The Third Drawer Down (and the pot)

[Pattree]

I don’t think it’s just us:
The third kitchen drawer is a sort of utensil oubliette, a place where gadgets and implements are put away to be forgotten.

I’ve just gone through ours and found a brief history of fashionable gadgetry.

Notably:
A manual rotary bean slicer,
A nutmeg grater
An electric carving knife
A spiked metal tool for punching triangular holes in beer cans.
Several mixing tools for a mixer we haven’t got.
A melon baller.

What it does not contain is whatever I am looking for at the time.

Are there other retro collections stored in your kitchen?

And then there’s the pot. In my childhood it always seemed to contain some elastic bands, a couple of copper coins, a pencil sharpener and a lump of sealing wax.
There are still pots around the house.
The one in the room where I’m sitting contains:
A D12 die from a game forgotten.
Some elastic bands.
Two wooden bails from a game unremembered,
Several drawing pins,
A 3 amp fuse, (will I ever remember THAT when I need it)
A Lufthansa folding tooth brush!

I don’t believe that it is the only pot of its kind.

Is it?

Or is it just me?

 

[TeeDee]

oubliette - Top word.

 

[TeeDee]

Also have a drawer or suspicious contents. Bit like a Conan Doyle lost plateau of random things
A cornucopia of lost parts , unknown items and frankly - crap that should be binned. But isn't

Its the last hope bar on the way to the dustbin full of waifs and stays.


Probably a Disney movie in it the more I think of it - Not so much 'Toy Story' as Lost ends.

 

[Toddy]

My 'stuff' like that is in an open topped box in the bottom of the wee awkward cupboard.

Among other choice bits and pieces are things like butter pat makers, ceramic discs that stop milk boiling over, a double balloon whisk that was part of a wedding present set to my parents an assortment of gadgets to make vegetable spaghetti, a plethora of 'not quite as useful as I'd thought' silicon tools, the jar lifter for taking the kilner jars out of the pressure cooker, a mouli grater and all it's bits, assorted tea strainers, Christmas biscuits rolling pins, weights for the table cloth for the outside table to stop the wind wheeching it off, a bag of wee umbrellas for cocktails (I rarely drink, I have no idea why these exist in my kitchen ! ).....I need a clear out, don't I ?

 

[Tengu]

Tank batteries.

I am having a big sort out and am completley traumatised...where did I get this stuff?

 

[Keith_Beef]

Notably:
A manual rotary bean slicer,
A nutmeg grater
An electric carving knife
A spiked metal tool for punching triangular holes in beer cans.
Several mixing tools for a mixer we haven’t got.
A melon baller.

I don't have a bonensnijder... I was tempted when I saw them for sale at 't IJ Hallen. Don't have an electric carving knife, either, nor attachments for a non-existent mixer.

Got all the rest, though, even three sizes of melon baller!

Also, two keys for opening cans of corned beef.

And a jar with rubber bands and wire ties.

Useless things: poultry shears. And a pair of scissors with six pairs of parallel blades, apparently for snipping chives...

 

[Springchicken]

Ah! Melon balls! An epicurean delight!

 

[Toddy]

@Springchicken
It makes you wonder just what archaeologists and social historians of the future will think of our era

 

[Keith_Beef]

@Springchicken
It makes you wonder just what archaeologists and social historians of the future will think of our era

As usual, there's an XKCD about this.




Title text: Our nucleic acid recovery techniques found a great deal of homo sapiens DNA incorporated into the fossils, particularly the ones containing high levels of resin, leading to the theory that these dinosaurs preyed on the once-dominant primates.

Link: https://xkcd.com/2990/

 

[Tengu]

Ive been told to get rid of everything.

But some is valuable; like my copper saucepans.

Wouldnt be cheap to replace those.

 

[Keith_Beef]

Ive been told to get rid of everything.

But some is valuable; like my copper saucepans.

Wouldnt be cheap to replace those.

Don't listen to anybody who "tells" you to get rid of them. If necessary, you can re-tin them yourself; I don't remember ever seeing anywhere offering this as a service, but I've watched YouTube videos and it doesn't look like it takes a lot of practice and certainly takes very little equipment.

 

[GreyCat]

Ive been told to get rid of everything.

But some is valuable; like my copper saucepans.

Wouldnt be cheap to replace those.

Depends on who is telling you and why. Getting rid of "everything" is rarely an answer, although downsizing may require judicious culling.

I am not a full-on hoarder, but I have acquired quite a bit of "stuff" which does get used (hobbies etc).

Will you use it again? (be honest here) Does having it and holding/seeing it bring you joy?

If either or both applies, retain and work out how to organise. I have several things I keep because I like them. Not precisely "art" but same sort of thing. Seeing things of beauty is food for the soul after all.

If not, consider how to dispose. If it has value (not just monetary but a "use" value, work out a way to pass it on- charity shop, sell it, car boot, etc etc etc). If not- it's time for disposal.

I have a bunch of jigsaws. 2/3 of them I kept. 1/3 of them I was honest with myself- I didn't want to do them any more. Of those, some were old, battered and second hand when I had them, and had pieces missing- they went in the recycling. The others are in a box to go to the charity shop.

Then again..... I designed the room layouts in the new place to have lots of storage. Not "conventional" deco, but on my, how practical. I am getting very good at building IKEA stuff, the solid pine IVAR range is a favourite as it's modular, highly hackable and robust. My new office/library room has an amazing amount of storage thanks to creative use of IVAR..... but then, I attach more importance to storage for books and stuff than I do to a 3-piece suite and showhome look........

GC

 

[Tengu]

The pans do not need anything, bar a polish, they are good modern ones.

I could get rid of all my kitchen wear, could replace from charity shops and car boots...a small amount of money.

But, I find its the little stuff that adds up.

 

[Pattree]

@GreyCat
You do jigsaws AGAIN?????
I don’t do them at all but SWWISN keeps a pile as high as me!

Jigsaws are done once and moved on to another puzzler who returns them. They are then sent to the village hall jigsaw collector who has a stall at fetes and gatherings.

They are never done twice.
If a piece is missing they are put into recycling.
They are never bought new. Wherever we go, charity shops are trawled for replacements.
I have no idea how a particular puzzle is selected in a charity shop, I just know that I have never suggested an acceptable one.
The pile never diminishes.

I don't have a bonensnijder...

Should you want a cast iron version that chops one bean at a time far too thin and needs to be taken apart to clean it and dried carefully before never being used again then you know where to PM.

pee ess
Does post-war snot green fit with your kitchen decor?

 

[Keith_Beef]

@GreyCat
Should you want a cast iron version that chops one bean at a time far too thin and needs to be taken apart to clean it and dried carefully before never being used again then you know where to PM.

pee ess
Does post-war snot green fit with your kitchen decor?

Thanks for the offer...

The ones I saw in the Netherlands had two "feed holes" for two difference sizes of pod. I don't grow beans at home, but if I did they would probably be broad beans. These are called paardenbonen around Grunn ("horse beans", which causes hilarity among horsey people in the UK) or tuinbonen ("garden beans") in standard Dutch) or dicke Bonen (cue more hilarity) in German.

And of course post-war snot green fits with anything.

 

[Bhod]

I don't remember ever seeing anywhere offering this as a service

Gameson & Sons - Retinning

For 200 years Gameson & Sons have been leading the way in the retinning industry. Relining and Refurbishment of Copper Cookware to the highest standard.

www.gameson.co.uk

I used this company.