Looking at the shelves in the kitchen it's beginning to look a little cluttered.
But somehow for me clutter in the kitchen is not the end of the world. I like to have my things around me, I like them to be within easy grabbing distance when I am getting on with things. I like to look at what I have and remember when I used them last. But saying that if something has not been used and is not earning it's place on the shelves it won't stay for long.
There are a couple of things on the shelves that will be going soon if they don't either get used or have a use found for them.
Something that is definitely staying is the little mini Aga, it was asked about in the comments the other day and I forgot to answer - sorry. It is in fact a lovely little tin full of shortbread biscuits that my Mum bought me when we were out together just before Christmas aren't Mums lovely. It's just the same as my big Aga that it sits next too and makes me smile every time I look at it (well they both do really). :-)
Something else that I will be keeping forever is this new handmade bowl we bought when we went to River Cottage last Autumn. The words around the edge sum up the way we want to live our lives perfectly.
As a couple of you have already noticed I've started a new page at the top of the Blog to help me deal with the clutter again this year. Called simply 'Decluttering 365' it is to inspire me to jettison at least another three hundred and sixty five objects from around the house this year. Hopefully they will all be sold at a car boot sale in Spring and the money added to the mortgage overpayment. So I'm aiming to sort out at least fourteen items a week for the first twenty six weeks of the year ready for selling.
I better go and get sorting then :-)
An answer for Sarah. Yes, I bottle my pasta sauces similarly to making jam, sterile jars (heated in the oven), piping hot sauce poured in and then the tops put straight on. As the sauce cools it draws the top down and creates a vacuum, thus preserving the sauces for a long long time. I always have a couple of those tops from commercial jars that have the little dimples in the middles then you can hear the 'pop' as it pulls down and you know it's worked.
Sue xx
Surely you don't call THAT clutter! If you want to see real clutter; visit my studio!
ReplyDeleteAh, I wondered if it was a tin......thanks Sue, yes lovely thoughtful present from your Mum. And Cro is right.....it doesn't look like clutter to me, it looks like lots of useful things all to hand. My kitchen is a lot more cluttered than that!
ReplyDeleteYour kitchen shelves look lovely. When you always cook from scratch you need a certain amount of "things" I think. the biscuit tin is lovely, lucky you!
ReplyDeleteWill have to try bottling my pasta sauce this upcoming year...I have always frozen it before but I was seriously short of freezer room this year by the time the other garden produce had gone in too.
ReplyDeleteI absolutely love the mini Aga shortbread tin! I also agree with others in this not looking anywhere near cluttered, not when I look around me here - life in Frugaldom is a constant stream of decluttering.
ReplyDeleteYour kitchen is my dream kitchen! I'm very envious of your casserole dishes :P Best of luck with your decluttering challenge!
ReplyDeleteClutter in the kitchen is the sign of a person who believes in cooking from scratch and feeding her/his family healthily! I have a tiny kitchen and live in the sticks, so we do a massive stock up when we go shopping. There is no choice but to have a cluttered kitchen most of the time if we want to cook all our meals from scratch, bake our own bread etc. Even more of a challenge is cooking in a tiny kitchen with two large, scrounging dogs under your feet, lunging every time you drop a crumb! But I love it x
ReplyDeleteYou have inspired a little renovation project around here. I just love the feature wall and your open shelves! I agree with the other comments in here too, a cluttered kitchen is a sign we are REALLY cooking. My kitchen used to be clutter free, back when cooking involved heating something on an oven tray. These days I need mixing bowls, utensils, loaf pans, cutting boards etc on hand, as they are used every day. Be proud of your gorgeous kitchen! x
ReplyDeleteI love your shelves, I also like things within reaching distance but I do like my sides absolutely clear apart from a couple of thing that are used every day x
ReplyDeleteI can`t see clutter, just a beautiful green wall that makes everything infront of it zing and stand out positively.
ReplyDeleteNow, where is that clutter?
It all looks very useful though, practical and necessary. I love the River Cottage bowl. Can't get enough of Hugh over here.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the others, I see no clutter, only a wonderful workspace!
ReplyDeleteI also love the tin!
I esp. love your bowl!
I see a cooks kitchen!
ReplyDeleteI love the colour in your kitchen it looks fabulous :-)
ReplyDeleteSue, I am intrigued by your pasta sauce in jars. I too run out of freezer space and would really like to be able to preserve soups in this way. Is it safe to do so in the way you describe do you think? I am a bit wary of botulism!
ReplyDeleteWell I've been doing it this way for over five years now and we've never been ill. I'm not saying this is how you should do it, I'm just answering the question was ...HOW DO I DO IT.
DeleteThis Blog is a diary of how we do things, the ways we've found they work best for us and not a handbook to be followed religiously by others. As it says in the sidebar take away any tips that may help you.
I'm surprised you don't boil your tomato sauce in the jars (with new lids) for 10minutes before putting them in the cupboard. Here in Italy almost everyone makes sauce and I haven't heard of anyone who doesn't boil in the jars too. Love your idea for decluttering, I don't think I'd ever manage that.
ReplyDeleteIf you want to boil your jars of sauce, then boil your jars of sauce. I find it an unnecessary step if all the other steps I have mentioned have been followed through, and I don't like doing the unnecessary.
DeleteEach to their own.
This is MY way of doing sauce and as I have just stated above IT WORKS FOR ME!!