Reviewed by Tracy M. Scott
I like to cook. I like to bake. Those who know me have suggested I might have an addiction. I worked part-time at a pharmaceutical company and brought in baked goods every single day I worked. I just offered to make Valentine’s Day lunch for my son’s homeschool co-op – 40 people. Just for fun.
So if I had a dream kitchen it would look just like Melissa Krumbein’s, the owner of Kitchen Thyme. Her dream kitchen is outfitted with two Wolf wall convection ovens, a warming drawer, a steam tray, 60-inch Wolf dual fuel range housing 6 burners, charbroiler, and griddle with two convection ovens. Add to that a SubZero reach-in refrigerator/freezer, an under the counter refrigerator and (since it is a dream kitchen) a wine cabinet. She gets to come here every day, as this kitchen is her business, Kitchen Thyme.
When Christmas rolls around you can guess what my gift of choice is, right – baked goods – and lots of them! The list of recipients includes friends and family from Glen Allen all the way to Oklahoma. So how did I make over a thousand cookies and not spend hours perched in front of my one oven? Enter Kitchen Thyme, where you can rent this dream kitchen by the hour.
Being Twitter friends, I sent her a message and yes, the kitchen was available on Sunday. I booked my time and started up my KitchenAid mixer to get all the dough prepared. I filled reusable shopping bags with my containers of cookie dough, brought a roll of parchment paper, a scoop and a spatula and headed over to Kitchen Thyme.
The ovens were already preheated once I arrived, and I got right to work. She had cookie trays available and a large cooling rack. In about two-and-a-half hours I punched out 600 cookies. Kitchen Thyme saved me a lot of time! Melissa says, “Our recipe is simple; mix the highest quality cooking surroundings with the lowest required cost of operations and serve it to you.”
Once I had this experience I began thinking of other ways to get myself into that dream kitchen. I took a Mise en Place cooking class there and am thinking of getting some friends together for a fun afternoon of cooking (à la Rachael Ray’s a Week in a Day). You can come to this dream kitchen and use its fabulous equipment for your own baking or cooking addiction, host a pizza making party for friends, or have a cupcake making birthday party for your child. A variety of cooking classes are also offered by area chefs.
Kitchen Thyme is centrally located on Broad Street between Parham and Glenside. Give Melissa a call at 804-396-COOK or visit their website at kitchenthymerva.com.
