On Cleaning the Cabinets

            I am getting ready for a mob of company next week. The weekend of June 12 and 13 is Santa Fe Trail Days in Larned, and our kids and relatives are coming to visit.  

            I decided I had better get hopping. You know, get ready for the group.

            Clean house, you say? Oh no, I am far beyond that simple concept. No, I decided to clean and rearrange all my cupboards in the kitchen so that I could find places for the items on the countertops.

            Fred wonders about me. He remarked as he was tromping through the kitchen in his garden shoes, leaving dirt on the floor, "Why are you doing that? It's not important."

            You see, Fred is busy in the garden, weeding and hoeing. I could ask the same.

            I started with the 3 tiered circular, turning, spice shelves. If I could consolidate them, then I could move things from the …well, its like "musical chairs".

            I peered into the cabinet, wet washcloth in hand.

            I am so embarrassed. I think I have bought a few duplications." I must be losing it", I thought.

            Let me tell you in all honesty what I saw as  I peered into those shelves, standing on a stool to get a glimpse before I sorted the mess.

            There were five packages or containers of toothpicks. Two packs were the fatter, substantially larger, old timers, and the rest were the new sliver-thin kinds. I guess I thought we needed more?

            I found six boxes of baking soda, four jars of honey, six or seven salt shakers, six full packages of fine ground sea salt, and two bags of coarse salt, three partial jars of instant coffee, and 2 ½ boxes of Splenda.

            No wonder the shelves were full.

            My greatest shock was the eight containers (Crystal Light) of drink mixes, and five little squeeze containers of flavoring for water. What have I been thinking? Or maybe the question should be, "What have I been drinking?".

            As I stretched to reach the top shelf, I discovered a gold mine up there. There were three jars of bouillon, two packages of large cupcake papers, two boxes of Hershey's cocoa with one only holding about two tablespoons of cocoa, and three bottles of vanilla. As I dug around with my washcloth in hand, I recovered two full sets of food coloring, and a box of corn holders.

            Here's my two cent advice. If you yearn for more cupboard space, start weeding out the extras.  You won't believe what you find! I challenge you!

            While drinking coffee with Velma and Goldie this morning, I polled them about their experiences. Goldie says that she still has spices in her cabinets that belonged to her mother who died forty four years ago. OK, then.

            Velma is short in stature, and her cupboards are way too tall for her. She doesn't know what is on the top shelf of her spice cabinet. She operates like me, "Out of sight, out of mind".

             She explained that her "Rufus" likes to buy in large quantities "just in case" they run out. She found two large containers of cinnamon there. Rufus rationalizes that if one is good, two is better. Velma says she won't have to buy cinnamon ever again in her life.

            I guess!

            Now, let's proceed to the cupboard cleaning adventure.

            I was on a roll as I continued to dig and discard. I combined bottles of like substances, threw out the little bits here and there, and put extra stuff like salt and pepper shakers, plastic bins, etc. in a box for the budget shop.

            I found places for things that I had never imagined before and now the cupboards were clean and clear. I juggled this stuff to that place, and emptied other locations. I found a place to hide the toaster, the bread box, and the dish drainer.

            Does that feel good or what?

             I don't know if our guests will inspect my organized cabinets. Nor will they care. But I care. I have gained two empty drawers from this effort and I cannot wait to fill them….with junk.