Rule 25 of 27 · Chapter VI — The Habits of a Calm Kitchen
Keep a towel, a spoon, and a scrap bowl within reach
Why this rule exists
A calm cook is a cook who does not have to go looking for things, and the small tools you reach for constantly should be at hand before you start, not fetched mid-task with sauce dripping. A folded towel for grabbing hot handles and wiping up, a tasting spoon for the constant checking, and a bowl for scraps and peelings so they are not migrating across your board, these three within arm's reach remove a hundred tiny interruptions from a cooking session. Each trip to hunt for a spoon or a place to put the onion skins is a break in concentration and a chance to burn the garlic you walked away from. Setting up your station so the essentials are already there is what lets you stay at the stove, present and unhurried, instead of darting around the kitchen.
In practice
Before you cook, lay out a clean folded towel, a spoon or two for tasting and stirring, and a bowl for trimmings and scraps. Keep the towel dry, since a wet one conducts heat and will burn you on a hot handle, and grab a fresh one when it dampens. Empty the scrap bowl into the compost or bin when it fills, rather than letting peelings pile onto the board. Have tongs, a spatula, and whatever else the dish needs staged nearby too. Think of it as building a cockpit: everything you will reach for, positioned before you need it.
When it doesn't apply
The exact kit changes with the dish; baking wants different tools staged than a stir-fry. A tiny kitchen may not have counter room for a full spread, so you keep the two or three most-used items out and the rest a quick reach away. And over time the habit personalizes to whatever you, specifically, always end up needing.