Here are some more great ideas to help us get organized in the kitchen before the rest of the year’s demands hit us. We found these in the book
Keeping Life Simple: 380 Tips and Ideas, by Karen Levine (Storey Publishing, 2004).
First and foremost, however, we have to say that the place to start is by streamlining and “centering” your kitchen, as discussed in an earlier edition of the “Cookin’ Newsletter.” Then, give these suggestions a try:
1. Take all of the recipes that you have collected from newspapers and magazines over the years and place them in a ring binder with plastic coated pages.
2. Go through your pantry and refrigerator and put all the food you never use but have somehow acquired in a large bag. If it’s unopened and not outdated, give it to a food bank. If it is opened and not outdated, give it to friends or family. (If it’s outdated, well…duh!—this is OUR comment…)
3. Get rid of duplicate gadgets. You don't need three vegetable peelers and four soufflé dishes.
4. Keep a good, large pair of scissors in the kitchen.
5. It's easier to handle hot cupcake/muffin tins if you leave one of the corners empty.
6. When you finish a box of tissues, put the empty box on a kitchen counter and stuff it with plastic grocery bags. Once you have a full box of bags, keep it in the trunk of your car.
7. Think about your cooking style and equip your kitchen accordingly.
8. Create a kitchen bulletin board to tack up "must-have" items, such as permission slips, notes to answer, and so on.
9. Put your dish drainer and sponges into the dishwasher to get them really clean.
10. Your fridge and freezer are most efficient if you keep them two-thirds full, if the freezer is 0 degrees Fahrenheit, and if the refrigerator is 37 degrees Fahrenheit.
11. If you want to make dried herbs taste fresh, chop up an equal amount of parsley and add it to the herbs. The moisture and chlorophyll work like magic.
12. Stock up on some lovely herb teas or incredible cocoas and every once in awhile, treat yourself after a hard day in the kitchen! (This is
OUR tip!)
(If YOU have a smart idea, won't you share it? Life is so much easier and we accomplish so much more when we pool our resources. And after all, we're all in this together. So email
patty@dvo.com or
alice@dvo.com with YOUR Smart Ideas!)
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