A few years ago, my daughter asked for Oreo Balls instead of a birthday cake. Yeah, she's awesome...because Oreo Balls are a gift from the universe to mankind.

I ate a couple of Oreos before I started marking the dessert (quality control, I swear).

Then I started to rummage through cabinets to find the mixing bowls- first for the food processor, then for the attachments and for the large mixing bowls. In just one cabinet, I found two citrus zesters, a strawberry huller, the top part of a manual juicer, a mezzaluna, and six lids to coffee cups we no longer own.

We have a lot of stuff. I don't want a lot of stuff.

This week, I'm purging - donating - junking all the extra stuff. Stuff I don't need or use. Stuff that makes me feel awful when I open the cabinet. I'm no minimalist, but I don't want to take everything out of a kitchen drawer just so I can find the good potato peeler.

And yes, I have two potato peelers, one of which is the GOOD potato peeler, and I feel silly writing this sentence, so I will donate the other one, OK? Sorry to be snippy. I realize you weren't judging me...it was me judging myself. I feel better now.

All that from Oreos.

second photo: Stencil