See those cookies up there? They were the first thing I baked in the kitchen of our new apartment. I was so excited to make my inaugural batch of baked goods after a few long days of moving and unpacking. I’d love to say that these guys were satisfying and wonderful, but the reality is that they were TERRIBLE! They were too salty, flat, and not the least bit chewy. I failed miserably at making chocolate chip cookies.

But that happens sometimes — I get an idea for something I really want to make and post here on the blog, and something goes wrong. I had the incredible opportunity to speak about the ups and downs of blogging with a fantastic group of food journalism students at NYU a few weeks ago. They had a lot of great questions and interesting ideas, so I hope they’ll consider starting blogs of their own! One student asked me why I never post photos of my kitchen on the blog, which made me laugh. The truth is, I have never had a kitchen that was worth posting a photo of — New York City rental kitchens tend not to be the most, eh, photogenic.

I did promise that I would post some pictures, though, so here we go. First, a photo of my old kitchen. It’s not much to look at, and it’s so small that it was actually pretty difficult to capture. But it did the job when I needed it and helped me to turn out a lot of wonderful meals. And how can you resist those DARLING floral wall tiles? I mean…

And now for my new kitchen, which I’m still slowly getting acquainted with. The main draw for me here (besides the counter space!) is the fact that I have windows that bring in plenty of light while I cook. We’re even growing a little basil plant on the windowsill! Maybe a successful batch of chocolate chip cookies will be in the works next… one step at a time.