The holiday season is upon us! The holidays tend to be a busy time for shopping, family get-togethers, and a lot of cooking! If your holiday schedule involves hosting large parties, a small family dinner, or anything in between, you need some smart cooking tips to help save you time in the kitchen so you can also enjoy the holiday gatherings.
5 Holiday Cooking Hacks
Five cooking hacks to try this holiday season include:
Freeze cubes of broth!
Many holiday recipes call for chicken, beef, or turkey broth, usually in small amounts. Unfortunately, containers of broth come in large amounts. What to do? One of the more unbelievable cooking hacks is to use an ice tray to freeze the broth into cubes. The next time you need a little bit of broth, defrost the cubes and you have exactly what you need. Two typical ice cube sizes of broth equal to a quarter cup.
Go back to the freezer, for cookie dough this time!
Out of the many cooking hacks and tips for saving time in the kitchen, this one can be a life-saver when getting ready for parties and family gatherings. Prepare the cookie dough ahead of time, roll into balls, and then store in the freezer. When it’s time to make the cookies, take out the amount you need and they’re ready in the time it takes to bake them!
Use the crockpot to keep mashed potatoes warm.
Timing is everything when you’re preparing a holiday meal. One of the most common questions is when to make the mashed potatoes so they won’t get cold. A kitchen hack you have to try is making the potatoes ahead of time and then putting them in the crockpot, set to low heat, to keep them warm as you finish preparing the rest of your meal.
Speaking of keeping things warm, use a thermos for your gravy.
Besides potatoes, what’s the one other thing that you worry about timing correctly? It’s probably the gravy. Just as with the mashed potatoes, you can make the gravy ahead of time and pour it into a thermos to keep it warm – and out of the way – until the rest of your meal is ready to serve.
Get organized – stay organized.
One of the most important cooking hacks involves having everything you need where you need it when you need it. That means organizing your utensils so you can easily and quickly find spatulas, slotted spoons, whisks, and all the tools you need for amazing food throughout the holidays.
The basics of preparing meals, including cooking techniques, food preparation, food purchasing/specifications, catering, professionalism, as well as the smart cooking tips that can help them succeed at home and in the workplace, are among the many things students in the Culinary Arts training program at Dorsey Schools are given the opportunity to learn.
Students of the Culinary Arts training program “learn by doing” in the practical side of professional food preparation; education takes place in both kitchen and classroom settings. An externship component allows students to assimilate the knowledge they’ve learned in the Michigan culinary programs and put it into practical application.
The Culinary Arts diploma program is offered at the following Dorsey Schools campus locations:
- Dorsey Schools – Waterford-Pontiac, MI Campus (A branch campus of Madison Heights)
- Dorsey Culinary Academy – Roseville, MI (A branch campus of Madison Heights)
Reviewed and edited 12/6/17
