Holiday Kitchen Survival Guide

it's November. That can only mean one thing: You're behind already. This holiday kitchen survival guide will help you create memories and meaningful meals this festive season. 

Things get too crazy, too fast. You want to strike a happy balance: You want things to flow smoothly and have a lot of fun. But you want to avoid going to the extreme of wrapping Christmas gifts in July. After all, a little last-minute rush gets the adrenaline pumping.

Your adrenaline rush is safe since it's too late to wrap your Christmas presents in July anyway. But you don't want to be frantic, either. 

Holiday Kitchen Survival Guide Cabinet and Cupboard Clean Out

Give yourself an early present and reorganize your kitchen so that it's functional for the holidays. When you've got four pots on the stove, a turkey in the oven, a ham in the microwave, and 18 hungry people in the living room, you'll be glad you did.

First, get rid of everything you will not use this holiday season. To be organized and sane, you need space—and lots of it! Open the cupboards, cabinets, drawers, pantry, refrigerator, and freezer, and remove everything.

Clean the empty areas, and then—and this is the trick—only put back what you will use over the next month. Pack up the rest and store it in the garage. 

• Cabinets and cupboards: Replace the summer patio ware in your cabinets with your holiday kitchen serving dishes and good china. Find and clean the roasting pan, bread pans, etc. Replace your everyday glasses and cups with ones that match.

• Holiday Kitchen Drawers: Put your silverware in a handy drawer. Find the holiday gadgets (basting thing, candy thermometer, meat thermometer, cheese knives, cheese holders, etc.) Tuck barbecue skewers, forks, etc., in the attic for a nice winter nap.

• Pantry: Be ruthless here. Is anyone going to eat that six-month-old opened bag of Oreos? Toss. What about the cans of soup no one liked? Charity bins. Have the spices been there as long as the house? Trashcan. Make room for foods that people are going to eat.

Holiday Kitchen Survival Guide: Regroup and Reorganize 

Use this occasion to rethink your holiday kitchen cabinet and drawer plan. Which cupboard is best for the glasses? Which counter is more convenient for the coffeemaker? What drawer should the corkscrew be in?

We often tend to leave things where we first put them, even if that spot turns out to be inconvenient. Why?

Once you move the glasses to the cup cabinet, you have to find a new home for the cups, which displaces another item. It's a round-robin effect.

Take advantage of this opportunity to develop a kitchen plan. Mentally divide your kitchen into activity areas so you and your family won't fall over each other as you work. Here are some ideas:

• Holiday kitchen food prep center: Knives, a butcher block, blenders, mixers, food processors, measuring cups, and spoons go here.

• Cooking center:  Store pots, pans, potholders, cooking utensils, oils, etc., near the stove.

• Baking center: Even those who despise cooking succumb to a bit of baking at Christmas time. If you make it easy for yourself, you may do it more often. Gather your recipes, flours, yeast, baking powder, pans, cookie cutters, mixers, and bread machines in one kitchen corner. Bring on the cookie exchange!

• Kid center: We want the kids to be more self-sufficient - just not underfoot. Set aside a cabinet (in a far corner of the kitchen) for their stuff - kiddie cups, paper plates, napkins, straws, crackers, and juices. Then, they can get their snack without bothering you.

• Guest center: You know how people congregate in the kitchen—usually right in front of the drawer you need to reach. Create a cozy little area at the bar or kitchen table where they can sit and talk to you as you work but stay out of the way. This can be as simple as setting up an area with various types of tea bags in a pretty basket, a couple of cups, napkins, and scones—all ready to be enjoyed.

Holiday Kitchen Survival Guide: Menu Planning

Plan your main holiday meals now. Check what ingredients you have on hand; put the rest on a shopping list.

Find your holiday recipes and put them in one binder in your kitchen. Find serving dishes for each entree and enure they are clean and ready to roll.

If you are planning a party or a dinner party, carefully schedule the food preparation. What time do you plan to eat? Then, when should the turkey go in the oven? When should the shrimp be sautéed?

Make a schedule for the evening, listing all the preparations you need to do at the time you need to do them. 

That way, the shrimp will be cooked on time, and you won't find a forgotten tray of appetizers on top of the fridge after the last guest leaves.

When 20 people are in your kitchen chatting and asking questions while you're trying to put together a five-course dinner, that checklist could be a sanity saver.