Food and freedom

A KITCHEN FLOOR PLAN THAT SHOWS COMPACT ARRANGE- T^ENT OF WORK-TABLE, SINK 'AND STOVE, A BREAKFAST ALCOVE, AN OPEN, NARROW-SHELVED DRESSER IN CON- VENIENT RELATION TO DINING-ROOM, EATING PORCH AND LIVING-ROOM, AND A FOOD-PANTRY NEAR BOTH DINING-ROOM AND PORCH 15 t'-jf pew YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY ivSTOR, LENOX TILDE i:^ EOUKDATIOHS_ A KITCHEN THAT WILL HELP YOU 223 number of steps to be taken. Even a very large kitchen may be made convenient and comfort- able by confining the working equipment to one end or corner, and dividing off the remaining portion to be used as a breakfast alcove or rest- corner. Every working unit should be so placed that the common household tasks which are done over and over again — not only every day, but many times every day — can proceed in the fol- lowing normal, logical order: The income of food. Its storage in refrigerator or pantry. The preparation of food. Cooking. Serving. Dish-washing. Replacing of dishes on shelves or in cupboard. Disposal of waste. Cleaning up of the kitchen. If this sequence can progress, as far as possible, from left to right, the instinctive method of doing all things, with no or very little recrossing of the room, and that by the shortest way, much time and fatigue usually connected with the prep- aration of meals can be saved. In the wisely planned kitchen, for example, one wih find: 224 FOOD AND FREEDOM The food-pantry with refrigerator near the outside entrance. The work-table or cabinet with utensils, sink, and stove closely grouped, forming a complete unit for the preparation of food, cooking, and washing of utensils and dishes. Shelves for dishes near the sink, preferably to the left, and in the direct path to dining-room or eating porch. A wheel-tray, with a permanent nook near both sink and stove, for carrying cooked food to the table, and soiled dishes back to the kitchen sink. A small, white-enameled refuse-can — with a cover operated by a foot-pedal — near or under the sink. A small closet, close by, for kitchen -cleaning materials. Proper facilities for storage of food and uten- sils, the work-table, sink, and stove constitute the fixed equipment, and their individual con- sideration is as important as their relation to one another. This fixed or large equipment should be selected and arranged for service, and economy of operation and maintenance, and should har- monize in finish, color, and outline as far as may be practical with the kitchen plan as a whole. In general, plan or select equipment that is fitted A KITCHEN THAT WILL HELP YOU 225 to the size and needs of the family, that does not occupy unnecessary floor space, and has no com- plicated or superfluous parts to get out of order. Perhaps the most satisfactory way to make a selection of any needed piece of large equipment that must be purchased is to apply for descriptive catalogues, with price-lists, from manufacturers of reliable articles in which one is interested. From these circulars a careful, comparative study of sizes, cost, principles of operation, and other prac- tical details can be made before coming to a con- clusion. Many dealers gladly permit a trial test before the purchase is made; where this can be arranged, it offers additional insurance for future satisfaction.