Functional Kitchen

If I have a hobby, or at least something that challenges me and diverts my attention from bearing the weight of the world, it has been my kitchen adventures.  I have avoided trendy appliances, though there are still a few unopened boxes of panini presses and a deep fryer in my basement.  And I've never used my induction cooker.  But generally I buy good pans and strainers and a stir fry stovetop wok.

Keeping this functional has been a challenge with a major makeover about two years ago and the addition of a rolling island which I use for fleishig preparation.  Wall racks and S-hooks keep the pots and pans easily accessible.  On the down side, any flat surface gets covered with stuff that compromises my workspace.  With my wife's help, we made the kitchen table and most of the floor visible, sorting things into two categories:  paper and not-paper.  It came out roughly even between us on paper, I had the majority of not-paper.  Need to do better with the counters which have a lot of contingency containers from plastic egg containers that I'm sure could be used for something, to clear plastic peanut and peanut butter jars that store my pens and those little aluminum pull tabs that one of the synagogues collects to support a charity.  Toaster, k-cup maker and k-cup holding tower get used and have to stay.  Dish rack has a fairly permanent space with exchanges for milchig and fleishig.  My milchig utensils have to stay along with a corner shelf that could be put to better use.  My wife likes to listen to the classics on the small clock radio we keep there.  All else is negotiable, and probably clutter.  Make my quartz countertop mine again.