How Many Small Kitchen Appliances Do You Own?

[Kaneohegirlinaz]

I agree with you Janet!
I thought of that question as well,
how often do you use each of your toys?

When we moved away from Hawaii to the "Mainland",
we only brought our clothes and our 4 Koa Wood Furniture pieces,
these are heirloom, rare pieces that will be passed down.
That's it!
Everything else that we owned was given away and we started
all new here in Arizona.

 

[Cheryl J]

I agree with you Janet!
I thought of that question as well,
how often do you use each of your toys?........

+1, that's exactly why I don't have a lot of small kitchen appliances.

 

[roadfix]

Half of our kitchen toys, we rarely use.

 

[Janet H]

I agree with you Janet!
I thought of that question as well,
how often do you use each of your toys?

When we moved away from Hawaii to the "Mainland",
we only brought our clothes and our 4 Koa Wood Furniture pieces,
these are heirloom, rare pieces that will be passed down.
That's it!
Everything else that we owned was given away and we started
all new here in Arizona.

Taking this one step further - I have noticed as the years tick by that I have less interest in having lots of appliances. There are probably a lot of reasons for this..

1. Things like slicers - I use an lovely large knife for instead. I have been a cooking a looong time and have learned to use my knives well - no need for a machine to do this. The knife is almost as fast, cuts just a well and is a LOT easier to clean. No uni-taskers! One good knife can replace a many appliances. I hand cut coleslaw for instance - it takes about 2 minutes to do a whole head of cabbage and there aren't all those parts to clean up. I have discarded my garlic press for the same reason - mincing garlic is as fast as the press and easier to clean.

2. I have been though many gadgets over the years and am tired of coffee makers that fail and fancy toaster ovens that require an advanced degree to use.. I have simplified. Last time yet another $100 pot bit it, I simply didn't replace it. I make coffee in a pour over or french press. - no electric thing on my counter. Turns out the coffee is better and there is no waste - who knew? Last time the toaster oven died I replaced it with a commercial 2 slot toaster, bullet proof. All I ever used it for was toast anyway....

3. Empty counters are easier to clean, provide better working space and make my life simpler. If the place looks too plain, I get some fresh cut flowers in a vase or a lovely large bowl of fresh fruit as a center piece. Those make me immensely happy.

What I do want is well designed, high quality appliances. Every appliance should meet this standard - no junk!

 

[Kayelle]

anyway....

3. Empty counters are easier to clean, provide better working space and make my life simpler. If the place looks too plain, I get some fresh cut flowers in a vase or a lovely large bowl of fresh fruit as a center piece. Those make me immensely happy.

What I do want is well designed, high quality appliances. Every appliance should meet this standard - no junk!

I soo agree with that Janet. I always have a vase of fresh flowers on my counter next to my sink, and SC replaces them every week from the grocery. They make me happy in my kitchen and he does too.

 

[caseydog]

Hmmmm, does a microwave oven count if it is a built-in? It's also kinda' big, with a useless vent hood on the bottom.

CD

 

[Kaneohegirlinaz]

Taking this one step further - I have noticed as the years tick by that I have less interest in having lots of appliances. There are probably a lot of reasons for this..

1. Things like slicers - I use an lovely large knife for instead. I have been a cooking a looong time and have learned to use my knives well - no need for a machine to do this. The knife is almost as fast, cuts just a well and is a LOT easier to clean. No uni-taskers! One good knife can replace a many appliances. I hand cut coleslaw for instance - it takes about 2 minutes to do a whole head of cabbage and there aren't all those parts to clean up. I have discarded my garlic press for the same reason - mincing garlic is as fast as the press and easier to clean.

2. I have been though many gadgets over the years and am tired of coffee makers that fail and fancy toaster ovens that require an advanced degree to use.. I have simplified. Last time yet another $100 pot bit it, I simply didn't replace it. I make coffee in a pour over or french press. - no electric thing on my counter. Turns out the coffee is better and there is no waste - who knew? Last time the toaster oven died I replaced it with a commercial 2 slot toaster, bullet proof. All I ever used it for was toast anyway....

3. Empty counters are easier to clean, provide better working space and make my life simpler. If the place looks too plain, I get some fresh cut flowers in a vase or a lovely large bowl of fresh fruit as a center piece. Those make me immensely happy.

What I do want is well designed, high quality appliances. Every appliance should meet this standard - no junk!

All EXCELLENT points Janet!!
I also agree on non-cluttered kitchen counters.
All of my toys, excluding that behemoth Black Keurig Coffee Maker (which by the way, is my DEAR HUSBAND's purchase, believe it or not) ... but that lives on that minuscule piece of counter top next to the `fridge, where not much else could live ... all the other cast of characters have homes out of sight.







Is this too much, y'think?

I simply had to do this...I woke up thinking about bustin' out the entire gang for a photo-op

DH walks into the kitchen, says, "HEH! What's all this about? Ooh, is that the Espresso Machine? Can I have a cup?"

SURE!!!




So our afternoon snack was a Latte and a piece of Carrot Cake

 

[Andy M.]

i have small appliances on the counters, in the kitchen cabinets, in an auxiliary cabinet in an adjacent room and down on the basement kitchen storage area.

 

[blissful]

Never - but I might someday

Racqlette thing

I have a love/hate relationship with my appliances. I love using them, there is no where to store them. I broke my coffee maker a few weeks ago when I accidentally threw it off the counter and broke it to bits. I haven't replaced it, and I love the new space I have on the counter. I'm drinking cold brewed coffee for now.

I made some raclette cheese last week. It will be aged and ready to eat in 2-3 months. I never bought a 'raclette thing' and I'll probably just use my propane torch to melt the cheese over the potatoes and pickles. I'm coming to the conclusion that if I could store my kitchen appliances in HIS garage, well, if he thinks they are HIS things, my kitchen would be much less cluttered.

Janet, I'd offer to sell you some raclette that I make but it's illegal here in the US to sell homemade cheese, isn't that a bummer.

 

[Cooking Goddess]

Ah, but could you swap some of your raclette for Janet's never-but-maybe-someday raclette thingy, bliss? The only risk is that Janet loves the raclette thingy so much you never get your "get" from the swap.

 

[blissful]

Ah, but could you swap some of your raclette for Janet's never-but-maybe-someday raclette thingy, bliss? The only risk is that Janet loves the raclette thingy so much you never get your "get" from the swap.

Yeah, this doesn't work.
Pretty soon if you provide cpr to someone on the street you've given them life saving treatment valued at $6000, and someone must pay the tax. The only way life works is if people 'gift' it to others. We do a lot of that. There may be a heavenly reward too, so there is always that.

 

[Kayelle]

Kgirl.....you store your appliances in their original boxes??

 

[dragnlaw]

Kgirl.....you store your appliances in their original boxes??

I have a friend who still has all of the boxes these things came in! And she keeps them in them.

Drives me nuts!

I have another friend who puts all the lids on her tupperware type stuff. OMG I could fill my livingroom wall if I did that!

 

[caseydog]

I have a friend who still has all of the boxes these things came in! And she keeps them in them.

Drives me nuts!

I have another friend who puts all the lids on her tupperware type stuff. OMG I could fill my livingroom wall if I did that!

I keep the original boxes for expensive stuff and collectibles, mainly in case I move. The movers would have to work hard to damage a plasma TV in the original box.

I keep my camera and lens boxes, so when I upgrade and sell the old ones on eBay, I get top dollar. My mom has the original box for every piece of Lladro she owns. That's also important for value.

CD

 

[Andy M.]

I keep original boxes for a year after purchase in use I have a problem and have to ship it back to the manufacturer.

 

[dragnlaw]

Andy - so do I (generally).

CD - makes perfect sense - especially for high ticket items.

 

[Kaneohegirlinaz]

Kgirl.....you store your appliances in their original boxes??

I do!
For the most part (not everything is still in their original boxes, but); the larger items are much easier to stow away in the storage cabinets out in the garage this way...very stack-able and as Casey mentions, it's difficult to hurt them.
We've moved three times in 10 years, to me anyways, that's alot and everybody has come out on the other side beautifully.

 

[Kayelle]

Good idea Casey and Kgirl. I never took moving into consideration, as I've only moved once since 1978.

 

[caseydog]

Good idea Casey and Kgirl. I never took moving into consideration, as I've only moved once since 1978.

Old habits... I've lived in my current home for 17 years. The first 17 years of my life, I lived in five cities in four states. I thought that was how everybody lived.

My parents moved another five or six times after I left home at 17.

I have a big, floored attic in my garage, so keeping boxes is no big deal. Every five years, or so, I go up there and get rid of boxes for stuff I no longer have. I'm past due for that now.

CD

 

[RPCookin]

Don't have room for boxes, nor do I have any desire to keep them around. As soon as the product is verified undamaged and functional, the box gets recycled. I have a pile in the garage right now of boxes that have been broken down, just waiting to load them up and take them to the recycling bins at the Community Center.