Space!  I feel like meal preparation would be much easier if I had more counter space and more storage space.  Since we moved to Seattle, I’ve had three kitchens to set up and use.  We were in a corporate apartment for the first month, a rental townhouse for nine months after that, and then we moved to the house that we are currently in.  It’s a mid-century fixer-up with a small and outdated kitchen.  It’s taught me a lot about being creative with storage and prep space.  We’re just starting a kitchen remodel, and both counter and cupboard space should be immensely expanded soon.  Now I am learning about planning and designing a kitchen from scratch.  Whew – we’ll see if space is the answer that I have been looking for soon!

Thankfully, my kitchen is pretty well equipped, but not everything is in perfect working order.  The hood for our stove is not working properly, and it is one thing that would be great to have functioning.  Since it isn’t critical, it is pretty low on our list of things to fix in the house, but you don’t realize how well a hood siphons out smoke and odors from cooking until you have one that doesn’t work, or isn’t efficient.  It hasn’t been a huge problem, but will definitely make a difference when we get it back in working order.