Illogical kitchen habits

[JAZ]

A friend of mine was visiting recently and we spent quite a bit of time cooking. Several times, we needed all the burner space, so I moved my tea kettle off the burner where it normally resides to make room; then, when we cleaned up, I moved it back. After a couple of times watching me do this, he asked why I keep it on the stove, since I rarely seemed to use it. The only answer I could think of was that it's what my Mom did. I grew up with a tea kettle on a back burner of the stove pretty much all the time. It was natural; it was the way things were.

But here's the thing -- my Mom makes tea every day; I make tea about once a month, tops. The kettle has no other routine uses for me, so it occurred to me that for the past 20 years, I've essentially taken up a burner with an item that I use a lot less than any of my pots and pans. All it does is collect grease and dust from sitting out. It's an especially stupid habit given that I don't like unnecessary clutter in my kitchen.

So, after all this time, I've moved it to a cupboard. But since then, I've tried to identify other habits I have that make no sense and have found a couple more, mostly storage related.

Anyone else have any habits like this?

[Chris Amirault]

I have the exact same habit. At least, through today.

Just last month, we removed the door to the pantry when we realized it served exclusively as (a) an impediment to gaining access to the pantry or (b) an impediment to gaining access to the cupboards next to the pantry.

[mrbigjas]

JAZ, i had the same teapot habit for years. and then one day i came to the same realization that you did. except instead of putting the teakettle in a cupboard, i threw it out. it was a cheap old thing, anyway. now i just boil water in a pot with a lid...

... which is always out on the stove.

[I_call_the_duck]

Me too. We actually use our teapot about 2-3 times a week, and every now and then I think to myself, "why can't it just live with the rest of my pots and pans?"

[Mayhaw Man]

I leave my tea kettle on the stove at all times. It provides me solace and caffienated beverages. During the summer, I make one gallon of tea, per day, and that often runs out. At night, before bed most nights, I consume at least on swell bodum tea pot full of World Peace Tea (aromatic, non caffeinated, custom blended in DC somewhere-I love the stuff). I love my kettle. It stays on the stove.

[judiu]

My God, I read this and look into my kitchen and see the EXACT same thing, and I don't drink tea, ever! I think I can trace the habit back to my grandmother, who had a coal stove, as well as a gas stove in her "farmhouse" kitchen. The tea kettle was kept on the coal stove at all times to provide hot water at a moments' notice. ( A coal stove functions rather like an Aga, for any of you that don't know.) When I moved in to my little furnished condo, the kettle was on the stove (on a back burner, turned off) and it just seemed to be "right". Goofy, isn't it?

[Sugarella]

Oh you guys....the teakettle on the stove is essential! Think of it as set decoration for your home. Nice things just have to be deliberately placed some places to get the maximum visual benefits and break up the monotony. Think of it....a bare stovetop is boring and unstimulating. But a stovetop with a shiny or brightly coloured item strategically placed off to one corner directs your peripheral vision to pick up on other shiny or bright things around the room, making your view of the room that much more pleasing. Notice you'll never see a bare stove in a home magazine.... that would be so.... so.... "average!"

Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go refill my teeny weenie coffee/tea/flour/sugar canister sets, because those things are so important they have to be kept on the counter at all times!

[Marlene]

I did the same thing with a teakettle for a while. As Sugarella said, it looked so nice and shiny there. However, the only time I make tea is when my brother visits, and then, I use an electric kettle because it's faster. I finally gave in and put the tea kettle away.

Other odd habits might include the way I load and unload a dishwashwer but that's a whole other story

[SJ Shappee]

This post sure got me thinking; my mom also made tea daily and I've kept a kettle on the stove for years, even though I make tea once or twice monthly - at the most. My mom has been gone since 1984, and every time I move that kettle around I am reminded of her and the comfort and love I got in her kitchen. She brewed a pot of tea first thing every morning and drank strong iced tea all day. Sometimes, usually in the hot summers while we lived in Dallas, she would go through more than one pot. At least five "Tender Leaf" tea bags tied together or attached to the lip of the pot with a clothes pin. When we kids got sunburns she would take the tea bags out of the pot and apply them directly to the burn. Funny the things we remember!

[Smithy]

I don't make tea often, but I use the tea kettle frequently to heat water before adding it to a stew or sauce. It isn't just a decoration. Really!

On the other hand, my husband's insistence on taking up a perfectly good burner with his favorite frying pan, instead of putting it in the cupboard with the other pans, now...that is totally illogical.

[suzilightning]

Oh you guys....the teakettle on the stove is essential! Think of it as set decoration for your home. Nice things just have to be deliberately placed some places to get the maximum visual benefits and break up the monotony. Think of it....a bare stovetop is boring and unstimulating. But a stovetop with a shiny or brightly coloured item strategically placed off to one corner directs your peripheral vision to pick up on other shiny or bright things around the room, making your view of the room that much more pleasing. Notice you'll never see a bare stove in a home magazine.... that would be so.... so.... "average!" 

Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go refill my teeny weenie coffee/tea/flour/sugar canister sets, because those things are so important they have to be kept on the counter at all times!

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thank goodness you aren't married to a safety engineer. i always had a teapot on the stove until i got married. now NOTHING and i do mean NOTHING is allowed to stay on a burner "just in case". and this includes the pan in which i i just cooked his egg sandwich. on the other hand i do have to have my favorite cutting board on the big table - just in case

[rooftop1000]

The teapot was replaced with the spaghetti pot a few years ago, we have a lot more spaghetti than tea.

tracey

[snowangel]

How many teapots are going into cupboard or basement storage this afternoon? Mine just went.

[FabulousFoodBabe]

I had the teapot-on-the-burner, too, until my last house that had electric-coil elements on the stove top (four houses ago, that was). It fit them perfectly and seemed to just belong there. I don't know why I did it -- I come from coffee drinkers, all. Sigh.

Mr. Fab has lots of weird food habits; here my favorite: He puts coffee into an old Borden sherbet container, that he got from when he worked for borden about 10 years ago. He takes the coffee from the bag and puts it straight into the container. Of course, the container doesn't hold an entire pound of coffee, but that doesn't stop him. It's hilarious, and we tease him about it a lot. He can't relax if we hide his container.

He also has to measure the coffee with a coffee scoop tablespoon that his mother gave him a while ago. He won't use a half-cup measure, he carefully measures out eight tablespoons of coffee, every time. He's convinced that it tastes better this way.

[nakji]

I don't like to sort my cutlery.

This drives my husband crazy. But I always think, you know, I can tell a fork from a knife just by looking at it. Why do they need to be grouped together? I keep them all together in a upright canister on the the back of my counter.To me, it makes perfect sense, but I do admit that everyone who visits my kitchen finds it deeply illogical.

[BeeZee]

I keep my spices grouped by type of cuisine (complementary seasonings)...ie, oregano near basil, ginger near five-spice powder.

My mom keeps them in alphabetical order.

Teapot used to be on a back burner, but moved off since I (like others) rarely use it. My mom kept hers on the stove since Dad used it every day, so I probably started that out of habit.

[SJ Shappee]

Gotta add that I always HAVE TO grate my cheese on waxed paper. My mom did - but I can't really find any other reason why I'm insistant about this...my housemate is always teasing me about it...he'll get the cheese out and the grater....then will make a big production about getting out a cutting board or plate - which sends me into a fit because he is acting like he's going to try and NOT use the waxed paper...sigh....

[jsolomon]

My wooden spoons which are completely unsuited for serving MUST ALWAYS reside with the serving spoons. Also, my spreading knife MUST ALWAYS reside in the silverware drawer, not with the rest of the slicing/boning/paring/chef's knives.

Leaving the tea kettle or the cast iron skillet out isn't illogical. It isn't any less logical than always drinking your coffee from a black mug, or glass. It is a true way to happiness, wisdom, and domestic peace.

[purplewiz]

I have two "general purpose" kitchen drawers - one for long, skinny things (spatulas, stirring spoons, pancake flippers, etc.), and one for short, round things (measuring cups, bag clips, etc.).

The examples mentioned above are the easy ones to sort. The problem comes with the stuff that falls in between, especially since my husband empties the dishwasher and puts things away. Measuring spoons are short rounds - they're too short for the other drawer. But the can opener is a long skinny, even though it's kind of squat. So are whisks, even the short little whisk.

It all makes logical sense to me, but not to anyone else.

And I'm firmly in the teakettle on the stove camp. I not only use it for tea, but it's a quick source of water when I need to add some to a pot that's drying out too quickly - something that happens a lot up here where it's dry!

Marcia.

[McDuff]

I'm leaving our kettle right where it is, on the back left burner on top of the home-made heat tamer, and I'm adopting an air of moral superiority about it. It's not going in the closet.

[Mottmott]

I keep my spices grouped by type of cuisine (complementary seasonings)...ie, oregano near basil, ginger near five-spice powder....

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Is there any other sensible way?

[Chris Amirault]

Gotta add that I always HAVE TO grate my cheese on waxed paper. My mom did - but I can't really find any other reason why I'm insistant about this...

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Well, I think that's a perfectly rational approach to grating cheese: all in one spot, easy to transfer to pot or bowl, no muss, no fuss.

Of course, it also happens to be my preferred method....

[misstenacity]

Illogical and just plain dumb: I have my oft-used spices sitting in their little glass jars on the counter right next to the stove.

Andrea

http://tenacity.net

[tejon]

The tea kettle lives on top of my stove, but for good reason as I have tea pretty much every day.

I do have two utensil caddies on either side of the stove, and they hold two very separate (in my mind) sets of utensils: wooden and safe for scratchable surfaces go on the right, and metallic utensils and tongs go on the left. Makes sense to me, anyway

[Chris Amirault]

No, no, no: the wooden spoons go in the drawer, with the spatulas. Silly rabbit.