How wonderful it is to walk into a house with tantalizing aromas oozing from the kitchen. But which kitchen smells are best? Which ones make you want to eat everything in sight? Here are some of my thoughts in that regard.
First of all, fried chicken. Who can resist the smell of chicken legs and breasts frying in hot oil? And for me, if I even think about fried chicken, I have to cook some within days or suffer KFC withdrawals.
A batch of biscuits baking in the oven on a frosty morning is another smell that will entice. And it doesn’t seem to make any difference if the biscuits are from scratch or out of a can. The smell of biscuits is addictive. Right along with biscuits is homemade bread. I make some from time to time and when you get a whiff you want to just grab a knife and a stick of country butter and go to work.
Bacon is also one of those kitchen fragrances that draws hungry crowds. It’s like Salome enticing King Herod with her dance of a thousand veils. And if you could eat all the bacon you wanted – how many slices would it be?
Cookies are another one of those culinary temptresses and it doesn’t matter what kind they are. Sugar cookies, chocolate chip, oatmeal raisin – they are all deadly when you get one whiff as they come out of a 350 oven.
French fries are absolutely one of those irresistible kitchen smells. I don’t know if it’s the hot oil frying or the potatoes or the combination, but when the French Fries come out of the skillet, it’s every man for himself
But you know, I think that maybe the most tempting of all kitchen aromas is that of a big pot of northern or navy beans simmering on the stove. It is overwhelming to say the least. I believe that if you had just finished a five-course dinner at one of the finest New York restaurants and then walked into a kitchen with a pot of beans on the stove, you’d have to have at least one bowl-full.
With that in mind, I think I’ll put some beans on the stove right now.