Why Kleine Kuche?

I've never lived in Germany. I don't speak German... well, I don't speak it well at least. So, you ask, why "Kleine Küche"? Well, it has a couple meanings for me:

• I heart alliteration
• My great-grandparents came to the US from Germany, so the German made sense
• I'm on the short side, and most of my life have been referred to as "Little Lori", so the "kleine" seemed to make sense

And really, If you've seen my kitchen, it would all come together. I love to bake. I often don't have the time, but it's a great stress reliever for me. However, here's a picture of my kitchen:

That's it. That's the whole thing. And this is a pretty average night for my kitchen. Dog eating his dinner. Dishes drying. But don't let those dishes fool you. We have a dishwasher, but it's not hooked up. Why you ask? Why would a perfectly new dishwasher sit in a kitchen unused? Because apparently a house built in 1939 doesn't have the right power source for modern appliances. And we keep holding out hoping that some day we'll actually be able to afford to expand the kitchen into the wonderful masterpiece that it deserves to be. But until then, the dishwasher sits there, taunting me on a nightly basis...

And from the other angle:
I'm not going to try to lie and say it's not normally this cluttered. It is. I mean, how could it NOT be?! Look at the counter space... or lack thereof. Ditto for the cabinet space. So typically when I bake, it causes my boyfriend much angst as I take up every square inch (and yes, square INCH is more fitting than square FOOT) of the kitchen. So my stress reliever become my significant other's source of stress.

I has come a long way though, here are some before pics (note the flowered wallpaper and circa 1945 stove):


And during renovation:

My favorite part is the various levels of flooring we found under the stove. Awesome. BTW, if anyone wants to buy a working circa 1945 stove, I've got one for sale. Just let me know. It weighs about 5 tons though, so you have to be willing to come pick the sucker up.

Anyway, before I digress too far, my kitchen is small. So Kleine Küche it is. If you're still confused, look it up here: http://babelfish.yahoo.com