There was a time when Scoops served all their ice cream in apparently disposable plastic cups. I say "apparently" because although I saw everyone else throw them away, I could never bring myself to do it. Instead, after polishing off my scoop of goat cheese-lavender or genmai cha gelato, I would take the empty cup into the bathroom. (That's right, the bathroom. Shut up.) In the bathroom, I'd rinse the cup in the sink, dry it out with paper towels, stick it in my purse and take it home to join the rest of my growing collection.

Why? That's exactly what Rob said the first time he saw them. (He also asks that about all the pasta sauce jars and juice bottles I save. Obviously, I need the former to store the beans and grains I buy in bulk and the latter to hold the liquor I'm brewing in the kitchen cabinet. Duh.)

The answer is simple: they're really useful!

Use #1: fruit caddy. There's nothing I like more than a piece of perfectly ripe, juicy summer fruit from the farmers market. Unfortunately, it's almost impossible to transport said fruit in my lunch bag without it getting bruised or nicked. Nobody likes nicked fruit. Enter a Scoops cup, which fits snugly around a single piece of fruit, protecting it from all the other containers banging around in my lunch bag. I do the same with hard-cooked eggs.

Use #2: cat food scooper. There was a time when we didn't measure out the amount of food we put in Milhouse's bowl every day. Then he turned into a plump cat ball and we realized we needed to be better parents. A Scoops cup and Sharpie helps keep us from dishing out Macaroni-Grill-sized portions. To make it, I just measured out various amounts of food into the Scoops cup and labeled them with the Sharpie. Milhouse is now svelte and cuter than ever.

Use #3: mise en place holder. When I cook I like to have all the ingredients prepped and ready to throw in the pan, especially when I'm making a stir-fry, which comes together in a quick, hot burst of cooking. My go-to Thai stir-fry recipe involves vegetables cooked with a mixture of oyster sauce, sugar and fish sauce, and I always mix this sauce up in a Scoops cup before I start the cooking.

I also eat my morning serving of yogurt out of a Scoops cup and have been known to sub a Scoops cup covered in plastic wrap when I run out of small lidded containers. Thinking about all the uses there are for Scoops cups, it almost pains me to think about the hundreds -- thousands? -- that have been tossed out over the years, and still get tossed out when people take their ice cream to go. Is there anyone else out there stockpiling these? Or am I destined to die alone under an accidental avalanche of blue plastic cups, the newspaper headlines reading AREA WOMAN'S MYSTERIOUS ICE CREAM OBSESSION LEADS TO DEATH?

Come on, fess up. Are you a Scoops cup saver?