Keep the Kitchen Clean
I hope you enjoy Starting from Scratch, my second book, published each week online, one chapter at a time. Before the book’s final publication, I hope to sprinkle readers’ thoughts, opinions and advice throughout. After all, you each have helpful systems and solutions in the kitchen worth sharing. By making a contribution, your comments will be printed, crediting you and/or your blog, and you’ll get free copies of the book. In addition, for each section, I’m consulting an expert blogger – for this excerpt, it’s Shaina Olmanson, home cook and author of Food For My Family.
When I lived in Charlotte years ago, I bought a beautiful, old condominium in Myers Park. Though I only paid $65,000 for 1400 square feet of space, my salary did not fully support the mortgage payment and my social activities. So I offered the second bedroom to an old college sorority sister, Holly.
Looking back, I’m not sure how she tolerated my housekeeping habits. Though I could throw a good party, wear some lovely scarves around my waist and dance all night to Paula Abdul’s greatest hits, when it came to cleaning, sometimes I was a little slack. (Age has served me well is this department).
Holly still likes to remind me of one of the many dinner parties I hosted for a group of my closest friends. In our haste to get out the door for our next adventure that evening, we left a big ‘ole mess in the kitchen. When Holly got home from her moonlighting job that evening, she was very unhappy to see a little rat friend running across the leftover mashed potatoes and meatloaf sitting on the counter, not to mention the hole drilled into a loaf of bread. Suffice it say, I had a well-deserved note awaiting me when I returned at 2 a.m. that evening.
If you are a mother of three, keeping things clean is have-to-do chore than receives very little, if any, glory. But if you’re an eligible bachelor wishing to impress the ladies, cleaning up is something you may seriously wish to consider. Here are a few suggestions to keep that kitchen looking clean.
1. Clean out the fridge at least once/week. After all, who wants to open up a container of sour cream in the middle of preparing dinner, only to encounter a layer of mold across the top? Not only is it not appetizing, but it throws a wrench in the evening plans if you have to run to the grocery store to buy a replacement.
2. Put away the dirty dishes. Not only are dirty dishes unappetizing to view, but they are harder to clean if 3-day old spaghetti is stuck to the plate. Who wants to end up with botulism anyway?
3. Clean as you cook. Shaina’s helpful tip is suggestion is to “first start by emptying the dishwasher or cleaning out the sink when you are ready to cook or bake. I feel so much better and can cook more efficiently when I’m able to load used dishes and utensils directly into the dishwasher or stack them in a clean sink. This keeps my counter clear and makes the cleanup process so much faster. If you start cleaning while food is baking or simmering on the stove, you’ll get far less discouraged by lengthy cleanup times and large messes. Keeping it under control and manageable is key to continued cooking.”
4. Clean the counters and stove. The longer grime and grease live on a countertop or in nooks and crannies of the stove, the more elbow grease will be required for their removal. Save yourself the effort and wipe ‘em down after every meal. I actually use an eco-friendly, home-made concoction from rubbing alcohol, water and a drop of detergent.
5. Take out the trash often. When I was dating Rob, I used to joke about how bad his apartment smelled. Though he blamed it on a dead rat in the crevices of the walls, I always thought trash was the culprit (among other things). The more often you take out trash, the less likely you’ll have explaining to do.
6. Throw away old items in the cupboard. As already mentioned, it’s not likely you’ll eat molded bread or stale chips and crackers anyway. Do a regular check and chuck anything that might chip a tooth or give you a stomach ache.
Not all cleanliness stories will lead to ratty disasters, but putting away a mess and cleaning out the fridge will make the cooking experience more enjoyable. Keep the darn kitchen clean. You’ll love it more if you do.
P.S. Much love to Cam and Holly, whose friendship I’ll always treasure. And darnit if we didn’t have a good time ice-skating that night!
About Shaina Olmanson
Shaina Olmanson is a freelance writer and photographer and also the home cook behind Food for My Family and the food channel editor at Lifetime Moms. She fell in love with the art of cooking while spending countless hours hanging on her grandmother’s apron strings, and as a native Minnesotan, growing up surrounded by farms served as a daily reminder of the importance of local and seasonal food. Raising her four young children with her husband, she strives to teach them the importance of growing, preparing and eating and enjoying real food.
i am almost obsessive about cleaning as i cook. i too like to start with an empty sink and it's like a personal race in my mind to have all the dishes done (except for the ones we are eating off of!) before dinner is on the table so there is less mess/cleaning afterwards.
as far as cleaning out cupboards and the fridge, that is a great one too. unbeknownest to me, i trained my 10-yr old daughter to scrutinize expiration dates. she has me smell the milk every morning before breakfast even if i just opened the carton! and yikes, the other day at a friend's bbq, my daughter was about to put mustard on her hot dog (i know, i know, i'm just glad she is eating something other than a peanut butter sandwich!) and looked to see the expiration date and saw it expired, ulp, two years ago!!! she of course quickly came over to me and showed it to me. i was a little embarassed for my friend, but felt the need to bring it to her attention, less she possibly get her other guests sick. my friend, who i think was kinda harried at the moment, was not overly happy with me pointing this out to her, and found another, more up-to-date container of mustard for me to put out. HOWEVER, did my friend toss the offending mustard in the trash? no, she put it back into the fridge. ewwwww!!!!! 
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I love to have my kitchen counters clean but am fighting a losing battle living with men. Mess begets mess, I try to explain to them. Sigh. Part of the problem is they just don’t see the crumbs they leave behind.
i am almost obsessive about cleaning as i cook. i too like to start with an empty sink and it’s like a personal race in my mind to have all the dishes done (except for the ones we are eating off of!) before dinner is on the table so there is less mess/cleaning afterwards.
as far as cleaning out cupboards and the fridge, that is a great one too. unbeknownest to me, i trained my 10-yr old daughter to scrutinize expiration dates. she has me smell the milk every morning before breakfast even if i just opened the carton! and yikes, the other day at a friend’s bbq, my daughter was about to put mustard on her hot dog (i know, i know, i’m just glad she is eating something other than a peanut butter sandwich!) and looked to see the expiration date and saw it expired, ulp, two years ago!!! she of course quickly came over to me and showed it to me. i was a little embarassed for my friend, but felt the need to bring it to her attention, less she possibly get her other guests sick. my friend, who i think was kinda harried at the moment, was not overly happy with me pointing this out to her, and found another, more up-to-date container of mustard for me to put out. HOWEVER, did my friend toss the offending mustard in the trash? no, she put it back into the fridge. ewwwww!!!!!