One of the traditions associated with the lunar new year is house-cleaning. The idea is similar to "Out with the old, in with the new." You "sweep away" all the bad, and make room in-coming good.

The actual tradition is that the entire house should be cleaned the day before New Year's Day, then on the evening of New Year's Eve, all of the brooms and things used to clean are stored away so that there is no danger of accidentally sweeping out the good things that come in once the New Year arrives.

Now, I'm not going to celebrate the Chinese New Year by busting out a mop, but I do think I might stay within the spirit of the celebration by cleaning out my kitchen. There is a drawer in my kitchen, a very deep drawer, actually, that has a number of kitchen gadgets and tools that should be swept out of my house forever. The thing is, none of them are chipped nor broken. None of them are worn, and that is precisely the problem. They never get any use because they are *ahem* useless kitchen tools.

You have them, too. Like me, though, you're just afraid to throw them away because you think that there will be that ONE time two years from now that you will need it.

Trust me, you won't. And there is absolutely nothing in the world you can't accomplish with a spoon and a very good knife. Some highlights from my kitchen drawer:

• Garlic Peeler - okay, actually, this one doesn't even work all that well.
• Garlic Press - so hard to clean, it's not worth the ease of mincing garlic. I use a knife and kosher salt.
• The Brush - this is something that looks like a painful hairbrush that I still don't know what it was intended for.
• Melon Baller - I never make melon balls. I never make anything that needs to have tiny, cute ball-shapes.
• The Syringe - I have never used it, and actually, like the garlic peeler, it actually doesn't work that well. When I have to baste something, I use a ladle. Or a pastry brush. Then again, after finding Alton Brown's recipe for turkey, never will I baste again.

Take the time this weekend to follow the lunar new year tradition and just toss those useless kitchen gadgets! Don't give them to Goodwill. They should be put completely to rest.