October 17th - The Kitchen

[aggy]

October 18th - The Kitchen

Good Morning.

This week we work in the kitchen.

Mine's is small so it won't take too much time as far as cleaning it goes. I already purged expired ingredients and have been replacing things little by little. I have been stocking up on flour, sugar, spices, chocolates, etc., in preparation for holiday baking.

So what do you guys have going on this week?

 

[Winged One]

Agh - things are moving fast!!

The kitchen is not terrible, but I didn't get to the guest room at all in the end. I am playing so much catchup this year!

I may post my list later if it doesn't frighten me too much......

 

[AuntJamelle]

For ONCE, for ONCE I have TONS of progress to report and it is only Monday! Yipee!

DH has been working so hard this past week on building a new kitchen island for me - and it was finished/installed this Saturday.

Huge new countertop space for me, a lovely double trash bin drawer with place for normal trash and recyling bins - and two HUGE cabinets, each with three pull out shelves at various different heights.

Sooooo....yesterday I had planned to start on HGP'ing the kitchen anyway but boy did that new cabinet inspire me!!!

I focused on surface cleaning - the outsides of EVERYTHING - I still have plenty left to do on the insides - although I already did the inside of the fridge...took me most of the day but it was worth it!

I also got my antique silver tea/coffee set polished. That is really a Dining Room week task, since that is where it sits, but it was pretty tarnished and I just couldn't wait anymore!

I also made it to two grocery stores yesterday. BOY was I tried at the end of the night! And still today! I think I will take it easy tonight and work on some of my Christmas tasks for the week - tasks where I am sitting down!!!

KITCHEN WEEK CLEANING TASKS

[X] Take down curtains on door window, shake out dust
[X] Dust ceiling fan
[X] Windex side door windows inside and out
[X] Wash door, inside and out, scrub door sill
[X] Scrub down fronts of all cabinets and all appliances
[X] Clean refrigerator inside and out, wipe down top
[X] Clean inside of dishwasher door, get in all the nooks and crannies
[X] Clean toaster, empty crumb tray, etc.
[X] Wipe down all other kitchen appliances on the counters (food processor, mixer, etc.)
[X] Wipe down cannisters and other items on corner cupboard
[X] Scrub down baseboards
[ ] Dust items on top of kitchen cabinets, corner cabinet
[ ] Dust blinds, spot clean as necessary
[ ] Windex window over sink
[ ] Clean inside of microwave (use vinegar trick for inside)
[ ] Work through insides of cupboards one by one, empty, wipe down, replace items, organizing, tossing, etc.
[ ] Work through drawers one by one, doing the same
[ ] Dust off fridge vents at bottom and on the back
[ ] Empty drawer under stove, clean, replace items
[ ] Remove items from shelves, dust everything and replace
[ ] Scrub and shine up sink/faucet (scrub out drain catchers too!)
[ ] Vacuum rugs, take up
[ ] Vacuum floor
[ ] Mop floor/Replace rugs

HOLIDAY/CHRISTMAS TASKS

[ ] Work on Master Grocery List
[X] Create/Print Wrapping Party invites on Christmas stationary
[ ] Decorate/Address Wrapping Party Envelopes
[ ] Create shipping labels using cut up sheets of Christmas stationary
[ ] Work on Halloween costume
[ ] Work on Christmas cards
[ ] Make/Flash Freeze 1 batch of cookie dough

 

[Cathymac]

I really really need to empty out cabinets and clean and reorganize, but there is NO way that is going to happen this week. I have to focus on our Halloween party this week. The outside of the kitchen is pretty good, because I work on it everyday. Plus, we had guests last night and we did a quick wipedown/declutter yesterday afternoon. DH even mopped the floor...we have had a lot of mud on these floors lately and they really needed mopping. I'll do it again Saturday just before everyone arrives.

I'll be working on the back porch and backyard again this week. Busy week for all of us, isn't it?

 

[grandma bucket]

I have decided to leave my cabinets until after Christmas. Being recent empty nesters, I have several large casserole dishes that I no longer use that much during the year but I will need them for Thanksgiving and Christmas. They are also fairly clean and organized as they are. My appliances stay pretty clean now and and I clean them as we use them.
My pantry on the other hand could use a little help. I have been stocking up on baking supplies and throwing them in willy nilly.
Last weekend DH and I moved the fridge and stove to clean behind and under them, washed and waxed (3 coats) our rather large 9 year old floor, wiped down walls and washed the windows and blinds. As far as my canisters and things I just run them through the dishwasher. I have ruined a few hand painted things this way and I would not recommend it for everyone.
I need to work on our small first floor laundry room now. It is off the kitchen and looks a little neglected at this point. I have to wait on my DH however, now that I can no longer pull the washer and dryer out myself. This IS the hard part for me because waiting for him is like waiting to win the lottery.

 

[AuntJamelle]

Finished my wrapping party invites last night and got through a good chunk of Christmas cards too!

I have about 17 or so left to fill out and then I am DONE!

I also made up shipping labels and compiled ingredients on my Master Grocery List. At least for the recipes I have already decided on for cookie baking.

I need to decide on other dishes, meals and get that added to my list as well!!!

Tonight I plan to jump back in on kitchen tasks again!

 

[Merry]

This year my kitchen isn't too bad. I still have 2 cabinets that must be reorganized. It got a little out of hand. This summer I did a little early HGP so it helped a little and I'm not starting from scratch. I will have to wax the outside of the cabinets this Saturday. But that shouldn't be too bad. I still have a little more cleaning to do in the master bedroom that I didn't finish previously. Perhaps I can get that done this week too. No, I must get it done this week!!!

 

[AnnieClaus]

Here's a tip to clean out your dishwasher-

Run it empty with baking soda in the dispenser.

Annie

 

[AuntJamelle]

Didn't get anything done on the kitchen last night - FATE intervened in the form a family of skunks that made the mistake of coming to the attention of our 3 dogs (for the grisly details see my post on the Chit Chat forum).

I had just finished mixing up a batch of Gingersnap cookie dough when all you know what broke loose and it is waiting in the fridge for me to divy it up and flash freeze tonight.

Due to odor complications from last night's "visitors" I will probably take a hiatus from HGP tasks and focus on the areas of the house affected by the smell.

I am glad that I got all the surface cleaning done in the kitchen. I can live with cupboards that are not perfectly arranged and organized - as long as they look good from the outside!

Good tip on the dishwasher! I've heard that vinegar used in the same way also works very well. You can also use vinegar to clean your coffee pot, just run reg water through a few times afterwards.

My favorite kitchen cleaning tip, though, is this one:

To clean the inside of the microwave, fill a bowl with vingear. Cook it on High for 4-5 minutes. When it is done, do not open the microwave door for another 4-5 minutes. Open door, remove bowl and use paper towels to simply wipe all the crud out.

It will glide off with no scrubbing, no sweating, no swearing required.

Yes - there will be a strong vinegar smell for a 1/2 hour or so - but to me it has been well worth it!!!!

 

[Winged One]

I love the baking soda idea for the dishwasher. One thing which my mum taught me was if you have a dreadful tea or coffee pot needing a good clean - put in a small spoon of biological washing powder and fill with warm water. Leave to soak for 30-60 minutes and the pot will be sparkling.

Thankfully the kitchen isn;t too bad as life intervened here too this week. We are away for the weekend, but I will be taking some time off in the next few weeks and I'll blitz things then......I'm sure.....

(I did decide yesterday though to take SparkleNana's excellent example and accept that it won't be perfect by Christmas!!)

 

[SparkleNana]

I LOVE the kitchen hints! Every little bit helps A LOT!

This week - it feels like it is just going to keep on being:

Toss, toss, toss! And

Clean, clean, clean.

There is SO MUCH to toss. The small area under the kitchen sink has become a "black hole" for plastic bags. Unbelieveable! I am just wandering around with a big trash bag -- starting in the kitchen....... then wandering in and out of other rooms..... just throwing stuff in! And then taking it outside and doing a slam-dunk into the trash can!

I cannot imagine that Martha Stewart EVER does something like this!!!! This is sort of what you imagine a "restless, lost soul" doing......... the aimless wandering.........

Nevertheless -- this is what is working for me -- right now! So -- I am off to grab another trash bag!

 

[aggy]

AuntJamelle about how much vinegar do you need to use? The microwaves in our office (especially my boss') could use a good cleaning.

I'm also going to try the bakingsoda in the dishwasher too.

 

[AuntJamelle]

I take a soup or cereal bowl and fill it up about 2/3rds of the way

That may be overkill, but that is just the way I've always done it. More vinegar seems to produce more steam, which is what does the work for you. That is why you let it sit for a few minutes after the cooking time is done.

Just don't let it cool off too long, you want the inside to still be hot and steamy when you start to wipe it out.

Use potholders to take the bowl of vinegar out - it will be HOT!

 

[aggy]

Thanks, I'm going to try that Monday.

 

[jinglemom]

AuntJamelle about how much vinegar do you need to use? The microwaves in our office (especially my boss') could use a good cleaning.

I'm also going to try the bakingsoda in the dishwasher too.

I've always done this using just plain water (using the same boil and let sit method). This has always worked good for me too.