THANKSGIVING PREP TIP: MISE EN PLACE
What is mise en place? It's a French term that means "to set up" or "setting into place." To me it means "think before you cook."
Sunday is a great day for mise en place for your Thanksgiving meal. Whether you are making the entire meal or have been asked to contribute a dish to a large gathering, mise en place will help you out tremendously.
BEFORE
-Create a menu listing all the dishes I want served at Thanksgiving.
-Create a schedule of which dishes will be made on which days. Try to put like dishes together. For instance I make rolls and pies on the same day because they use a lot of the same ingredients and tools. MAKE SURE THE TURKEY HAS ENOUGH TIME TO DEFROST.
-Set some eggs out on the counter in a bowl. Here in America we have to refrigerate our eggs unlike in Europe, but it's best to cook with room-temperature eggs. A few days out of the fridge isn't going to hurt them.
-Check my staples. I rarely buy flour, sugar, salt, yeast, butter, oil, spices, etc. because I buy them in bulk. Lots of these go on sale in November and it's a good time to do an inventory to see if anything needs to be replenished.
-Make my grocery list and first go "shopping" in my house. Check your pantries and cupboards to see if you already have the ingredient. You'd be surprised. Be sure to check the expiration date as well.
-Think through each recipe. I do this one a lot. I literally imagine myself making the recipe. I think about all the tools I'll need to make it, and check to make sure I have those tools or that they still work. Now that I'm a mom of emerging adults, I find tools disappear from my kitchen because I forgot I gave something to help a child set up their own kitchen.
-Think about my table setting-centerpieces, dishes, tablecloth. Make sure I have everything I want for a nice table... or enough paper plates if it's one of those years.
DURING
-Before I pull out a single ingredient, I fill one of my sinks with hot soapy water. This is a critical step. It keeps the kitchen clean, I promise.
-Measure out every single ingredient in prep bowls. This may feel like an extra step that just wastes time, but trust me, it can make all the difference. Better to find out now I ran out of nutmeg not while the eggs are beating.
-Keep a dish towel draped over one of my shoulders. This will make me much more efficient in the kitchen. I can use it as a hot pad, to dry my hands after repeated washing, and for drying dishes I dipped in the hot soapy water. When making a large meal, I like to conserve my steps otherwise I feel like I'm just running around in my kitchen.
-Line a large bowl with a grocery sack. This is your portable garbage bowl. When opening packages or peeling produce, it's nice not having to do it hunched over my garbage can. A mini-garbage bowl on my counter will keep my back straight and I won't be as sore at the end of the day.
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