Don’t even think of throwing anything away until I see it,” I barked at my husband as we spent yet another day of our long-awaited, much-deserved vacation packing up our circa 1990 blue Formica-topped kitchen that will, by the grace of God, be gutted next week.

“But you’re throwing away all my stuff,” he whined.

“After 24 years of marriage, it is time to let the ‘bachelor crap’ go,” I said, stuffing his ancient dime store warped wire whisk into a garbage bag.

If only I could practice what I preach…

My batterie de cuisine is, in a word, vast. Besides the pots, knives and electronics that get near-constant use, there are the spaetzle maker, silicone Financier and brioche molds, three sizes of springform pans and a Tomato Shark.

Tomato Shark, you say? Yup. I’ve got that.

I have no idea where I procured this thingie. And I don’t think I’ve ever used it since coring out tomatoes can be done easily with a sharp paring knife. But did I toss it? Nope. At least I know that if all of my dozen paring knives go missing when I’m making a fresh tomato sauce, the Shark will be ready to, well, chomp.

Ditto for what the Brits call “the stoner.” I bought this other little gadget in a London kitchen shop 20 years ago. Except when I make tapanade — which is rare — the Stoner wastes away in the drawer. It also works quite well, if memory serves, on cherries.

Also in the coring family are the various apple corers, two which are shown in the photo below. Again, if you’re making apple pie or apple sauce, the knife works just as well, and it is mighty quick depending on your skill. The larger — two part — corer was bought at the Broadway Panhandler 10 years ago for a baked stuffed apple recipe which I made…twice.

The Microplane grater, which is always at hand, is so versatile, I don’t need another grater or zester in the house. But when has that stopped me? There’s also a gadget that makes curly-q lemon strips. A total keeper. We eat with our eyes, you know.

As a frequent student at King Arthur Flour’s Baking Education Center, I have probably a dozen dough scrapers, two of which get constant use. Then there’s the petite one from E. Dehillerin, that famous Paris kitchen shop made famous by Julia Child. I spent three hours perusing the cluttered shelves there during a day trip into Paris 10 years ago. (Yes, I have an indulgent hubby. And it was my 40th birthday trip.) Do I use it? Not a chance. First of all, it’s too small and I don’t want the writing to wear off. File it under “sentimental.”

And speaking of sentimental, there’s a little blue enamel strainer that belonged to my husband’s grandmother. I actually use it (!) in conjunction with one of the two lemon reamers to strain out the pits for lemon juice. Ada Boynton probably used it for tea.

So, did I toss out any gadgets, you ask? Why, yes I did. Say goodbye to the Pot Minder. This little disk of ceramic pottery is placed into a pot and will prevent it from boiling over. Puh-leeze. It was a stocking gift from a thoughtful Santa. Please don’t tell him…

As for the remainder of the gadget drawer, I need everything that’s in there. But don’t call in the cameras from “Hoarders.” Mind you, I did toss out the Pot Minder. — Laura Raposa

This post originally appeared in the Boston Herald’s Fork Lift blog, Aug. 17, 2011.