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I was litterly amazed how easy (well, maybe 'easy' is not the word to use...) it was to pare down on what small utensils I have available to use. I have one small drawer next to the stove that holds items used for pots & pans on the stove: spatulas, wooden spoons, whisk, etc. Then I have a larger drawer that has items used for mixing: measuring cups & spoons, my knives in a cork lined holder, wine corkscrew thingy, bottle closers, can opener, etc. Then I have a drawer that my silverware and serving things are kept in.
The rest of the things I was sure I could not live without got put into a portable plastic drawer unit that I stored on a pantry shelf. Amazing how little I really needed to pull out of the stored unit. Now I've moved the plastic drawer unit to a cabinet in the garage so I have more pantry space. I only go out to get a specific thing once in a while and then I return it when I'm done using it.
I did not want any crocks sitting on my countertops because the ones I had in Ohio always seemed to be 'greasy' feeling from sitting near the stove. I do have my KA stand mixer on the counter because I use it often and it's too heavy to schlep from a cabinet. I also have a toaster oven because it gets used for small casseroles, etc. instead of heating up the large oven. My late mother-in-law had a large, stand-alone convection oven instead of a wall oven and she didn't use it much. She had an electrical outlet placed inside a lower cabinet with a movable shelf so she could slide the oven out from the cabinet when she wanted to bake or roast something and then return it to the lower cabinets when it was cool. But, as I said, she didn't cook very much so the kitchen, for her, was mainly for resale value.
One thing I did re-purpose that I love: there was a pot lid rack in the cabinet when we bought this house and it was such a PITA, the lids kept getting caught on one another and I was going to toss it. Then I discovered it worked perfectly as a small skillet rack. The handles are easy to access and it holds the many small size skillets I use on a regular basis.
The rest of the things I was sure I could not live without got put into a portable plastic drawer unit that I stored on a pantry shelf. Amazing how little I really needed to pull out of the stored unit. Now I've moved the plastic drawer unit to a cabinet in the garage so I have more pantry space. I only go out to get a specific thing once in a while and then I return it when I'm done using it.
I did not want any crocks sitting on my countertops because the ones I had in Ohio always seemed to be 'greasy' feeling from sitting near the stove. I do have my KA stand mixer on the counter because I use it often and it's too heavy to schlep from a cabinet. I also have a toaster oven because it gets used for small casseroles, etc. instead of heating up the large oven. My late mother-in-law had a large, stand-alone convection oven instead of a wall oven and she didn't use it much. She had an electrical outlet placed inside a lower cabinet with a movable shelf so she could slide the oven out from the cabinet when she wanted to bake or roast something and then return it to the lower cabinets when it was cool. But, as I said, she didn't cook very much so the kitchen, for her, was mainly for resale value.
One thing I did re-purpose that I love: there was a pot lid rack in the cabinet when we bought this house and it was such a PITA, the lids kept getting caught on one another and I was going to toss it. Then I discovered it worked perfectly as a small skillet rack. The handles are easy to access and it holds the many small size skillets I use on a regular basis.
), added some homegrown green and red jalapeno and some olives, I did not have any mushrooms in my fridge, I boiled some pasta and toasted 1 big slice of buttered and garlic bread, for his big early dinner today.. now I'm ready to have my 3 miles walk on the mountain, I've been so lazy to have my walk while I was in my hometown 
