A-Tisket, A-Tasket, A Hanging Kitchen Basket!

Hey, friends! Happy Friday! Funny story: We were at the grocery store to buy a few last-minute ingredients for Walker’s early birthday dinner on Sunday (I made fresh pasta for the first time… MMMMM and not as hard as you’d think!), and I noticed the store added garlic braids to their inventory. For those of you who aren’t familiar with braiding garlic, it is a (very attractive) way of hanging, organizing, and storing softneck garlic bulbs. I got UNREASONABLY excited about this for many reasons:

1. We go through so much garlic, it’s silly. The braid means we always have more on hand!
2. I think they are so pretty, like an organic (and edible) piece of art! I have seen them on cooking shows and in images of some of my favorite beautifully inspiring yet functional kitchens for people who cook. I couldn’t wait to find a place to hang it!
3. I love braids. All the braids. Braids, braids, BRAIDS.

I know I have already lost some of you with my garlic nonsense. But the entire point of all of the babbling is to say that the pretty little garlic braid inspired me to rethink some storage options for our kitchen. Like most fruit and veggies stored at room-temperature, garlic likes a shady spot so it won’t sprout. The only spot to hang the braid in the kitchen that wasn’t directly in front of a window or over the oven was to the right of the laundry cabinet.

I thought a garlic braid hanging there alone would look a little odd/sad, so the idea came to me to hang ALL of our room-temp fruits and veggies there… in a tiered hanging basket! And I got unreasonably excited about that as well, because I have always wanted one of those too! Yippee!

The next day I was walking out of World Market with this beautiful woven copper and rope basket (and got $10 off thanks to a birthday coupon! Woo!).

I love the looping copper pattern… so pretty!

Not only did the garlic braid find a lovely place from which to hang, the ivy plant wondering around the house seems to have finally found a home as well (since I am too short to reach up to the top basket anyway)! Plus, I gave Walker some valuable extra counter space for his birthday by getting our old fruit bowl off of the counter, though perhaps it is more of a gift for his lovely and charming sous chef who does most of the food prep. ;)

Now we are all set to do some serious cooking this weekend! We have some big plans for the grill if el niño decides to cooperate. Have a wonderful weekend!

P.S. The painting next to the hanging basket is a gorgeous oil painting that my amazing Aunt Lu made for us as a wedding gift!