Here are some unique tips on how to keep your kitchen and home tidy this year after a Thanksgiving dinner. Whether you are hosting and preparing the meal or simply contributing to the Thanksgiving dinner in some way, there are many ways you can plan in advance to help you with the eventual clean-up.
Potluck Party
If this is your year to host Thanksgiving, kindly make a suggestion to turn the dinner into a potluck party! Potlucks work wonders when it comes to clean-up time, especially during the holidays. In fact, it’s a fun way for everyone to share their favourite Thanksgiving foods and traditions, while allowing the host to enjoy the festivity rather than work it.
Plan Ahead
Ask your guests what they’d like to bring to dinner. Or, better yet, assign them a dish. This will allow you to ensure the meal is balanced and no one is bringing the same side. When it comes to clean-up, you can ask them to bring their dishes in a disposable container to further simplify clean-up.
Uphold Holiday Traditions
If no one volunteers to bring the pumpkin pie, candied yams or cranberry sauce, add it to your list. Thanksgiving dinner just isn’t the same without them! As the host, it inevitably lies with you to make this feast fabulous. You can create a beautiful menagerie of desserts and dips, and cut down on dish clean-up by plating them together.
Trim the Turkey
Typically, the star of the show is the turkey and typically it is up to the host to provide. Readily available in most grocery stores these days are pre-stuffed, semi-baked turkeys. This means you can pop your turkey in the oven a few hours before dinner without the hassle of making and then stuffing your turkey.
Set the Table
With the turkey in the oven and your guests bringing most of the sides, you can focus on decorating your home and setting a beautiful table. Fresh flowers, mini pumpkins and gourds make fabulous reusable centrepieces. And colourful paper napkins in a seasonal theme can be cleared away quickly and recycled at the end of the meal. You can cut back on waste by saving your items for further use next year.
Pack it Up
Be sure to send your guests home with plenty of delicious leftovers. Set up a food packaging station where guests can fill to-go containers with their favourite dishes. Not only are you being a courteous host or hostess, but you are also saving yourself some dishwashing and refrigeration space!
Use the Dishwasher
With only plates, cutlery and a few dishes to clean, one load should do it, especially if you think ahead and maintain a sink of soapy water to soak the roasting pan. Within minutes of your guests’ departure, your kitchen will be spic and span, leaving only the hum of the dishwasher as evidence of a big holiday get-together.
If you are hosting a Thanksgiving dinner this year, make sure to contact MOLLY MAID for professional cleaning services to prepare your home for the big day or for a quick, affordable clean-up!
Photo by Pro Church Media
