Inside A Food Writer’s Light-Filled Historical Kitchen
Food writer Lindsay Cameron Wilson tell us why this is her favorite room.
“Our home dates back to the early 1850s. It survived the Halifax Explosion of 1917 and housed many families and tenants after the Second World War — I didn’t want to be the one to ruin it. But when I moved in with my husband, James, and our three sons — Luke, now 15, Charlie, 13, and Rex, 9 — in 2015, the kitchen was in a tiny room tacked on to the back of the house. There was no dishwasher. James kept walking through our big, beautiful dining room that was often empty, wondering out loud why we didn’t just move the kitchen into this room?
It was my sister Lee Cameron Surrette, who studied architecture, who convinced me to make the change. The flavor of my home is different with this new kitchen. It’s full of history and energy, and I can’t tell you how much I love having a dishwasher.”
“Our kitchen is where I write scripts for The Food Podcast, where we cook, where the boys do their homework and where they eat cereal, each and every morning.”
“I love the light in our kitchen. In the winter, the evening sun hangs on until supper and, in the morning, the whole room sparkles.”
“The fridge and dishwasher are panelled in the same color. The muted Caesarstone countertop in Frosty Carrina is also used for the backsplash behind the sink. All of these choices were made in the hopes of making an “invisible kitchen” that resembled the room it once was. The fireplace is still the focal point; we left it exactly as it was. I often feel that we’re just stewards of this home, taking care of it until the next family comes along.”
“The painting over the room’s original mantel is by Toronto artist Andrew Rucklidge. We bought it just as he was graduating, and it has been part of our lives ever since, informing our color and furniture choices.”
“The freestanding wooden hutch was given to us by the previous owner; I believe it was from a New Brunswick homestead. We dragged it from the original kitchen into the new kitchen with fingers crossed, hoping it would fit between the two windows. It nestled in so happily, as if it had always been here!
“I keep the cookbooks I use most often in the kitchen; the rest are upstairs. Claire Ptak’s The Violet Bakery Cookbook is my current baking bible — her chocolate cake with salted caramel icing has become our family birthday cake. Anna Jones’ recipes are so full of color and flavor: the two most important aspects of a recipe, I’d say. And How to Eat a Peach by Diana Henry has a fuzzy cover, just like a peach — the book is a sensory experience.”
