Taking it for Granite

Don't overlook the built-in hi-fi in the backsplash.

What we hope will be our new house needs some work.  It's a masterpiece of setting, of site, of palimpsest, but the kitchen frankly sucks.  Intellectually we can peel off the layers of the misguided and you had to be there renovations, but there is nothing except the built-in-counter blender and food processor that is worth saving.  Being chastised by the past few years of economic austerity and on a mission to give Benji as full a life as possible, we started to wonder, "does our worth as men, as parents rest on our countertops?"

I can remember far back, maybe even ten years ago, when I was living in my first apartment newly single from my rich boyfriend.  He and I had gorgeous green granite counters which we hand picked from the stone supplier in Southampton.  It had to be sealed before use, and we were told not to cut directly on it (or our $100 knives would be dulled) or spill anything acidic without promptly cleaning it up.  I was terrified to use it and bought a $500 rolling island for chopping. Suddenly, post-breakup in my new apartment, I had beige formica and a $5 plastic cutting board. Some of my best meals were made in that kitchen.

Slow-forward to our beloved weekend cabin upstate. Seduced by brochures and HGTV, we bought stunning and useless quartz countertops.  Now I love to bake a pie and my lard crust is perfection when rolled out on stone. But my entire kitchen doesn't need to be made from it, much as I don't need fingerprinty stainless appliances, or hand-hewn wood floors, or refrigerator water filters.  I've had 'em, they're beautiful, but I can tell you it doesn't make a better meal.  This Keeping Up Appearances is all a way to separate us from our money, and by inference, our family.

Have you been to Italy and seen how instinctual cooks cook?  You need a counter or two, some racks, a good consistent stove, and a table to eat.  Excellent cooks can make a three course meal on a campstove with a hike-in cooler and a bucket.  My idea of a kitchen falls somewhere between that and mid-level Lowe's, and I doubt we'll be visiting the quarry for our counters.

Perhaps the point of this post is that so much of our family life is now dictated by what other people say we need to be happy.  Will a fabulous designer kitchen make me happy?  For a while, and occasionally, yes. But ultimately no.  It's the meals we have and most importantly the times we share together that we remember, not what we passed the sponge over afterwards.  The past two years have been the happiest in my life, and we're living in a two bedroom apartment with -gasp - laminate counters and white appliances. Coincidence or causal relationship?  

We'll save our $75,000 for Benji's asado year abroad in Argentina. And many, many, many happy nights together in our perfectly fine kitchen, however it ends up.