Supposedly spring is on its way. We're choosing to believe this, anyway. And what better way to while away your time waiting for this special season than to clean out your kitchen drawers?

You know me, I'm an anti-clutter fanatic. But, there are just some tools I can't live without. They're so important to my kitchen routine, in fact, that I will get rid of a lot of things to make room for these must-haves. You likely have things you use that you feel the same way about.

For instance: the double oven mitt. I used to have a few single mitts, but over time I've found the double mitt to be much more efficient-not so clumsy. Actually, my double oven mitt is like my baking safety blanket. I make room for just 2 of these. They sit in a drawer by my stove along with 3 square pot holders (for stove top use). And, if you don't have drawer space, the double mitt can hang conveniently over your oven door handle!

I also don't want to live without my reusable pot scrubber. I found these online at www.food52.com, and they were $26 for a set of 5. But I'm still using the first one, and it's lasted and lasted. I figure over the long haul these helpers will end up saving me a lot of money.

It's true that there are some stains and stubborn pots that require some serious elbow grease, and for those, steel wool comes to the rescue. But steel wool tends get grimy, rusty, and unsightly over time. But these scrubber pads, made of polyester, come to my daily rescue. And I throw them in the washing machine when they get dirty. Who knew a dish scrubby could be so beloved!

Another kitchen tool (maybe rightfully called an appliance) that I use several times a week, is my electric knife. I still use the one my mom had when I was a teenager. I admit it has a few downsides: the noise it makes, the cord hanging out the back, and the storage space it takes.

But I love how precisely it carves meats and bread. It makes easy work of slicing raw potatoes (think cottage fries), humongous juicing carrots, and winter squashes. In the summer I use it on all our melons-especially watermelon. For me, all the uses this tool has more than make up for its downsides.

Finally, I LOVE my standing measuring spoons and matching measuring cups. Let's talk cups first: I was a cooking magazine editor and recipe creator and my co-editor, Jeanne Wolfley, and I spent our days for over a year in a test kitchen. In that time period we went through 3 sets of measuring cups. The handles kept falling off. Finally we found these cups at Williams and Sonoma (they're sold as a set with the measuring spoons) and we've never had to replace them since. They're heavy and the handles are riveted on so well that we'd have to pound them with a sledgehammer to get them to fall off.

And the spoons: You can see from the picture how nicely they sit. I like to pre-measure my ingredients and line everything up in order of application, as part of my recipe prep, and because these spoons sit in such a stable manner, I can actually have my ingredients measured directly into them rather than into tiny dishes (monks).

While a little pricey (around $42 for the set), I'll NEVER have to replace them. So I'm sure they'll be handed down for several generations.

Now I'll finish with a quick little recipe that'll put those awesome measuring spoons to work. But before I do, here's just a gentle bit of encouragement to dig in and clean out those kitchen drawers. While you're still hanging out indoors, why not?

HOMEMADE 5 SPICE POWDER (yield: approximately 6 teaspoons)

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

2 teaspoons crushed anise seed or 1 star anise, ground

1/2 teaspoon crushed fennel seed

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper (or 1/2 teaspoon Szechuan pepper)

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

Mix all ingredients together. Store in an airtight container.

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