Kitchen Thoughts

I just had an epiphany. My cooking is slow because I compromised my principles!

When I was a kid, we had a dish rack stuck in half of the kitchen sink. That half was seldom cleaned and the drain below was slimy and the sink half pretty much unusable, because why waste time moving the rack with its heavy pile of dishes?  (Exaggeration there, but only a little)

When I moved out I swore I wouldn't have a permanent dish rack, not even the kind that sits on the counter, because (a) I needed the counter space, and (b) having a dish rack simply encourages you to leave dishes drying around for days on end. Dishes need to be put away.  When you're washing up, it's okay to put a towel down and spread them on it, but that's a temporary situation. At the end of the day, they need to be put away.

And then, somehow, without me noticing it, my brother snuck a dish draining mat onto my counter. It was beautiful and red and spongy, and I kind of enjoyed it. At first it was just for the cat dishes, but I started using it for my knives and my husband for the coffee pot parts there....

What the heck!!!???!!!  Somehow, without any conscious thought at all, I've acquired a permanent dish drainer  No tacky pink plastic this time, but the same space-stealing clutter-attracting construct.  One fifth of my kitchen counter is consumed by drying dishes and another one fifth by a coffeepot (another compromise of my principles but that's a different story).

The reason I finally realized the problem is that I was considering trying to make muffins after work. Here's my normal method for making muffins, given the following kitchen layout:

|========countertop=========|---sink---|==countertop==| |flour,salt..    .|
|  [clutter]  [coffee]   [   workarea  ] |    sink    | [dish mat]        |  |baking pans |

1. Get the muffin tins (far right), carry them to workarea.
2. Get the non-stick spray (far right), carry to workarea; spray tins; put it back.
3. Cross kitchen to turn on oven
4. Get the flour (far right); carry to workarea; measure; put it back.
5. Get the salt and baking powder (far right);  measure; put it back.
6. Get the oil....

Okay, enough. You're already laughing through your teeth. It's so obvious
    if I eliminated the stupid dish drying mat and reclaimed my work area on the right-hand side, I could stand in one spot for 90% of the prep time.

Doing it--done. That sucker is effectively downsized for the duration.  (it folds nicely)

Stay tuned as I attack the left-hand 'clutter' area and start on the mess under and over the counter on the left side. I'll address issues such as, "Who uses phone books anymore?" "Why are they kept in the kitchen when there hasn't been a phone there for ten years?" "How long should you keep boxes of tea bags you never use?" "Do coffee mugs reproduce in dark spaces?"