The basics

Here's what I have to work with. Below, my kitchen, with my helpers--hubby Nate and pup April. It's not a huge kitchen, but it does the trick.

Above, my collection of cookbooks, printed-off recipes and pages from magazines. Sadly, there are some cookbooks in there I have never used. But I will ... someday. We've been trying to use a different cookbook each week, but that doesn't always happen, and we often go back to our stand-bys, like Cooking Light.

And of course, the fridge. There's nothing too exciting in there right now, but there are some of my favorite staples: hummus, English muffins, Sriracha and, of course, beer.

And to the right, the spice and baking cabinet. There's lots of good stuff on there--especially the stuff from the Spice House.