Ease Your Holiday Cooking Part Three

Plan…Organize…Prepare. Step three will be more easily accomplished when the first two steps have been followed.

The preparation of any meal, including the upcoming feast, requires some basic skills. Any person who can read, can read a recipe. It takes a lot of patience to follow procedure and passion to care about the tasks. Rehearsing the meal preparation is like role playing. Just talking your way through the preparation helps. A comfort level is accomplished when the student practices. Having time to do the job is as important as having the right ingredients.

Making notes all along the way is very important in assuring a comfort level. Little “cheat notes” help. Since timing is essential to meal preparation, it’s a good idea to know how fast the potatoes will boil, how long it takes for the 22 pound turkey to thaw under refrigeration, and which menu items could be made a day or two in advance. The notes are the timetable. Adjust your timetable to suit your menu.

How much help will be needed? Can you manage the meal without help? Do you get frustrated with people in your space in the kitchen? Ask these questions before the guests arrive or the family begins to charge the kitchen. Have a PLAN. Making notes for helpers cut down on the amount of questions your helpers pose. If the the flowers are to be in two vases and placed at either end of the table, write that in a note or draw a cute little diagram. Laugh if you want…I said that the cook needs to know how to read. Helpers come in all ages! Young helpers are learning to be great hosts under your supervision.

Basic skills include knowing how to measure ingredients, how to test for doneness of vegetables, baked products, etc., and cooking terms used in the recipes. What is poaching, searing, and basting? How do you do these things? Lots of good cookbooks demonstrate the proper techniques and so do most cooking shows. There are exceptions. Cooking show stars are most often reading scripts. Watch the professionals. Chefs with culinary training are more likely to have great techniques and demonstrate proper and easy motions. Culinary cookbooks produced by the big culinary schools offer diagrams and photos. Of course, basic skills should be mastered before tackling the feast, and practice ahead of time.

Timing the meal preparation is essential. Really understand what you have decided to prepare. It is not too late to modify your plan. But remember, everything has to be ready at the same time. Perfect timing is a trait of an excellent cook. Strive for very good timing…not perfection, but progress. Each time a meal is prepared, practice timing. Try to look at the notes you’ve made about the cooking time of each menu item, and then use the timetable.

Preparing the meal requires discipline..if your heart is not in it, how can your head be? The rewards of your efforts are amazing. The “ums and ahs” are definitely morale boosters.

Plan…Organize…Prepare…one more step and the feast will be on the table.