Avoiding Kitchen Catastrophe’s

Ok, so just because ya’ll see pretty finished plates of food on my blog, it doesn’t mean I don’t have major catastrophes in the kitchen every once in a while. Just in the last two days I have managed to go grocery shopping and realize I left my wallet home after the groceries were all rung up, shatter my favorite casserole dish all over the kitchen, get grape juice stains all over my favorite shirt, get Jalepeno juice in my eyes (it burns!!!), and slice my finger cutting onions.

Kitchen catastrophes just happen sometimes and you can’t do anything to stop them. However, I have a couple tips for making things run all together more smoothly in the kitchen.

1. Mise en Place: a French term that means having everything in place before you start cooking. Thomas Keller of The French Laundry and Per Se says, “it is about having everything you need before you start cooking; picturing every task involved in creating a dish—all the ingredients and all the tools—and having them organized in advance.”

• Find all the utensils and tools before starting to cook. There have been countless times when I have a pot of custard on the verge of boiling, and my whisk is dirty.
• Make sure you have all the ingredients you need, so you don’t need to run over to the neighbor’s begging for butter.
• Open and drain all cans.

• Chop all raw veggies and fruit before hand. Prepare any meat after all the veg is chopped, so there is no chance of cross contamination.

• Have items you will need through out the cooking process, like salt and pepper and olive oil, on hand

2. Start with a clean kitchen. Put stuff you aren’t using in the cupboards. Wipe off the counters. Only have out what you need.

3. Start with an empty dishwasher. As you cook, put dishes straight into the dishwasher.

4. Clean while you cook. When you finish with a pot or pan, clean it immediately. If you clean as you go, you feel a lot less stress when you are done. I always hate looking back at the kitchen when I am done cooking and thinking a tornado struck. It is discouraging. Today, I cleaned as I went, and I felt happy and energized, rather than discouraged and tired.

5. Pull the garbage can over right next to the counter you are preparing food on. Have an open can or a foot pedal can so you don’t have to touch the garbage can. Throw scraps and empty cans straight into the trash. This will help make space on the counters. Also, you wont have to walk across the floor dripping food along the way.

6. Have “stuff” on hand for emergencies. Make sure you have

soap

paper towels

and band-aids. When I sliced my finger while cutting onions, I had to run upstairs and rummage around to find a band-aid, while my oil was getting too hot on the stove. If I had a band aid near by, things would have been much less stressful.

6. Have fun! I like to set up my I-home just outside of the kitchen and listen to audio books while I cook and do dishes.

And of course, I need my little bag of chocolate chips to pop in my mouth every once in awhile.

 

6. Serve Simply. Bon Appetit magazine says, “At home, food should be rustic and fun, so serve foods in the dishes you actually cooked them in. Prep salad right in the salad bowl. Don’t be scared to serve something out of a pot. It keeps food hot longer. And, yes, it cuts down on the dishes.” Sometimes, presentation isn’t really a big deal, so save the dishes.

Happy Cooking!!!