Despite the fact that we’re well into November at this point, I have yet to do a single thing to get my kitchen ready for the rapidly approaching holidays. If you haven’t either, then at least we’re in good company, and it isn’t to late to get ready either!
In fact, I’ve broken it down into a handful of the most important tasks. Tackle one task at a time, and soon enough, your kitchen will be in tip-top shape for the holidays, regardless of how grand or intimate your gatherings will be.
11 Tips To Get Your Kitchen Ready For The Holidays
1. Clear Out Old Food
Clear out any old food items (especially anything past its best-by date) from your pantry, fridge, and freezer. Not only will you get rid of all those expired or unwanted things that are taking up valuable shelf space, but you’ll free up room for incoming ingredients and future culinary creations.
Be sure to clean up any sticky messes if your fridge or on your shelves if you happen to have any. (This isn’t strictly related to holiday prep, but you’re already moving things around so it’s a good opportunity to take care of those messes!)
If you’re freezer’s feeling crowded, take things out of their bulky packaging to free up more space. Discard foods that show signs of freezer burn. If you have an older freezer that needs to be defrosted on occasion, you can probably gain some valuable storage space by defrosting it now.
2. Check Your Spice Cupboard
Go through your spice cupboard and check the best-by dates on everything you know you’ll use for your holiday dishes. When in doubt, spices that are over a year old could probably use replacing, as well as any that don’t smell like much of anything when you open them.
Here are some spices commonly used during holiday cooking to look for and restock as necessary:
- Poultry seasoning
- Thyme
- Rosemary
- Sage
- Parsley
- Garlic
- Nutmeg
- Cinnamon
- Ginger
- Vanilla extract
3. Clean Your Oven And Dishwasher
Your oven and dishwasher are likely to get a workout in the coming weeks, so you want to make sure they’re relatively clean and in good working order for the holidays. If your oven or dishwasher is looking particularly grimy, check out my tutorials detailing how to clean each here:
4. Inventory Your Cookware
Making sure you have all the cookware you need (and that you know where it all is) can go a long way toward making your holiday meals more efficient. Start by taking an inventory of your pots and pans—do you know where your roaster is, and where all the lids to your pots are?
Another good thing to do is check out your cookware for cracks, chips, or broken pieces so you know what needs replacing.
5. Wash Your Tableware And Linens
Since a lot of our holiday pieces only comes out once or twice a year, they might be a bit dusty. It’s a good idea to pull out any special dishes, glassware, flatware and serving pieces and give them a good wash—doing it ahead of time will ensure you’re not trying to wash a bunch of large dishes during the hustle and bustle of food prep.
Take the time to wash and iron your tablecloths and napkins too. If you like to use candles on your holiday table, make sure you have enough on hand and a lighter or matches to light them with.
6. Get Rid Of Clutter
If you’re anything like me, once the cooking begins in earnest, you need all the counter space you can get! To help free up more workspace, go through your kitchen and remove extra items from countertops, tables and shelves to declutter.
Put all these things into a storage bin or closet so you can get them back out and replace them after the holidays. With your temporarily pared-down kitchen, you’ll have the room you need to cook and bake your holiday meals to perfection.
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7. Sharpen Your Knives
Don’t settle for hacking up your turkey with a dull carving knife—take the time to sharpen it beforehand, along with your other go-to kitchen knives. Use either a sharpening steel, a knife sharpener, or take your knives to a local knife shop and get them sharpened by a professional.
8. Stock Up On The Basics
I find that if I’m going to forget about something, it’s not usually the ingredients or the table settings—it’s those everyday housewares that I didn’t think to check on! Save yourself some time and stress by making sure you have plenty of those everyday necessities. (For instance, you don’t want to finish up a big holiday meal and realize you’re out of dishwasher detergent!)
Not everyone will need all of these things, but here’s a general list of household basics you can check your stock of:
- Trash bags
- Kitchen string
- Aluminum foil
- Plastic wrap
- Ziplock bags
- Cheesecloth
- Dish soap
- Dishwasher detergent
- Toothpicks
- Batteries
- Coffee filters
- Paper towels
- Napkins
9. Give Your Kitchen A Safety Inspection
Whether or not you’ll be expecting little ones in your home for the holidays, making sure your kitchen is safe is a smart move! But if you are expecting little ones over, you’ll want to ensure they can’t get a hold of any potentially harmful objects, such as matches, lighters, sharp utensils and household cleaners, by storing them cupboards with safety latches.
And everyone should make sure they have a functional fire extinguisher and smoke detector in their kitchen. And speaking of smoke detectors, take the time to test all the smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors in your house to make sure they’re working correctly. Better safe than sorry!
10. Give Your Appliances A Checkup
Check each appliance you plan to use, including your microwave, stove, oven, refrigerator, freezer, dishwasher, crockpots, food processor, mixer and blender, to make sure they’re working and ready for action. As you assess each appliance, clean anything that could use it.
It’s also worth checking your oven temperature to make sure it’s heating up to the correct temperature. Learn more about calibrating and adjusting your oven at the link below.
Read More: How To Calibrate Your Oven For Better Baking
11. Consider Setting Up A Drinks Station
One thing I find helpful during holiday dinners is setting up water, sodas, and any other beverages out of the main kitchen area. That way, people can help themselves to drinks without creating a traffic jam for those of us who are working in the kitchen.
You can do this for the duration of the season, which may be especially useful if you’ll have guests staying with you for the holidays. Set up an easily accessible beverage station with your coffee maker and coffee, water kettle and tea, and all the add-ins too. Put it in your living room, dining room, or wherever makes the most sense in your house so that guests can help themselves without crowding the kitchen.
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Do you do anything special to get your home ready for the holidays?
If guests are spending the weekend with you, assign someone the task of preparing a simple breakfast each day to give the hostess a break. She’ll be exhausted after the big meal and clean up. It’s no fun to play short order cook as guests roll out of bed the next day, a few at a time. Make a group decision to have a help yourself buffet of cold foods, or a sit down together and get it over all at once breakfast. If you vote for the latter, decide on a time and make sure everyone has an alarm clock so they stick to the agreement. Whoever is last to the table does the dishes. Skip breakfast and you’re locked out of the kitchen until lunch.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Plan plan plan
Please log in or create a free account to comment.While it’s easy to get caught up in holiday stress, it could be avoided. Precut all the veggies and freeze them. Make your casseroles ahead of time and freeze them. Order your pies from Baker’s Square (they are as good as home-made). This way on thanksgiving day all you have to do is put the turkey in the oven and thaw the rest. Who wouldn’t like a stress-free holiday!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Happy Thanksgiving!
I like to put all of the ingredients for a dish together in that dish. I place them in my spare rooms if I have to. If it is not refrigerated, it gets placed in the cooking dish with any other ingredients to save me steps later. I usually do this when I unpack the groceries to save a step and also see what I have forgotten.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I always start my holiday planning by working a timeline that ends the day before the event. I list all my cleaning, shopping, prepping, and cooking on a list and work back from the holiday so on the holiday I am free to cook the things that can not be prepared early. That leaves time to relax and enjoy my day with my family and friends!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.there are several recipes that we love for both Thanksgiving and Christmas so I prepare for both meals at the same time to stock up the freezer with the side dishes. (Mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, sausage stuffing, and green bean casserole, plus homemade cranberry sauce) Makes Christmas time so much easier to enjoy baking and frosting cookies and such since I have most of the meal already taken care of.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.As my children are now adults and our numbers are increasing which is one of our greatest blessings, I’ve asked each family to bring at least one thing to share. I always end up spending so much time on my feet that I’m exhausted come the day of. I’m trying to avoid that this year. Hope everyone has a blessed Thanksgiving.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I cook, peel and mash sweet potatoes the day before and put them in a casserole dish. On Thanksgiving I just have to prepare the pecan topping and bake. I also assemble the green bean casserole (except for the fried onions) and cheesy potatoes the day before to eliminate mess and stress the day of the big meal. I also make the cranberry sauce a couple days in advance. The night before I set the table. I feel so much more organized when I only have to schedule baking times for the hot dishes and get the cold things out on Thanksgiving day. It’s so much nicer to serve a meal with a relatively clean kitchen.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.One of my favorite tips for all of the holiday cooking is to use the crockpot in creative ways. This year I’m making garlic mashed potatoes Thanksgiving morning, and placing them in the crock pot (with a little extra butter) to keep them hot and ready to serve… And it’s just nice to know I won’t have to worry about mashing potatoes at the last minute.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I use my crockpots for as much as possible to free up my oven.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Thanks for the help! I can use a lot of these tips year round. You are an inspiration!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.We have Christmas at my sister’s every year. Fortunately she only lives 2-3 miles way. Everything that can be prepared the day before is and left at my sister’s. Anything that will not spill is brought to my house for the next day. My mother gives strict instructions on what oven tempuratures and times each dish takes and which dishes can be cooked together. When the food at my house is done, we drive it over to my sister’s where the finishing touches are done. This cuts our cooking time in half!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I got tired of digging for the old traditional recipes at the last minute so I have put together a book which is divided into each holiday. When I need to make my grocery list and/or begin cooking I have everything in one place. I am now putting together a duplicate book for my daughter to add to her hope chest.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.My tip is not necessarly for thanksgiving but more a prep for Chriatmas. We put all the itwms we want to pack away for decoraring to the side. As we empty boxes of decorarions we put the year round items in them so they are out of the way.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.My tip is a popular one…plan ahead!!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I put any pantry items on the counter the night before. All frozen items are put in the same area, in the same freezer. Once the turkey is in the oven, time to prep for the rest. I like the idea from Darren (above) of lighting candles or boiling fruit peels to scent the air. Thank you for all your great ideas. Have a great family Thanksgiving.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Many people fret too much about the insignificant things such as making sure the table is set just right or this or that is perfect. Thanksgiving is a time to spend with family and be thankful. This is what truly matters! No one will remember if the cool whip wasn’t sitting perfectly on top of the pumpkin pie, but they will remember if you spend more time with that pie than with them!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.This is such a helpful list, and I don’t know what I could add to it to share. But, I like to delegate that way I’m not doing all the work myself. That is my best prep tip…
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Just found your blog and love all the tips and recipes. Love giveaways too. Happy Thanksgiving
Please log in or create a free account to comment.My best tip. Before holiday cooking…pour a little wine, play some great music and enjoy the memories you’re about to create!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Looking forward to having a go at our first gluten free Thanksgiving this year!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I like to plan ahead and prep ahead of time to make Entertaining more fun
Please log in or create a free account to comment.This would be good for the coming Thanks giving and Holiday Seasons.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I make sure I wash and press ny table cloths and napkins. I always do as much preparation ahead of time as possible so that I can enjoy the holiday without getting stressed! Our family does a potluck style thanksgiving since no one has enough ovens to cook everything at once. :-)
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Crockpots are awesome for keeping food warm…sometimes there just isn’t enough room in the oven or on the stove so use that crockpot!
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