We have TOO MANY dishes, cookware and utensils

[njmom47]

This! Oldest DD is planning to move out in the next 6-12 months, so I set aside a box with a portion of my huge kitchenware collection, to help save her some $$ (and to give me more room in the cabinets). My mom did the same for me when I moved out, and I was SO grateful at the time. I still use the mixing bowls and pyrex she gave me 20+ years ago. DH makes fun of me, but I get a little sentimental about my bakeware too sometimes

The only thing I never have enough of is flatware. Even though I try to be diligent about it, I'm pretty sure my toddler is throwing away forks and spoons here and there.

The bolded part made me .
I too am very sentimental about my mom's kitchen stuff. I've made food and brought it to her house and she's said "Oh THAT'S where my xyz dish went to!" I have a very old bottle/jar opener that I still use as well as other old (probably from the 40s and 50s) items that were my mom's.

 

[Luv Bunnies]

I went through my cookware cabinet a couple of years ago. I was surprised at how much junky stuff was hiding in the back. There were pans I hadn't used in years. I tried to salvage some to donate, but it really was junk. I ended up tossing it all out. Luckily, I don't get attached to "things." I do have a few things, such as my grandma's spoon rest, that I would never get rid of. But most anything that isn't useful or is just taking up space is fair game for the recycle bin!

 

[barkley]

If you have a college nearby, check to see if they take donations for students. Some colleges have kitchenware for students' use while attending and living in housing.

another great place to contact to donate kitchen items is local military bases-many times it's weeks before transferred families received their household goods, so some bases have an 'attic' that they try to keep furnished with basic items of need for the families to borrow.

 

[dpswift]

This! Oldest DD is planning to move out in the next 6-12 months, so I set aside a box with a portion of my huge kitchenware collection, to help save her some $$ (and to give me more room in the cabinets). My mom did the same for me when I moved out, and I was SO grateful at the time. I still use the mixing bowls and pyrex she gave me 20+ years ago. DH makes fun of me, but I get a little sentimental about my bakeware too sometimes

The only thing I never have enough of is flatware. Even though I try to be diligent about it, I'm pretty sure my toddler is throwing away forks and spoons here and there.

I the just went through the very back of my flatware drawer and found that a lot of forks and spoons had fallen behind the flatware tray.

 

[APiratesLifeForMe2]

The comment about wooden spoons is interesting ... we never put our wooden spoons in the dishwasher for fear that the heat will crack them, but only wash them by hand! I assume that wood has some kind of anti-bacterial properties such that a good scrubbing with hot water, detergent and a brush will suffice - despite the porousness of the wood, where you'd think that germs might cling. There were articles a few years ago which claimed that wooden cutting boards were as safe or safer than plastic cutting boards because of this supposed property. So I gathered that the same applies to wooden spoons. But we use plastic cutting boards because we have a couple of good, thick ones that fit in the dishwasher. When I clean them by hand, I try to be _super_ meticulous about scrubbing them with lots and lots of detergent and hot water and then I clean the plastic scrub brush afterwards to make sure there are no bits of raw meat stuck in the bristles.

That's good to know! I may need to revisit the wooden spoon idea. I have a wooden cutting board and never have any worries about it. Maybe it's because the only wooden spoons I've ever used were in someone else's kitchen and they were probably 100 years old. (Ok I'm exaggerating)

 

[lauradis]

Please give to a local charity. My favorite is the woman shelter for abused woman or a charity that touches your heart.

(I know in past post I have said everything goes to goodwill, that's just my word charity.)