This Global Kitchen | Day 3: Austria
Hi, I’m Lauren! My husband and I live in Vienna, Austria with our 4-year-old daughter, our 2.5-year-old son and a newborn.
Welcome to our kitchen!
First off, I’ll show you the appliances. We have a convection oven and a microwave built into our cabinets. I’ve actually grown to love our convection oven and I’ll probably miss it when we end up back in the States. I like that the trays pull out of the unit rather than the door opening down. I can imagine my kids grabbing the handle and pulling it down all the time, if that were the case.
I also love that the microwave doesn’t have any words on the buttons. It’s always a fun game to watch our visitors try to figure out how to use it!
Our kitchen has a very modern, European vibe (we’re pretty sure it’s from IKEA.) I love the look of the countertops. I don’t love the white, shiny cabinets. You can see every fingerprint on the surface! The dishwasher is hidden in the cabinet to the left of the sink. I really like that the buttons are not on the outside so that curious little fingers aren’t turning the dishwasher on and off all day.
The kitchen is a galley style, long and not very wide. It makes the best use of the space but it is difficult to have more than one adult in the kitchen. I cook a lot with my daughter, and now my son has been joining in. So there is very little leg room to get around. But we make it work!
At the far end of the kitchen, on the floor by the dog’s bowls and by the cabinet, I have ant bait set out. We have had a serious ant problem since about March. For a good 2-3 months they were all over our house! But now, the problem only remains in the kitchen. We have a patio just next to our kitchen and they come in from there. In Austria, there are very strict rules about the types of chemicals allowed in and around the home to get rid of pests. We keep using products and the ants keep coming back. They seem to be gone now and we’re praying they don’t come back any time soon!
Many have commented on how strange our oven hood looks. I honestly could not tell you how it works or why it looks that way, but it does its job!
It took a while to get used to my electric range, but now I can successfully cook a dish without burning parts of it.
I found the “Handy Tips” board at TK Maxx. (They have TK Maxx instead of TJ Maxx in Europe, but it’s the same thing!) It was the only one like it I’ve ever seen, but I use it all the time. It looks way cuter than the printout I had on the wall before.
We have three humongous drawers on the right side of the kitchen. They are so wide that two people can’t be working in the kitchen when you open them. And I can’t open many of the drawers on that side if I’m unloading the dishwasher. We’ve figured out how to make it work, though.
My Must Haves for My Expat Kitchen:
I have two favorite items in my kitchen that are used all the time.
The first is my Instant Pot. I actually have two of them. The second one comes in handy for making rice while the other Instant Pot cooks our meal. I also use it as a slow cooker and I’ll use both at the same time for making homemade stock.
The second is my Le Creuset cast iron pan. I love it! It’s beautiful and I can cook almost everything in it. And I love that it can go straight into the oven. I highly recommend having at least one cast iron pan!
My Favorite Expat friendly Recipe:
Dutch Baby Pancake
by Lauren | TakingRoute.net
This recipe is so easy and very kid-friendly! The ingredients list is so simple. We almost always have the ingredients on hand.
- 4 eggs
- 1 cup (240 mL) whole milk
- 1 cup (120 g) flour
- ½ cup (100 g) sugar
- 3-4 tbsp (about 57 g) butter
Preheat oven to 210 degrees Celsius or 425 degrees Fahrenheit Crack eggs into a large mixing bowl. Whisk eggs. Add milk and whisk together. Add flour and sugar, whisk very well. The frothier the better!
Cooking Method One: Using a cast-iron skillet, melt the butter on the stove. Pour in the batter. Allow it to cook just a little, about 2 minutes. Transfer to the oven. Cook for about 10-12 minutes.
Cooking Method Two: Melt butter in the oven in a square 8 inch baking dish (Or if you are doubling this recipe for a crowd, use a 9”x13”) Pour the batter into the dish. Cook for about 12-14 minutes.
It should be golden and puffy. Serve quickly, it deflates fast! Serve with lingonberry jam (or any flavor jam you have on hand), lemon slices and powdered sugar. Enjoy!
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7 Tips for Traveling with Small Kids in Europe