Tools - Not Just for the Garage

Ever been in the midst of preparing dinner, pulled a pan from the cabinet only to realize the handle is about to fall off? Or the knob on the lid is only barely hanging on? If you've been cooking for more than, oh say, a week, this has probably happened to you. This can be abundantly frustrating because nothing says kitchen mess like a dropped pot of sauce when the handle falls off.

If you're standing there trying to get dinner together with a loose lid and you realize the closest screw driver is in the garage, shed or basement workshop, you are probably frustrated. I once had a lid knob come off, leaving the hot lid on the pot with no way to take it off and stir the sauce without burning my hand. Not fun.

So what to do?  Enter a bit oif advice I learned from my mother -- keep a small tool  kit in your kitchen. Mom kept a multi-purpose screwdriver and hammer in her "junk" drawer. I keep this small tool kit in a bottom kitchen drawer. Everyone in the house knows where those tools belong. They look different and are a bit smaller than my husband's tools so there is no confusing them with the real  manly tools of the house.

They work for more than just pot fixing too! Tonight, when asked to remove a Lego from a Bionicle's hand, and when bare-handed pulling didn't work, I sent my son to get the pliers. He knew without asking which pliers I meant. And he didn't have to go rooting around in his father's tools. A few seconds later the task was accomplished.

Personally, I think every woman should be given a small took kit when she leaves home. Keeping tools in the kitchen definitely works for me.


You can find more kitchen tips at Tammy's Recipes and more great tips at Works For Me Wednesday.