Friday was like a day of Spring Cleaning for me except it’s the fall. After I dropped Skylar off at school, I went for a 5 mile run and while running I mentally strategized the rest of my day and dreamt about pumpkin recipes.
It was about 78F and perfect. Perfect, meaning the pumpkin recipes I was dreaming up in my brain that I can’t wait to cook because I’m craving pumpkin.
I came inside organized what I call my Appliance Closet, which is the place that appliances go when they’re not being used.
I have a couple mixers, cake pop makers, coffee makers, juicers, espresso makers, three blenders, toasters, waffle makers, and more. And all those appliances were taking over.
This cupboard is where I keep my smaller items and things I use almost every day like baking pans, mixing bowls, and cookie sheets but the bulkier appliances don’t fit there.
And then there’s an entire subset of appliances that I’ve used precisely once that go into the Appliance Graveyard as I sometimes call it.
Now the closet is organized.
And yes, I keep mixers in the closet.
I keep food in the kitchen, dishes in the living room, and appliances in the hall closet.
Urban condo living at it’s finest where every square inch must be utilized, including closets.
My usable countertop space is limited and covering that up with big appliance isn’t a workable option so they have their own little place in the closet.
Good thing it’s a warm climate and we don’t actually need to store many coats in the closet.
In the process of organizing, I de-cluttered and thinned out my stash.
I packed up a couple boxes of things from the Appliance Graveyard that I’ll never use and donated them to the thrift store.
After the thrift store, I went to: the grocery store, Trader Joe’s, Kinko’s, and Rite-Aid. It was Friday afternoon and everyone else apparently had the same idea as I did because the stores were packed and parking was scarce.
I came home and comforted myself with a fresh batch of Homemade Peanut Butter
I had just made a batch from 16 ounces of peanuts when I returned home from Aruba last week but within 5 days, I ate it all.
I was in major homemade peanut butter withdrawals and was just making up for lost time.
For the new batch, I processed a bag of honey roasted peanuts from Trader Joe’s for about 4 minutes and then added almost 3 tablespoons of vanilla extract. Because peanut butter is so robust and intense, it can take handle an intense amount of vanilla. The resulting peanut butter is a Very Vanilla-Honey Roasted Peanut Butter and it’s fabulous.
Use this recipe and method and add 2 to 3 tablespoons of vanilla at the end of processing, after it has liquified, and blend for another minute or so to incorporate the vanilla.
You could also just add a shot of bourbon.
I predict the new batch will last more than two days but less than five.
It’s so good with the honey and vanilla, but then again, I’m a Vanilla Monster.
I also made a loaf of Banana Bread with Vanilla Browned Butter Glaze. The bread has vanilla incorporated in it in four ways.
Clearly, I’m on a vanilla kick.
I cleaned three bathrooms from top to bottom and took out tons of trash and before I knew it, it was time to pick Skylar up at school. Her first day went wonderfully and the second day went just as well. She’s an old pro at first grade now after two days.
Just when I thought I was done and could start dinner and make more dishes for myself to do, her teacher handed out the Back To School Supplies list (yes, they do it after the first week) and we hit up Target and went back to school shopping. Needless to say, I slept very well last night after my day.
Have you checked any chores off your list lately?
I didn’t plan to have a chores day but realized it just had to happen because things were getting out of control and yesterday was as good as any to just handle it.
Where do you store your appliances or bulkier items if you live in a smallish space?
I grew up in the midwest where we had basements and garages. In California, we have earthquakes and no basements. And we have a parking stall, but not a private garage.
Just stuffing things into a closet and praying the door will shut only lasts so long before I had to take care of business.
There are people who live in far smaller quarters than we do, but between a child and her kid stuff, my cooking supplies and photography paraphernalia, and all of Scott’s things, I have to be careful not to let things get out of hand and keep everything organized and in it’s place. And make charitable donations monthly.
Clutter makes me crazy and if my house doesn’t look like this, I can’t function in it. It has to be neat, orderly, and clean.
Have a great weekend!
I’m with you on the absolutely no clutter thing. I absolutely cannot stand it! I love how immaculate your house always looks in photos. It’s the only way to live! :-)
I feel like I am always, constantly doing chores. But, I recently went through all of my clothes and shoes and did the same with all the boys clothes and shoes and we came up with literally BAGS of things to take the the local thrift store! It really felt great to purge the closets. It’s simply wasted space when things are just sitting in there and someone else could use them. Next up…paperwork. Blah.
You have two kids and you’re the mom, so yes: “I feel like I am always, constantly doing chores.” <-- that's a true statement
I can’t deal with clutter anywhere. In my home, at my office, I am constantly de-cluttering. I go to friends’ houses and do it there, out of habit. THey usually don’t mind thougj.
I have very little storage at my house too. I just bought a small microwave cart, but for the most part, the lack of storage space is good, becuse it limits my purchases!
That peanut butter sounds amazing…wow.
I WISH I had a big KA mixer to complain about!
Glad you for lots done-I do not know how you get so much done. Actually I am
amazed at people with kids in general. I have done nothing technically productive this weekend…except for spend all day at the kcrw pie contest I entered(not a winner but hundreds of people had entered) and eat other contestants pie, haha.
a pie contest sounds pretty rad!
It was! Would have been more rad if I’d won but I was up against literally hundreds of pies. But I it to eat a lot of pie, and meet Joy the baker(she was one of the judges) so it was a good day.
Thank you for using the word rad. Hadn’t heard that in a while and I think I want to start sneaking it into my vocabulary:)
Rad is a fun word to bring back, isn’t it! And Joy – met her once about 6 mos ago and she’s a doll. Your weekend sounds….RAD!
Love the blue-skied palm tree pics (as usual) and your kitchen looks beautiful! If you recall, last summer, I finally got inspired to made the trek out to SD to visit some friends and lived in PB for a few months; now I’m headed back to stay! :D (Back-and-forth cross-country moves are absolutely thrilling……. you have a lot of experience moving so I’m sure you can sympathize.) But it’ll be worth it!
good luck w/ your move!
I love how your kitchen looks. It might be small but it is well loved! Good job on donating those appliances that you aren’t using! I have to go through my clothes and do the same thing!
I do it with clothes too but the appliances are so bulky that sometimes they just have to go – not worth hanging onto b/c they are space hogs!
You’re lucky to have so many appliances! I don’t even have a single mixer :(
I spent over 3 decades without one, too! Finally the mixer gods smiled on me :)
Um, your house is gorgeous. Or at least your kitchen, from what I can see. And I think I’ll forever be jealous of your dishes hutch! Too. Cool. So glad Skylar had a successful first week!
Thanks, Hayley! I got the hutch from Ikea of all places! The dishes in them have been a collection from all over. It’s a lot more filled up now than that photo shows (that was taken about 3-4 mos ago) :)
Homemade peanut butter sounds AMAZING right now!
Brooke
http://www.MarvelousLoveBlog.com
I just love that white cabinet for all your dishes! It’s so quaint! And the feeling of crossing off your chores is one of those simple pleasures in life… actually, a lot of times I’ll go back to my list to add something JUST so I can cross it off and feel that much more accomplished. Lol!
Checking chores off is a GREAT feeling and I got the hutch from Ikea about 4-5 mos ago!
averie, last night my friend asked us to bring a baked good to his house for a get together before we all went out. a lot more people participated than expected so it turned into sort of a bakeoff! i made your mint oreo brownies and they were a HIT. i put a little card with a link to the recipe next to the plate i served them on, so you might be getting an influx of 21 year old male readers in the next few days!
Well I’m glad the brownies were such a hit :)
I’ll get right to it–the sweet potato soup was great!! Thick and rich, just how we like it. I am presently waiting on a plumber to come un-clog the kitchen sink. Drano didn’t work last night and sulfuric acid didn’t work this am. Why does this stuff happen when the weekend hits?!?! Anyway–a vitamix soup recipe was perfect today since my kitchen is off limits until later!
Oh I am so glad to hear the Vitamix soup was perfect. Yes, thick and rich – sometimes that’s just the only way to go! Drains. Ugh. Our drains in Aruba are always on the fritz and always on the weekend, I feel your pain! The good news is in the US they work on weekends. In Aruba, calling on a Saturday will get you an appt, maybe, the following Thurs. Or not. :)
Kitchen counter top real estate is extremely valuable. My new kitchen is well-endowed with counter space, but I am running out quickly regardless. I also store some appliances in the pantry. I’ve realized that I can never have enough kitchen counters. Ever. :)
I think I would be in HEAVEN in your kitchen. When I was writing this post I was thinking of you b/c you have so much space! Ironically, I used to have a kitchen like yours – when I didn’t cook! lol
You are one busy lady—I always come away feeling like a sloth after reading your posts, seriously, where do you get all your energy?
Starting first grade has to be the most exciting time ever, for both the first grader and the mom, congratulations!
I love your appliance graveyard1
The honey Roasted Vanilla Peanut Butter is absolutely brilliant—I am SO adding the bourbon!!!
Off to clean up my kitchen…
Bourbon or Baileys. Or they make some really crazy but good vodka’s like marshmallow vodka or chocolate vodka. I’m kinda wanting to try it :)
Thanks for the Bundt pan info on your post. BTW I just got a new bundt from…Ralph’s grocery store last week. On sale for $5.99 Worked just fine for a cake I made that am posting about in a week or so!
I can’t believe your girls are in college! I bet looking back, that it all went very fast…I can’t even imagine…
mmm i could totally go for a slice of that banana bread right now. i also did a chores day a few days ago, but i still need to finish up. it’s amazing how accomplished i can feel after everything is back in its place!
That accomplished feeling is just…the best, isn’t it!
There is such a feeling of accomplishment that comes with cleaning things out. I have a lot of storage space, but it seems it’s never enough!
Feeling of accomplishment – yes!