As I type this, there is a turkey spaghetti pie in the oven, which Richard and I just put together. After chopping the onion and bell pepper into the ground turkey simmering on the stove, I slice and wrapped one loaf of the pumpkin oatmeal bread I baked this afternoon (the second loaf has been stashed in the freezer for another day). This morning I made pumpkin scones and we ate them for breakfast (and, actually, for lunch), slathered with the pumpkin butter I canned last fall. In between breaks for knitting and reading, I used up the rest of the can of pumpkin I’d opened for the scones and added it to a batch of bran apple muffins that are studded with chopped dates – those are also stashed away in the freezer now, in a bag right on top of several dozen leftover chocolate peanut butter oatmeal cookies from Friday.

Last night we sat down with various cookbooks and recipes I’ve been printing out from various sources online, and we wrote up a menu for the week, and this morning, after breakfast, we headed off to the Farmer’s Market, where we filled two canvas sacks with fresh corn on the cob, onions, potatoes, bell peppers. I spotted one booth with concord grapes and snatched up a massive pile of them, since they’re one of the few fruits I actually like. Richard picked up a trio of kiwis and some plums. Everywhere we looked there were boxes overflowing with huge yellow and white peaches, so naturally four of those had to come home with us, and at some point either tonight or over the next few days, I’ll peel them and pit them and turn them into a crisp or a cobbler or something equally delicious.

It is so wonderful to have a functional kitchen again. I have my baking corner all set up, and I’ve used the dough hook on the KitchenAid Mixer more in the past week or so than I have ever used it in the entire time I’ve had that appliance. For the first time in my adult life I am blessed with an abundance of counter space. Despite the fact that there are several dozen jars of jam still sitting on the kitchen island, waiting to be washed and labeled and stored away, there is still always plenty of room for me to drag out bowls and containers and pots and pans and cook something. And it’s not just counter space that’s a novelty, it’s space in general. Tonight, making dinner together, there was ample space for both of us to move around, without bumping into each other, or corners, or appliances. In fact, there is not only enough room for the two of us, there is also plenty of room, on the other side of the island, for the cats to sprawl on the floor and watch us while we’re working, without us ever having to worry about stepping on paws or tails.