It’s that time of year again… the holiday season is upon us! The question is…are you prepared?! Every year it seems like the hustle and bustle of the holidays creep in as quickly as we stuff ourselves at the dinner table during Thanksgiving!
Thanksgiving began as a day of giving thanks for the blessings of the harvest and of having made it through the preceding year. Today it is celebrated in several different countries around the world on various dates and with various types of festivities. In the United States, Thanksgiving is always celebrated on the third Thursday in November.
Preparing Your Kitchen for Thanksgiving
As you prepare for Thanksgiving in your present kitchen, whether you will be entertaining five or fifteen, (or more), you may be challenged by the lack of space to prepare and cook your meal, store extra dishes, and seat guests. You may find that your Thanksgiving dinner preparations can be an exercise in frustration. Don’t despair — short of redoing your entire kitchen, we offer a few easy hacks to make this year’s Thanksgiving dinner more fun for the hostess, easier on the chef, and very enjoyable for your guests!
Organizing your kitchen for the Holiday Meal
- Maximize your counter space prior to shopping and prepping for the meal
- Clear off all unnecessary small appliances or other space-wasters, and store them away until after you guests leave. If you do not have an island or large counters, perhaps you can bring in a small folding table to give you additional working area.
- Remove your holiday dishes, silverware, and stemware from your cabinets and drawers, and set up your dining room table in advance
- This will help with your prep time on Thanksgiving day so you are not worrying about table setting issues while preparing and cooking the meal
- Empty your fridge, freezer and pantry in advance of the holiday so that you have lots of storage space for your purchases
- If your kitchen is larger and you expect some of your guests to join you there while you cook, make some extra room in advance for cocktails and pre-dinner snacks so you won’t be distracted by your visitors while cooking
- As you work around your kitchen in the days and hours leading up to the holiday, take notice of the things in your kitchen that could make things easier for you in the future
- Are your appliances not in convenient places within your kitchen?
- Are you lacking countertop working space?
- Could your room accommodate an island?
- Are you lacking cabinet space for storage?
Consider a new kitchen for 2023
While it is too late to remodel your kitchen for this year’s feast, now is a good time to imagine what you’d want your “new dream kitchen” to look like for next Thanksgiving. Spend some time after the holidays to make a list of all the conveniences you would like to have in your new kitchen. Download some photos from the internet or cut some from magazines of the style and color you’d like to consider.
When you are ready to make a change to your aging kitchen, stop by the U S Kitchens & Baths showroom on Route 10 in East Hanover, speak to one of our experienced design specialists about your ideas, and get started early planning your new kitchen for next year. Just think how wonderful your next Thanksgiving could be.
Most of all, be thankful
Regardless of how you’re spending your Thanksgiving Holiday this year, take time to be thankful for what you have…for your blessings and for family, friends, good health, and all the simple, special things life has to offer.
From all of us at U S Kitchen and Baths, we wish you and your family a very
Happy Thanksgiving
Dean and Cal Springmeyer
