Keep Your Kitchen Fresh & Festive

Company's Coming

The kitchen is the heart of any holiday gathering. Use our inexpensive, quick & simple tips to keep yours ultra-clean and inviting throughout the season.
Onions zap rust spots and lemonade mix can keep your dishwasher clean? Read on.

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Keep Your Kitchen Fresh & Festive

Dishes

Here's the dish on getting your plates and glasses sparkling clean for holiday entertaining.
- If you're scrubbing dishes by hand, just dissolve two tablespoons of baking soda in the amount of dishwashing liquid you'd usually use. It's an incredible grease cutter -- and gentle on glass and ceramic.
- After washing out your sponge in hot water or the dishwasher, sterilize it by popping it into the microwave for a few seconds. The sponge should be quite wet, as the boiling water is what will zap any stray germs. Just make sure to handle it carefully when you take it out.
- To keep your dishwasher in tip-top form, scrub it down with hot, soapy water, and then run it through a cycle at the hottest temperature possible. Leave it empty, except for a dishwasher-safe cup full of white vinegar in the top rack, or a packet of unsweetened lemonade mix in the detergent holder.
- Remove rust from utensils by sticking them into an onion and working them around for a while before washing.

Keep Your Kitchen Fresh & Festive

Pots & Pans

You've got better things to do with your holidays than being stuck scrubbing scorched pots and pans in the kitchen.
- Minimize the need for elbow grease by filling the metal pot or pan with water 1/4 of the way, bringing it to a boil, and adding 5 tablespoons of baking soda. Turn off the heat and let it sit for a few hours. The caked-on mess will slide right off.
- If your glass or ceramic casserole dish gets all gunked up, just fill it with water, add a squirt of fabric softener, and let it sit for an hour. The grime should lift off easily.
- Aluminum pans can sparkle again with a solution of 1 quart water and 2 tablespoons cream or tartar boiled in 'em for10 minutes.
- Smear a layer of ketchup on dull or tarnished copper, let it sit for 10-30 minutes, and wipe off to reveal the shine.

Keep Your Kitchen Fresh & Festive

Odors

Everyone loves your signature garlic and cream cheese crostini, but you don't want to smell it on your hands all the way through dessert -- or transfer the scent to everything else you cook.
- Wet your hands and rub them with a spoonful of salt. Rinse, and if the smell remains, repeat the process.
- Run your hands on the blade of a stainless steel knife, or against the edge of a stainless steel sink to tame the smell. This also works for onion and fish odors.
- To keep your microwave free of fishy smells, cut a lemon in half and place it in a microwave-safe bowl with one cup of water. Cook it on "high" for 5 minutes, and wipe down the inside walls with a clean towel.

Keep Your Kitchen Fresh & Festive

Oven

If you can keep your oven clean, then the rest of your holiday kitchen chores are a piece of cake.
- Sprinkle salt on spillovers. It'll stop the smoke, and make the spot easier to scrub up later.
- Oven cleaners can be a l'il harsh, so if you want to try a gentler method, pre-heat your oven to 200 degrees, and place a glass dish with 1" of ammonia on the top rack. Place a larger dish filled with 1" of boiling water on the bottom rack. Close the oven door and leave for two or more hours, depending on the level of cleaning required.
- Once that's done and the oven has cooled, remove the pans, wipe out the over with a damp cloth and make a paste of ammonia, white vinegar and baking soda. Apply this to a damp sponge to scrub off any remaining stains.

Keep Your Kitchen Fresh & Festive

Microwave

Zap spillover messes and keep your microwave clean at the touch of a button.
- Cover the spill with a wet paper towel, and heat on high for ten seconds. Let the towel cool, and the the stain will wipe right up.
- Place a glass bowl with 2 cups of water and 1/2 cup of vinegar in the microwave and cook on "high" for 4-5 minutes, or until steam forms on the walls. Let it sit for a few minutes, and then wipe down all surfaces with a paper towel.

Keep Your Kitchen Fresh & Festive

Refrigerator

Make sure your holiday goodies taste as fresh as they day they were made by keeping the inside of your fridge clean and odor-free.
- Set a regular schedule for tossing out leftovers and spoiled food. Your food isn't gonna get any fresher.
- Baking soda is a multi-tasker in the refrigerator. Keep an open box on the a shelf and swap it out for a new one every three months. Soda sprinkled in the bottom of the crisper and covered with a paper towel also neutralizes nasty smells.
- Wipe down shelves, drawers and inside walls with a baking soda and water solution, and scrub up stubborn, stinky spots with a soda and water paste.

Keep Your Kitchen Fresh & Festive

Coffeepot & Tea Kettle

Serve super jumpin' java and tip-top tea with your holiday desserts by keeping your gadgets crystal clean.
- Brew a batch of white vinegar -- skipping the coffee and the filter. Run it through the coffeemaker, and inspect the output for mineral deposits. If you see any, repeat the process with fresh vinegar until it all comes out clean.
- To remove hard water buildup, boil two cups of vinegar in your teapot or kettle, let it simmer for ten minutes, and then rinse.

Keep Your Kitchen Fresh & Festive

Sink

Keep the festivities flowing by maintaining a clog-free drain.
- For a small clog, pour in one cup of baking soda, followed by one cup of hot vinegar. Let that sit for a minute, and then pour in one quart of boiling water.
- If it's a grease clog in the way, mix 1/2 cup each of baking soda and salt, followed by a cup of boiling water. Let that sit overnight and flush with hot water in the morning.
- If your sink has a stinky disposal, toss in half a lemon and one cup of ice and flip the switch. This keeps the blades sharp, and nasty odors to a minimum.

Keep Your Kitchen Fresh & Festive

Countertop

Load up your countertops with dishes full of holiday delights -- after you've made sure they're as stain-free as can be.
- Before you go sanding and refinishing your butcher block countertop, sprinkle salt on any stains, and scrub with half of a lemon. Let the juice sit overnight and rinse with water.
- For darker marks, mix a solution of 3 hydrogen peroxide and water, sponge it on and scrub.
- Acidic liquids like tomato and lemon can eat through granite's protective coating. Make sure to mop up these spills as soon as they occur.

Keep Your Kitchen Fresh & Festive

Floor

Kitchen floors take a beating from heavy holiday foot traffic. Minimize the damage with a few simple tricks.
- Scrub skid marks from linoleum with toothpaste before washing the floor.
- Hit spills with cleaning wipes as soon as they happen, and give floors a quick daily sweep so tracked-in particles and stains don't get ground in over time.

Keep Your Kitchen Fresh & Festive

Cabinets

It's great having guests over during the holidays. Just make sure they're all invited.
- Stash a few bay leaves in your flour, bread and cereal drawers to keep bugs away.
- Unopened sticks of spearmint gum left out on storage shelves will keep creepy-crawlies away from your cornstarch and flour.