Everything, INCLUDING The Kitchen Sink; Plus Why Copper Is The Good Guy

I was browsing the Food Network's website the other day and I saw a section entitled Kitchen Design. Well, I love kitchens and I love design. Actually, that second part isn't true. I don't know anything about design, EXCEPT kitchen design. And the only reason I know about THAT is because I know what works for me, which I figure could apply to most people as well.

I was thinking about this because a friend is building a new house and talking about various new appliances - many of which have been invented since I last replaced any. One of them is a steam oven. I'm not sure I would want to commit myself to eating that much steamed food. In fact, if it came right down to it, I think I'd rather have a deep fat fryer than a steam oven.

Anyway, I saw the most amazing thing on this website (which turns out to be HGTV'S website, but never mind). It was a sink shaped like a curved trough, which they call an "entertaining" sink. Apparently, that means you put it in places in which you entertain, for example, a bar area and you can fill it with ice and drinks. It's even big enough for one end to be used as a regular sink and the other to hold the beverages. I LOVE this sink. Something about it just says let's party down!

I'm actually really fussy about sinks. When we moved last time, the new house had a perfectly fine stainless steel DOUBLE sink. But I cannot stand double sinks, unless of course you have enough counter space so that EACH sink is BIG and deep. If you can't get a giant wok or huge roasting pan in, it's useless. I insisted that we get a brand new big DEEP sink before I would bring one pot into this house, and I've never regretted my decision.

But THIS sink! This is really something. This is for when you have room enough for a second or even third "entertaining" sink. Can you imagine what you could do it in that sink?! Actually, I really can't, aside from the ice and drinks thing, but I still find it utterly appealing.

I learned something else from trolling around sink sites. Did you know that copper sinks are a lot cleaner than stainless steel and that "stainless harbors bacteria for up to 34 days, where copper kills bacteria in four hours or less?” Apparently, the higher the copper content of the alloy, the more quickly bacteria die. The copper will actually kill E coli in a few hours, while it can live for weeks on stainless steel. Who knew? Here we have a perfect combination of beauty and function, all in a form that your friends and neighbors will envy. The killing-bacteria part is pretty good, but let's face it, the inspiring-jealousy part is even better.