Where Are the Spoons? by Betsy Ashton

Just about this time last year, my wonderful husband and I decided that our kitchen needed a face lift. When we built our house, we skimped on the kitchen, not because of space constraints but because we had never planned to live in the house full time. It was supposed to be a weekend getaway, until we fell in love with life on a lake. A big lake.

Back to the kitchen. Over nine years the kitchen wore out. Counter laminate warped; cabinet laminate separated. We had a couple of choices: redo the counter tops and reface the cabinets or redo the whole darned kitchen. Trumpet flare! We went with the entire kitchen.

We hired a contractor who worked with us on the design. Actually, he couldn't do much, since the footprint was fixed. What he could do was provide better cabinets and counters. We went back and forth over the design and choices. He gave us a start date six weeks out. Four weeks later, he called to tell us the cabinets were in and could he begin the next day.

Yikes! We'd lolly-gagged around, thinking about emptying the kitchen, doing absolutely nothing. One day! Holy hell! Terry dashed around clearing table tops and setting up portable tables. I filled them as fast as he made them available. Where ever did we get so much stuff? My first inclination was to sort each drawer, each cabinet, before stacking dishes, glassware, cooking items, on said cleared tables. With one day to accomplish this herculean task, sorting went out the window. Did I really have that many glasses? Really? How many did I need?

And the spices and condiments. Where did these all come from? Some were how old? Six years? No way. I use all these spices and herbs all the time. They can't be that old. Actually, some were more than a decade old. I couldn't believe how much I had in my cupboards. Yes, I cook a lot. I use tons of herbs and spices, but it seems I use the same ones all the time. I couldn't remember the last time I used Chinese Five Spices. The use-by date was in the last century. I tossed the bottle.

And how many pie plates does one cook need? I had 11. I now have three in different sizes. This year at the holidays we used two. Maybe I have one too many. Loaf pans. Six was three too many. If I couldn't remember when I last used something, it went into the Goodwill box. Or boxes. By the time I was through sorting, I had thirteen larges boxes of stuff to donate.

Now, none of this really has anything to do with the title of this little essay. Except that it does. We constantly lost something during the construction. First it was some of the wine glasses. See the top picture. Then it was the silverware. Our joking question became, "Where are the spoons?" Same place they were for a month or so. On a bar stool in one of the guest bedrooms.

And now, a year after construction is complete, duplicates have found their way to Goodwill and we have the kitchen completely put back together, we will look around, turn in a circle and ask, "Where are the spoons?" And we still have no good answer beyond "right where we left them/"

Do you have a similar story? If so, please share it.

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Betsy Ashton is the author of Mad Max, Unintended Consequences, and Uncharted Territory, A Mad Max Mystery, now available at Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

HELP! There's a Man in my Kitchen by Vonnie Davis

Over a year ago, my lovely kittens,
In the land of plotting and writing each day,
A man sauntered into my kitchen
To whisk some of my stresses away.

A good hearted man, gentle and kind.
Who set about rearranging my cabinets.
Not a measuring cup nor knife can I find.
Where the toaster once sat, Mr. Coffee resides.

I'm grateful for the help, I really am.
He shops, he cooks, he cleans--
And moves the dishes, pots and pans.
My Lord, I can't even find a can of beans.

The canister for macaroni is now filled with nuts.
Every side of the counter has a salt and pepper set of its own.
In the cabinet where I once stored glasses, coffee mugs he puts.
There's no sugar in the canister; it's spaghetti, broken.

He's moved onto the laundry room.
Folks, don't even get me started.
A falling jug of fabric softener makes a hellofa boom.
Mopping it requires a mop and language that can't be parted.

His unfolded underwear is jammed into drawers,
And my nightgowns hung on hangers.
His socks rolled from his feet are washed and dried in balls.
I love him dearly, so I've learned to ignore the man in my kitchen using vinegar and Dawn to mop my floors. 

 

Learn more about my writing at www.vonniedavis.com

Organize Your Kitchen - Organize Your Life!

When was the last time you organized your kitchen? Probably the last time you moved. If you’ve moved in the past five years, you might be in pretty good shape—unless you’re like most people and just throw everything into cabinets to get the boxes off the floor. Well, it’s a new year and a great time to improve the organization in your kitchen!

Go ahead. Throw open those cabinet doors—yes, all at once—and take a good look at all that…stuff. I’ve moved nine times in the last twenty-eight years, and each time I’ve resolved to winnow out and pare down my stuff. I’ve thrown out or donated quite a bit over the years, but my cabinets are still full of things like the egg poacher I haven’t used in decades and an extensive collection of cheap florist’s vases.

When do I think I’m going to use these things? I keep them only because I have space. I need to remind myself space is a luxury to be enjoyed and preserved. We must resist the compulsion to fill it.
Now, back to your cabinets. Examine every item in your kitchen with a critical eye. If you’ve never made a chocolate soufflé, are you likely to start now? Discard anything you can’t recall the last time you used. Be brutal; you’ll be glad later.

Once you’ve parted with extraneous equipment and knick knacks, it’s time to organize. First, think about function. Most people store dishes in one cabinet and put glasses together on a shelf near the sink. That’s pretty basic. But have you ever considered a baking center? The mother of one of my daughter’s friends gave me this tip years ago. I store mixing bowls, measuring cups, pie plates, cake pans, and the electric mixer in an upper cabinet with the rolling pin, measuring spoons, cookie cutters, etc. in the drawer beneath. When I’m baking, everything I need is in one place next to the refrigerator—even the cupcake liners and colored sugar sprinkles. It’s surprisingly efficient. Think about the other functions in your kitchen and try grouping the equipment you need for each one.

There are wonderful, inventive organization products available commercially, but even if your budget won’t allow new purchases (or you’ve taken my advice and sworn off acquiring more stuff) thoughtful creativity can add many square feet of usable space to any sized kitchen.

Do you have any tried and true kitchen tips you’d like to share?

Alison Hendersonwww.alisonhenderson.com