Is Kitchen Gadgetry an Addiction?

My kitchen is tiny. It's in an open floorplan home, but the actual kitchen workspace (counters, stove, fridge, & all) is 10x10. Under the counters it has 4 drawers, 3 cupboards. A 3x3 butcher block is most of my counter space. It has 3-high open shelving above the countertops. Tiny. I was going to post a picture of it here, but, while I could post a picture on the 15th, apparently I can't now. The frustrations of a technotard. (Edited 1/19/13: Yay! I can post pictures on the 15th AND the 19th. Must remember that.)

ANYWAY, suffice it to say, I had to offload a buttload of kitchen gadgets to shoehorn us in here. A lot of kitchen gadgets. Beautiful, handy, spacetaking gadgets that I loved. I'll name a few (even though it hurts): waffle iron, mixer (this thing could do everything but comb your hair!), electric skillet, electric fryer, electric soup pot (really, I had that), blender, electric griddle, bread machine, coffee pots, electric grain mills . . . and that's just naming a few. Ooooh, ouch. That really did sting.

I've also changed the way I cook over these last several years. More ingredients, less packages and frozen foods. One of my cupboards is a corner cupboard with 2 lazy susans for shelving. In there I have gallon-sized pickle jars and half-gallon glass jars with: flour, sugar - brown and white, beans, rice, noodles, homemade cream of mushroom and chicken soup mixes, homemade onion soup mix, masa, popcorn, dried fruit, chocolate chips. It also holds vegetable and olive oils, peanut butter, Nutella, vinegars (white, rice, cider, balsamic), honey, and molasses. With these and the spices in jars above my stove and fresh or frozen ingredients from the fridge/freezer, we make almost everything we eat. We do buy chips (who can live without those?) and ice cream (#1 on my staple list) and chocolate (did I say ice cream was #1?) and bread ('cause I'm no good with yeasty things).

With my new way of cooking, all I need are: my pots & pans, 3 nesting serving bowls, 3 serving plates,  cast iron griddle for the stovetop, 4 knives (2 serrated, 2 straight edged), tea kettle, Bodum french press, assorted wooden and metal spoons & spatulas, normal flatware, dishes, and cups/glasses. Not to say I don't have more. 'Cause I do.  But I only use them when nobody else is here.

See you in rehab!