Putting Things Away While Preparing Food
Cooking food for yourself or your family is often a reward in itself; There is nothing better than putting all your skill, love and care into a dish that you can then eat and watch others enjoy. But cooking has a downside: it invariably creates a huge mess. This is why, if you don’t want the debris from the food assembly process to clog up your counters while eating, teasing you with an annoying task, you should do your best to clean up on the go. I recommended tidying up somewhere in the kitchen while you cook , and Skillet editor Claire Lower has made a pretty compelling case for the person who cooks to do the dishes as well , but my advice is slightly different. Because, unlike the artificially impeccable kitchens where TV chefs prepare gourmet meals, I can’t even cook dinner quickly without creating a huge mess.
Yesterday I made simple sandwiches for lunch and managed to pick up more shit than would easily fit on our counters (so I also used part of the stove): three bottles of seasoning, a bag of herbs, jars of pickles and yellow peppers and their scattered lids, bags with cheese and slices of vegetable delicacies, a cutting board covered with tomato entrails. Before I sat down to eat with the kids, I took a few minutes to clean everything up, and it occurred to me that it would be a lot less of a hassle (and speed up the consumption of sandwiches) if I just folded everything up as soon as I finished to use him. Spread the mayonnaise and mustard on, then put them back in the refrigerator. Add salad; back to crisp. Add pickles and peppers and cover until gone. Cover the bread, rinse the cutting board, discard the ends of the tomato. If you never make a mess, it feels a lot less like cleaning up a mess. You can also start preparing your meals right after lunch. Hooray.