The Holiday season has arrived, soon you will be enjoying the visit of your family and friends and as a tradition cooking lots of delicious meals together. This holiday season use these tips to keep your kitchen organized and tidy while you prepare all those foods.
1.Start fresh
Before starting the big cook-off, take an hour to clean and remove anything that isn’t necessary for the following weeks. As well, go ahead and clean the refrigerator and freezer to prep them for all the foods you will be storing. Toss out old leftovers and expired foods. Organize the items in your pantry to optimize the space. Don’t forget to clean your stove and oven. Keeping these two grease-free will help you avoid any kitchen fires.
2. Clean up messes right away
It is inevitable to avoid spills when cooking. Go ahead and clean each mess right away, it will be easier to remove now than a day later once it has hardened. Just keep an old rag or paper towel close by to ensure this gets done.
3. Soak your dishes
Another helpful tip is keeping some warm soapy water in the sink, this will help rinse your dishes as you are using them and make the process of cleaning them quicker once you are ready to put them in the dishwasher. Any casserole or pan the comes out of the oven should immediately be soaked while you are prepping other things. Do not leave your dishes sitting there all night long, you will dread it when you wake up! Run the dishwasher once it’s full and empty it as soon as its finished.
4. Get everyone involved
Involve everyone in the food preparation and clean up! Put some Holiday music and assign a task for everyone to do while together you enjoy the best of the season. Once everyone is in the kitchen it will sure make for a fun time of laughter and memories. If your family is rather large then make it work by making teams, one cooks up the feast and the other helps with the clean up after.