It's Never Too Early for Spring Cleaning

Last night we had vegetable pot pies for dinner. As I was climbing on a chair to reach my ceramic ramekins, I took inventory of the counter tops. The fruit basket and napkin holder stood to the left of the sink; the electric can opener, toaster, and coffee pot to the right. Have you ever noticed, though, that there's always something that doesn't fit in your kitchen? I like to think of my kitchen as a place of cleanliness and orderliness, but some thing always manages to spite me.

Over the last month (which held both Christmas and my birthday)I received several gifts related to my culinary pursuits including lovely aprons, collapsible colanders, a cast iron grill pan, a dehydrator, a silicone baking set, an electric can opener, a jar gadget, and a set of crock pots. When I requested these useful items, each had a home in my kitchen - or at least in the kitchen that exists in my head. The aprons hang expectantly on a gleaming hook inside my pantry door, and the colanders rest inside the punch bowl under my island. While the grill pan keeps company with the roasting racks beneath my oven, the silicone baking set easily fits into the small cabinet next to the dishwasher. Even the large, three-station crock pot set has a place to sleep in extra storage until the next department social. But my dehydrator has no home. In the well-planned, efficient kitchen of my dreams, it holds hands with the bread machine under the watchful gaze of the stand mixer. Alas, not in reality.

In reality, my kitchen appliances and gadgets are getting out of hand. My bastion of culinary civility is becoming a jumble of whisks, spoons, food processors, and serving dishes. As the drawers and cabinets become more and more disorganized, I feel a growing sense of unease with the place. It's as if the more toys I accumulate, the more pressure there is to cook something fabulous - as if I have to somehow be worthy of these modern conveniences my grandmother never had.

Somehow this feeling about my kitchen's disarray is creeping into my life. How do I live up to my good job, my nice house, my cool car? The answer is - I don't know. Perhaps that's one of the dilemmas of modern society. We have accumulated so much stuff that it crowds our lives and pressures us to continue craving, grabbing, hoarding more. The idea that I would be a better cook if only I had this gadget becomes I am a better person because I live in this neighborhood. It's all a vicious circle of wanting, getting, and wanting until our very lives are overrun with clutter.

Over 150 years ago Henry David Thoreau urged us all to "Simply! Simplify!" Guess it's time to clean out the cabinets.