What I'm working with; the kitchen

Today I'm giving you a tour of my kitchen workspace. If you're anything like me, you love peering into other people's houses to see what it looks like (thank you HGTV for furthering this obsession).

panoramic shot of the kitchen

So I cook and bake in here, of course, as well as clean up messes a two-year-old loves to make, entertain, write my blogposts... you know, basically what everyone's kitchen has become- the everything room! 

We've lived in our house for over 7 years and renovated the kitchen about 4 years ago. Here's a bunch of before and after photos.

before

after! No more faux, dirty brick. Hurrah!

look how dark the kitchen was! Lot's of lighting was added

this kitchen was crying for an island (ok, I was the one crying)

so we put in some base cabinets and created an island (no more tears)

we ditched the hardware but kept the cabinets and had them painted white

(more after the jump)

Kitchen Fixation; October

Every month I’m going to feature an essential product that I use in the kitchen.

For October, my kitchen fixation is an apple corer. Yeah, I know. This isn't glamorous or anything, but it has become a real necessity lately. I told my husband I was going to write about it and he said, "I love that thing" and since he doesn't cook at all, this is high praise.

I went apple picking recently and have found an apple corer to be my latest go-to tool. I really needed it when I attempted, and failed, in making applesauce (gottta love picky two year olds). Even if homemade applesauce is off the menu we eat a lot of apples around here.

the cutest, pickiest two year old

Apple corers do just that; remove the core. It’s made my life easier when I’m cutting an apple because the straight edge of a knife just doesn't carve out the core like the round tubular shape of  the apple corer. The one I have is from here and it's amazing because its stainless steel tube has tough little serrated teeth that can easily cut through the apple and pull out the core. Also great? It’s dishwasher safe. Sold!

I've seen plastic designs and can't imagine them piercing a hard apple very well, but maybe I'm wrong? Anyone have a different model they use? Any Fall kitchen tool necessities in your life right now?