WEEK 13. KITCHEN KAPERS

Do Too Many Utensils
Spoil the Broth?

In many cultures, thirteen is bad luck. I hope this week brings the opposite. Good luck to everyone.

Last week I gave up on sorting books and went on to what Marie Kondo calls komono, 'miscellaneous things'. I can't pile all these objects up because in my house, and most non-Asian houses, they must number in the thousands. So I will focus on one subcategory at a time.

I'm not a realtor but I recognize that even kitchens have prime locations and only the most used and useful items should be taking up prime space. Other items can be placed on the 'other  side of the tracks' to be brought out when necessary or even discarded if they no longer spark joy.

Or in my case, put in garage cupboards to wait for the final ride to the charity thrift shop. Right now in the garage cupboards I have gelatin molds. Nobody eats gelatin desserts or salads, but their products can look pretty so I keep them in case I want to make a beautiful, shimmering, ruby red Holiday side dish.

To make sure useful objects relegated to the garage are not forgotten, I have a list of them on the inside of a kitchen cupboard door. My list now reads: six large and sixteen individual copper molds, two ceramic casseroles with lids, crème brulee torch and four ramekins, cookie making stuff, a Santa Claus mold, four flat sea shells for baking (remember those), thirty-six tartlet pans, snail shells and holders for escargots, and two tin pie plates. 

None of those items, except the crème brulee torch, has been used in years. Ms. Kondo would insist I get rid of them. BUT I have the room and I do like to cook, so I will keep them a little longer. “Don't do as I do, do as Marie says.”

On our kitchen counters I have five decorative crocks stuffed with important kitchen utensils. I laid them all out, and planned to keep one of each and put the others, where else but the garage. My husband, who also likes to cook, came along and I asked if there were any he used and wanted to keep on the counter. Out of twenty-three utensils, three went to the garage. Hmmm.

Before I went on to the pots and pans and dishes, I decided to work on the pantry, which consists of two lower corner cupboards, which I call round-abouts, since they have of two tier lazy susans. The one by the sink and work counter holds pastas, rice, soups, baking supplies. That cupboard mainly just needed cleaning and rearranging. All the products will be used.

he other cupboard is across the kitchen and contains coffee supplies, snack items (cookies, crackers, and nuts), a backlog of jams, and pie fillings which I buy on sale and then forget about. I also found two cans of cranberry sauce, I guess from last Thanksgiving, and since I have a bag of frozen cranberries in the freezer, also from last TG, I need to pay more attention to 'inventory'. According to the use by dates, these items will still be good to use this year. I hope my friends who are coming for TG dinner will not read this blog.

Several years ago when I was reorganizing the kitchen, I put labels on the dishware shelves. As time went by things were put in different places and the labels no longer made sense, so that was something I redid to reflect what was actually on each shelf now.  If only people would pay attention to the labels when they put things away.

In addition to serving bowls and platters, I have 'everyday' plates of dark blue which I just read make food look unappetizing. So I guess they should help us lose weight. LOL. 

 I moved our 'good' wedding china, plain white Haviland with swirled edges that I bought so they would look good on different colored cloths, from the dining room buffet to the kitchen cupboards so I will use them more often. At one time I collected 'vintage' plates with different floral designs. (Remember my 'vintage' Christmas books from a previous blog?)  I stopped searching for different plates when I had twelve. They are now in the family room cupboard that I cleared out of magazines. I am working up the moral courage to discard them. But I still like them.

That's my downfall I like everything. I need to become more discriminating.  I wonder what Marie Kondo would say to someone who says she likes everything.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner filled with friends, family, and good food. And maybe a less few objects this year!