For many families, Thanksgiving means delicious home-cooked dinners and spending time with family and friends. While the traditional Thanksgiving fare is delicious, it can require extensive prep and hours in the kitchen.
In the time leading up to Thanksgiving, a little thoughtful preparation can go a long way toward ensuring that your kitchen is ready for the hustle and bustle that comes with holiday meal prep.
Declutter Ahead of Time
In the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving, it’s a great idea to declutter and clean the kitchen space to allow for a more seamless meal prep. Since cooking Thanksgiving meals can have a lot of moving parts, it’s important to ensure you don’t stifle momentum with an unorganized space.
The last thing you want to do while making the gravy is to search for the gravy boat by sifting through a cabinet of unused cookware. Go through your cabinets and drawers now to save time later. Donating any items you don’t need will mean less stress on Thanksgiving Day.
Organize Utensils and Cookware
After decluttering, you have the perfect opportunity to organize your utensils and cookware. Now is the time to reflect on where you store items in your kitchen; consider if you can rearrange any items so they are closer to where you use them. This technique of placing items “at point of performance” is a tool professional kitchens use for a reason–it saves time and prevents spills or mistakes by limiting the amount of time you need to move across the kitchen to access necessary items.
Bring in Holiday Cookware
You likely own some cooking tools and cookware that are only utilized for the big feasts created during the holiday season. If you store any special dishes, cookware, or appliances in your garage or basement, now is the time to pull them out and gently wash them to prepare for your next big meal.
Set Up a Temporary Prep Station
Most day-to-day meals will not require the extensive prep that a holiday meal needs; this is especially true for Thanksgiving. Set up a specific area to prep ingredients; if you have a small kitchen, get creative: use a bar cart or tabletop where you will use your knives and cutting boards. If you have space, keep bowls and a small bowl or bag for compost on hand as well.
