I live in 350 square feet. My kitchen is about 40 square feet I don’t have a full size oven, two burners don’t work, and I have 18 inches of counter space. But none of this stops me from making just about anything and for any amount.
Recently, I was adding pantry treats to goodie bag for the Children for Children Benefit in NYC at Christies. There were 700 bags and 2800 individual items that needed to be wrapped. Before I go any further I must thank those that came and gave a helping hand. I will always remember it; I could have never done it with out your help.  (I had no idea just how many 700 were, but now I do!) THANK YOU to my Mom, my sister Carolyn, her fiancé Evan, Ariana, Chris, Courtney, Emily, Margaret,  Marybeth, and Natalie.
All of this baking took place in my little apartment. Each bag was filled with chocolate honey comb, a brownie, a cookie, and a peanut butter cup. Of course I had to transfer items around the neighborhood to friends apartments for frig and freezer storage. (unfortunately my photos of this were all corrupted too much for my camera to handle.) How do I do this in this small of a space? I have a couple of tools that help me a lot and do not take up that much storage space. I have them stored standing up under my sink.
 
1. Large Cutting Boards (I have two)
2. Jelly Roll Baking Sheet (I had two but for this had to buy two more!) This is basically a cookie sheet with inches sides all the way around.
 
The Cutting Boards, I most often will place over my sink to act as another work surface. Transfer it to a table in my “multi purpose room” and use the next cutting board in the same manner. I store things on the baking sheets when done and they fit nicely in my refrigerator. Now there are stores like Tiny Living that specialize in mini item. I don’t like using mini things- I just forego certain tools that take up a lot of space like a Kitchen Aide Mixer and a Cruisanart. I dream of one day of being able to have space for them. But until then I will have to make do with my hand mixer and blender!

Chicken is the most popular researched recipe on the web. This made me think: is everyone properly cleaning their boards after working with raw chicken? I thought I was. Upon, doing some research however I discovered that I was cleaning my board without properly sanitizing it.

My old way- Rub board down with lemon and rinse off with boiling water and then clean with soap and water. Now hot water and soap cleans the board but does not fully sanitize according to the USDA.

My new way- I can continue with how I cleaned it but now with one more step. 1 tablespoon of Chlorine to 1 gallon of water, wash down the board with mixture and rinse.

Another note when defrosting chicken, defrost in the refrigerator not at room temperature. If you decide not to use it the chicken can be returned to freezer. It will just loose some of its flavor. Chicken can stay in refrigerator for 2 days. But do not return to freezer if left out at room temperature.

Something else I learned was that there is a toll free number 1-800-535-4555 provided by the USDA were you get an actual person on the phone and they can answer all your questions; it was amazing! Click to Enter Pantry

Do you ever think what would life be like without your cell phone? How did you communicate before it? In terms of kitchen supplies this is how I feel about my silpat. I use it all the time. It prevents the bottoms of cookies from burning, makes delicate products easy to handle, and the non stick aspect is amazing when working with sticky ingredients. I used to think Florentine cookies were impossible but with the silpat they are just as simple as great chocolate chip cookies.
So if you don’t own one, I recommend this be your next purchase. And if you own one already, make sure to use it as often as possible. I even bought one today as a present! They are about $20.

This phrase, I believe, also applies to cooking and entertaining. When I set out to plan a meal or any event I always have a menu in mind. Now on the day of, is that menu always the same?…most likely not. Here is some advice I was once given: never tell anyone what is on your menu; then, in case something does not work out or there is not enough time, there is room to improvise and no one will know the difference!

I am not at all afraid to admit I make mistakes all of the time. I was reminded about this tip this week as I am getting ready to cater an event for a friend. I was making grape jellies with peanut butter truffles and, for the life of me, I had been unable to get the jellies to properly set. I had made them twice…and was attempting a third. I think I was merely being stubborn because I excitedly made the mistake of telling people I was making them for the party. I will keep you posted on the outcome!

Details of this event to come in next couple of postings.