Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Keeping kitchen clutter at bay


We've been slowly moving items back into the kitchen. Since we have the space (garage, basement), my plan is to move items back in as I need them. Thus, the salad spinner came back last week when I needed to wash and dry a head of lettuce. The cloves came back last night to make sweetie a hot whiskey. The grill pan came back to cook steak. You get the idea.

There are items I like, that I want to keep, but that I do not use. That is do not use, never have used. An example? My burnt orange Bundt pan. It's a real Bundt brand pan, in nice condition. Never used. Why? I don't know. I guess the only recipe that appealed to me that's made in a Bundt pan uses three sticks of butter and I just can't bring myself to make the recipe. The possibilities cause me to keep the pan. I've had it for years, "rescued" it from a thrift store. Yeah. That one's going to have to go. Ditto the angel food cake pan (it's a really nice one). I used it once. Thing is, I don't care for angel food cake. Too dry and spongy.

We've almost completely transitioned to the new, small fridge. Remember the new fridge is less than half the capacity of the old. I was brutal with the condiments and salad dressings. So many had been kept because "oh, that's still good!" but really, if it was still sitting in the fridge months after being opened, that's a sign that NO ONE LIKES IT. Seriously, let's get real here. If you like a food, it'll get used up. So out went two bottles of salad dressing, a couple of odd sauces and some stale beef bouillion.

My dream kitchen will contain only what we use, in quantities suitable for our family size, neatly arranged. It's on its way to my house!

3 comments:

paisley penguin said...

I truly love your idea of bringing things back in to a room you actually use. I wish I had the space to store things and do that! What an excellent idea! Kudos!

Anonymous said...

I just found your blog and I love it. My Mom hoards, but refuses to admit it or even talk about it. I've been dying to know what goes on in her head! Thanks so much for sharing - it helps!

Anonymous said...

Dude, if no one wants those cake pans, I'll totally take them. Because I will use them. I love angel food cake, and I almost bought a bundt pan the other day to make a bundt, because, well, hey, bundt is fun to say. Let me know... - Linz