slhl HELLO

THE KITCHEN -

an incubator of memories

Too many cooks in the kitchen doesn't apply to the staff of St. Louis Homes & Lifestyles. We've been cooking up some great stories ideas for 2017. Pictured at The Arbors at Kehrs Mill/McBride Homes. Photography by Colin Miller/Strauss Peyton

My mother loved bathing newborns in the kitchen sink! I was in high school when I first experienced my mom's newborn-bathing ritual when my older brother and his wife had their first child. That tiny tot was caressed with a grandmother's love that had no end and no doubt he was probably the squeakiest-clean baby in St. Louis! If you close your eyes and conjure up the fondest memories throughout your life, where did the majority of them seem to take place? For me, hands down it's the kitchen. I remember as a young girl spending time in the kitchen learning to cook, and one time preparing fried chicken for my family that looked tasty but was extremely undercooked. Or watching my Gramma Jody make homemade noodles and then gagging when she ate pickled pigs feet and chicken necks! I can picture myself sitting in a tiny kitchen and sharing special times with my paternal grandfather while eating buttered bread in the middle of the afternoon. Another favorite memory...realizing that baking homemade bread with my father not only tasted better than store bought, but it filled the house with the most amazing aroma. Coloring Easter eggs, dressing up as pilgrims and American Indians for Thanksgiving with my kids and watching my daughter dance with her refle tion in the kitchen doors are just a few more of my special kitchen memories. I asked the St. Louis Homes & Lifestyles staff if they would

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share a fond moment in the kitchen that was forever etched into their memory, and here's what I got: Melissa: Revealing we were having a baby boy around the kitchen island on Thanksgiving with a brown-paper bag stuffed turkey filled with blue tissu . Kim: Watching my mom and dad, who have been married 56 years, waltzing in the kitchen this past Thanksgiving. Marla: Jason proposing to me at the dinner table with all three of our boys (Luke, Nick and Jackson) present with the "waterworks" moment being when Jason looked at my 11-year-old son Luke asking his permission to marry me and be part of his family. Lauren: Finding out that my dad was cancer free took place in our kitchen! Barney: Playing the board game carroms at the kitchen table with my folks and kids and laughing for hours while flic ing the Carroms into the designated pockets. Colleen: My father surprising us with "Dad's Famous Fudge" every year right before Christmas. Welcome to our kitchen issue! May you all make many memories in your kitchens this new year to cherish forever! Happy New Year! Suzie Osterloh Publisher/Owner

JAN/FEB 2017 STLOUISHOMESMAG.COM

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12/8/16 2:16 PM