What the Heck is "Mise En Place"? Efficient Techniques for the Kitchen

One of the first things we learned in cooking school was “mise en place" - literal translation means "putting things in their place".   The concept being that you have everything "in its place" prior to actually starting to cook.  

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If you have ever noticed on cooking shows, they always have their ingredients, cooking tools and pans at the ready.  This approach will definitely help limit stressful situations in the kitchen.  Cooking is a skill best approached with some preparation.  A little preparation goes a long way to keeping everything orderly and calm.

Before I begin cooking, I always start with reviewing the entire recipe.  Seems obvious, but I have had my share of "oh no - I had to add that after?!".    By reading the instructions from beginning to end, I start out understanding the whole picture which then allows me to focus on the details.  This is a concept I will come back to time and again.  It is no different than applying your make-up; you need to have an idea of the look you want to create before you can select the appropriate foundation, eye shadow, lip colour, etc. 

Similarly, in preparing a recipe, I want to understand: 

1.       What will the final product be?

2.       What ingredients are required?

3.       What tools are required?

4.       What steps are involved?

5.       How long will it take me?

For example, if I am making a loaf of French bread, then I need to be sure I have flour, yeast (that has not expired) and salt on hand.  I will also need my stand mixer with the hook attachment (not required, but helps expedite the process).

    

Once I have confirmed I have all the required ingredients and tools, now I need to focus on the steps I need to follow for each of these ingredients.  This allows me to gauge whether I have enough time to dedicate to the recipe.

 

Since bread requires a couple of hours to double proof, by having read the recipe in advance, I can set out a game plan:  start the dough in the morning, allow it to rise while I am out getting groceries and then let it rise again while I am doing laundry.  Or it allows me to decide to make it another time!  Having read the recipe ahead of time I can confirm that I have all required ingredients (or make substitutions if required), validate whether I have sufficient time to commit to the recipe (especially if the recipe is time sensitive in nature) and ensure I have the appropriate tools to get the job done.  If I need to allow the butter to come to room temperature, I do not want to find this out when I am in the throes of making the cake.

If you are anything like me, you may get your desire to cook on the spur of the moment and there is nothing that deflates an urge like a roadblock.

Key steps for mise en place:

1.       Read through the entire recipe - ingredients, steps and tools.

2.       Preheat oven (if applicable).

3.       Prepare ingredients.  This means clean and cut any vegetables and herbs, measure out liquids and dry ingredients, bring any meat or dairy to room temperature, etc.

4.       Organize all equipment and tools required for the recipe.

Key tools for mise en place:

Prep Bowls - I was gifted this set at Christmas and I absolutely love them!  In two short months, I have already lost count of the number of times and uses I have relied on this set from Williams-Sonoma.

CuttingBoard - A good cutting board is typically not inexpensive, but if you take good care of your board it will definitely be worth the investment.  I'm going on 10 years with mine and still appreciate the craftsmanship of the piece.  I gifted this Angus Carving Board from Williams-Sonoma to my meat loving father.

  

Chef's & Pairing Knives - these are two of my essentials in the kitchen and are heavily relied on during mise en place.  Knives are such a personal thing - no one can really say what knife will be best for you.  A trip to a few stores to check out the selection and get a feel for which sits best in your hand is highly recommended.  My one guidance is to purchase a knife with a full tang - meaning that the metal is one continuous piece running the entire length of the handle.  Keep in mind that feel is more important than cost in this case.

MeasuringCups & Spoons - Still love my Cuisipro set after 8+ years :)

 Peeler - been using one similar to this since I graduated from cooking school!

 Happy organizing!

Slim Velvety Hangers

I've had my eye on these hangers for quite some time (years to be exact), but since I had just spent time and money introducing wooden hangers to my wardrobe, I was a little hesitant to invest more money in hangers.  They are only hangers after all.  At least, that is what I thought until I stumbled across a set of slim hangers at Costco a couple of weeks ago and finally took the plunge.  At $16 for a set of 50 hangers, they are the least expensive set I have found and seemed reasonable enough for me to re-haul my hanger stash.

Now I still had a mix of wooden and the classic white plastic hangers.  The latter are not exactly the prettiest, I know; however, they certainly took up significantly less room than their wooden counterparts and at a fraction of the cost.  So I reserved those for shirts, hoodies and the like, while dedicating the wooden ones for my suits, dresses and coats. 

Since introducing the slim velvety hangers, I have still kept some of my wooden versions for all of our coats as I feel that, particularly for winter gear, they offer better support than either the plastic or velvet versions.  The slim velvety one’s own up to their claim of anti-slip; however, that also means that getting your gear onto the hangers can prove a little more challenging with the stick factor (the plastic just glided right over the fabric)!  Although, once on the hanger it isn't going anywhere - definite bonus for any slippery fabric and spaghetti strap dresses.

The only thing that I am not sold on with these is using them for my suits.  I find they hang a little strangely and pull across the shoulders, so I may switch back to my wooden ones for that task.  Time shall tell!

Happy organizing!

Kid Zone: Bookcase

This shelving unit provides ample space to store the kids’ keepsakes, books, toys, etc.; however, there are a few problems with the way it was originally set up. 

• Items are piled on top of one another, which leads to things tumbling down on you when trying to retrieve an item.
• Although the keepsakes have been placed on the higher shelves, there are too many items crammed together to really appreciate them.
• The layout is chaotic, making it difficult to actually see what goodies there are to play with. 

Since these are open shelves, items needed to be placed in an orderly fashion, as well as be pleasing to eye.  Items in the arranged bookcase are organized in such a manner that:

• Books are easily identifiable and reachable. 
• Board games have been consolidated and kept to a lower shelf for easy access. 
• Baskets have been incorporated to make it easy for storing odds and ends, as well as, making it easy for little ones to put items away. 
• Keepsakes have been streamlined to really focus on items the kids loved.

Tidy Tip: for additional safety, anchor the bookcase to the wall to prevent it from tipping over.

Happy organizing!

Sorting & Folding: Organizing the Linen Closet

There are times when specific organizing items are required; however, I am a big believer in not always needing to spend money to get organized.  After all, do you really want to spend money getting your linen closet in order?

Sometimes just folding your items and sorting like items with like items can make a huge impact.

I present the before:

I did not spend a penny to organize this linen closet.  Rather, I pulled everything out, sorted each item in piles: towels, sheets, blankets and table cloths and then folded them in a way to fit nicely on the shelves.

And voilà:

At just a glance, the family can now easily find their linens and all it took was a little time to sort, fold and re-stock.

Taking the time to properly fold and put away your linens will ensure that it stays very tidy.

Happy organizing!

Keeping a Positive Outlook

Over the years I have used several different email programs - Hotmail, Gmail, and  Lotus Notes  to  name a few - and my all-time preferred email software - whether at work or at home - is by far Microsoft Outlook^TM. 

At first glance, they may all seem to offer similar features: email, contacts, calendar and possibly tasks and notes, but none really presented the information in a clean, integrated and easy to use format quite like Microsoft.  Outlook was the first time that I used a program that actually got me excited about managing emails, calendars and contacts.  It was a one stop shop for my key daily references.  Over time this has also expanded to include RSS feeds (more on that another time).

I even recall battling with a previous employer to get Outlook instead of Outlook Express (Express just doesn't cut it in this case).  I continue to grow and learn with this program, so as to fully leverage the plethora of functions it has to offer to help me streamline and organize my busy life.

Over the coming weeks, I will explore each of the main functions offered in Outlook.  Stay tuned J

Happy organizing!

P.S. Be sure to leave a comment if there are any specific features that you would like me to review.

Procrastination & Stress

A friend once told me that it is the little things that cause the most stress.  I gather the concept is that you are aware of and are dealing with the big issues while the smaller items tend to nag away, leaving you in a perpetual state of stress.

In busier times, it is inevitable that less critical to-do items do not get tended to.  Now I admit – some stem from pure laziness and procrastination.  There was a button from my duvet cover that had been stuck to the edge of my desk for, embarrassingly, over a year.  While things had been hectic, there were numerous times that I thought to myself “I really should sew that button on” and yet, I either thought of it while I was in the midst of doing something else or I just didn’t feel like it in that moment and thought “I’ll get to it…” – but I never did. 

Clearly whether I get the button sewn on or not is really not detrimental; however, when you add up all the little to-dos that keep getting put off they start to weigh you down.

It is nice to know I won’t be thinking about sewing buttons anymore J

So get to it!  We can all use a little less stress in our lives.

Happy organizing!  

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Happy organizing!