Her roomy 6 burner stovetop made cooking two large skillets side by side a breeze, although I made her move from the middle burner when I came in saying there was no need to be crowded in such a spacious kitchen.

We laughed as we always do and had a few mishaps too like when we left one batch of biscotti in the oven a tad too long. It was old times in a new space. We gave her barely used kitchen a bit of soul. And I can’t wait to do it again.

Visit my recipes for the Chocolate Chip Biscotti .