2023 Memorial Day Issue

COOKING
WITH SCRATCH ©
Pick a Door,
Any Door
36
by BARBARA SIMMONS
Photo by KAREN FUCITO
Is it the front door
or the back door?
I wonder if many
of you have a front
door versus back door controversy at your
house.
What do you call the front door? Is it the
one everyone uses to enter and exit the
house or another more formal, less used one
on a different side of the house?
This was definitely an issue in the home
I grew up in on the lake. This argument
resurfaced when my husband and I bought
our house over 30 years ago.
Some of you may argue there are other
factors—such as location—that determine
which is the front door. If you think it’s the
door that faces the street, that would make
me right in both locations—Ha! But there are
several who would argue with me.
At the lake, we entered and exited on the
side of the house where there were steps
going up to a landing and a door that led to
the mudroom. There was a doorbell on this
door, which, in and of itself, should classify
it as a front door, right? The mudroom led
into our kitchen. Most everyone in the house
agreed it was the front door.
But my father, Horst Kertscher, insisted
the front door was the one that faced the
lake, on the other side of the house. Yes, the
view was more aesthetically pleasing, but
that door was only used by the Jehovah’s
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Witnesses and people who were lost, asking
for directions. It also opened into our living
room and we kids weren’t supposed to use
that door when returning from the lake with
sandy feet and wet bathing suits.
In addition, the route to Horst’s “front
door” was a bit more roundabout. You had
to come up from the garage, take a left onto
the concrete sidewalk, walk around the side
of the house, up some steps and walk across
the rocky outcropping the house was built
upon. Then you had to traverse a small patch
of lawn before you got to a flagstone landing
leading up the stairs to the living room door.
Actually, there were three doors at the
lake house: Horst’s front door, my front
door and a side door that opened onto a
concrete patio that led to what we all called
the backyard. After swimming, we were
supposed to hang our towels and bathing
suits on the clotheslines strung between the
big oak trees … not draped over the dining
room chairs.
It’s also where we set up the grill when we
had company on the weekends. Our picnic
table was back there, too.
My husband, Aaron, and I have disagreed for
the last 30 years about which door is which
in our current home. As a matter of fact, we
recently argued about it at the garden center
when he said he wanted to buy an additional
hanging basket of geraniums for the front
door, in addition to the two I had chosen for
the (other) front door.
At our house, my kids and I agree that
the front door is the one everyone uses to
enter and exit, the one that opens to the
mudroom and kitchen (just like at the lake),
the one the UPS driver leaves packages at. It
also faces our street.
Aaron says our front door is the living
room door. Like Horst’s front door, it is rarely
used except to let the cat in and out, and it’s
where the occasional wayward floral delivery
ends up. And, yes, it is also the one that the
Jehovah’s Witnesses knock on when they are
in the neighborhood.
The difference between our house and the
lake house is that here, Aaron’s “front door”
is one quarter of the way around the corner
of the house from my front door.
We don’t have a back door at all.
OK, so I Googled “is there a difference
between a front door and a back door” and
this is what I found:
“Generally speaking, front doors face
the street and the public. The front door is
where one meets the postman and watches
a passing parade. By contrast, the back door
and backyard are private: it is where families
have barbecues, swimming pools and store
things they don’t want the public to see.”
However, as you know, you can always
support both sides of an argument when you
Google an answer to a question! Read on:
“So, is there a difference between back
doors and front doors? The answer is no,
the choice of door is simply down to your
preference and your needs. These doors
make the perfect entranceway into the front
or back of your home and can even be fitted
on garages and sheds.”
But wait, there’s more:
With additional Googling, I learned the
placement of front and back doors is a very
important aspect of feng shui, the Chinese
belief that harmonious energy—and better
fortune—can be achieved by the positioning
of furniture and other objects.
“Having a direct line of sight from the front
to the back of a home is considered poor
feng shui because with nothing to slow or
redirect it, qi (energy) will rush straight from
the front door out the back. This allows the
energy, which might bring luck or money,
to leave your home without circulating and
bestowing its benefits.”
So, neither of my homes—childhood or
present—have had this direct line of sight
issue. Phew. Thank goodness we’ve had good
feng shui all these years.
Having lived in the lake house for about
20 years and in our current house for about
35, I can’t say that the front door versus back
door controversy has ever been satisfactorily
resolved. Perhaps not calling them front or
back doors would work? Can we just call
them kitchen doors or living room doors?
Maybe being a little more specific would
solve the problem
It seems I’ve lived in homes that have had
hybrid front-back-side doors. What’s it like at
your house? Do you agree which is the front
door and which is the back door? What about
your yard? Are the members of your family in
agreement about which yard is which?
I think we can all relax a bit and have a good
chuckle over this. Regardless of what you
believe, you can make this recipe for roasted
vegetables and enjoy it while sitting outside
in warmer weather. I’ll let you decide which
door you use to get there.