My newspaper column for the week that wasn’t:
We all have them. Junk drawers. I hate to admit this—but even my drawers that are not designated for junk look a bit like junk drawers. Organization does not seem to be my strong suit—it is a goal I will forever be chasing. But we are not here today to talk organization, we are here to talk about those indispensable drawers that hold things that are well……indispensable (read: crucial, vital, essential).
My official junk drawer holds all those utensils I only use on occasion, but are crucial, vital and essential. My corkscrew is crucial; my nutcracker essential; and my beaters vital. Let me explain: the corkscrew is crucial for those times when I have broken the bank and bought a bottle of wine which does not have a twist top (one must admit though, that nowadays there are quite a few good bottles of wine that have a twist top—not just Boone’s Farm and Cold Duck from days of yore). The nutcracker with its accompanying tools to get the meat out of the nut is essential, but generally only at Christmas time—though I have been known to use it to get corks out of sparkling wine which means it gets used a little more often than just at Christmas. And the beaters—well they are vital to the hand mixer which would be mighty lonely (and useless) without them.
I have taken the junk drawer out of its usual spot in the cupboard next to the sink to list for you some of the stuff in it that I just cannot throw away—even though most of does not get used on a regular basis. (Although there are one or two things that do not fit in other drawers that do get housed here, but for the most part, the things in my junk drawer do not see the light of day often.)
Bonus: I found a healthy looking pastry brush, and some tongs I did not know I still had. I use the pastry brush more for applying barbeque sauce than actually using it with pastry, but what the heck—I am glad to become reacquainted with it. It was at the back of the drawer which explains why I did not know it was there. And the tongs will come in mighty handy—better put them in my utensil pot I have by the stove. (Yes, I did walk out and put them there.)
Okay, what else is in here—three sets, no four sets of salad tongs. I use one set most of the time, but you never know when the others will come in handy. There are wooden ones that I am sure go with a set of bowls, an orange plastic pair, a silver pair, and the pair I use all the time that look a bit like wooden hands—they are only in this drawer because they do not fit anywhere else.
My lucky baster that I use when I am under duress to actually cook a stupid turkey is in there—guess I may be using it again soon—it is getting to be that time of year. Though I am leaning towards having steak instead (lol). An apple corer, which I would use more if I made pies. But I don’t. Two silver cake servers that come out mostly for birthdays, and a little orange thing that touts itself as “the world’s smallest juice extractor”. Obviously I have not used it—but now that I have rediscovered it (I must have been the one who put it in there in the first place) I may give it a whirl.
Ugh—found an old pastry brush that is decrepit—looks like it was used on the barbeque and seen much better days. Out it goes, along with a curvy green straw with the word Frosty on it that seems to have a small spoon at one end and is now utterly useless, and does not fit the criteria of crucial, vital or essential.
Okay, what else is in here—a big silver meat fork (that’s a keeper) and a nice (real silver) spoon that needs some polish; and hey, what’s this—a tea ball—I was wondering where that was. Oops the straw has been resurrected from the junk pile as my youngest son just found the Fonzie frog that fits on it (don’t ask—but it is a frog that wears a black leather coat and has two thumbs up). It is now crucial and vital, though still not essential.
There you have it—the contents of my junk drawer—now you know me maybe a bit more than I am comfortable with.
What’s in your wallet…..I mean junk drawer?
On the Homefront 
I’m checking out the ‘junk’ drawer in my bedroom (oh, yes, I have a junk drawer for the kitchen, the office, the bedroom, and the guest room). Four bookmarks (a silver one, a sparkling one, a wood one and one of my own for my books); three receipts from last month, from spring, and from a year ago); two friendship cards from two different friends; one slip that I haven’t worn in a decade; a silver dollar; a letter from my dad that he wrote me 30 years ago; a poem I wrote myself around the same time; a hair brush; a tube of lipstick. Ah, the detritus of life.
I love the detritus of life…..it is what makes us up………….
I don’t have a junk drawer but a junk box that resides in my pantry, has tools, duck tape, Velcro, nails, etc. When you move often enough, you never accumulate as much, so you never get to say, “Oh, that’s where that went!”
maybe you have discovered the path to being almost junkfree………..
I have a heap of things that I think I might use at some point in my junk draw and my junk cupboard around to it seems to take a lot of bloody time.
too much time and effort I agree……..
Why is it we can’t seem to clean out what we call our ‘junk’ drawers…Every time I do I find myself saying, “but I may and probably will need this ‘particular item’ (s) some day! I guess there’s junk and there’s junk! Diane
and our own junk does not seem to be junk………….
You’re right, everyone has a junk drawer or two or three, and sometimes their contents come in handy for sure. Mike is always telling me to throw stuff out that we haven’t used in a while, but I always hesitate because I feel like as soon as I throw something out I will need it the next day :).
and how many times that has proven to be true…………..
You don’t want to know.
ha ha – yes I do……
Oh, no you don’t.
Oh, this was such a treat to read, Lou. Thanks for the smiles and occasional guffaws. I’m sure we’re all guilty. 😀
I got rid of our junk drawer earlier this year. It’s still a junk drawer of sorts – just not as “junkie”. LOL
BTW – I also have a hoarder room. 😱