Keeping Your Summer Kitchen Organized

If you are a gardener who also does home canning, freezing and food storage, summer is a very busy time. Add to that a houseful of children and pets, all the regular meals that must be prepared and dishes washed... you can end up living in Grand Central Disorganization Station! With a couple of safety rules and a little planning, you can keep things under control and still get the garden produce preserved.

Pets

Pets have no place in a busy summer kitchen. It is the owner's responsibility to keep them out of harm's way.

Just Say No to pet hair and germs. No matter how clean you think Rover and Fluffy are, they are not.

Keep Children Occupied

If you have young children who need supervision, keep them occupied nearby, but not underfoot. The dangers in a busy canning kitchen are many. Sharp knives, glass jars, boiling water, large pots with hot contents...this is no place for youngsters to play.

In an area away from your workspace, mark a maze on the floor with masking tape for the kids to walk through. They can lift and reuse the tape to redesign their own mazes.

"Mother, May I?" is a great game. Even if the children are out of sight in a hallway or another room playing this game, and you're calling instructions from the kitchen, you'll know where they are every time it's their turn to ask the name of the game.

Got a roll of freezer paper? Rip off about six feet of paper from that roll and spread it on the floor for the kids to draw on. They'll love it, and it will take them a very long time to fill all that space. Plus, you'll have a cool banner to roll up and keep.

Tape record some of your children's favorite picture books. Add a beep or funny noise as a page-turn signal so they can follow along in the book. (Keep the tape. Kids will ask for it again. It's also a fun diversion for sick-day entertainment)

Toddlers are more of a challenge. Try filling a large box or laundry basket with clean plastic freezer containers. If you have mismatched lids and containers lurking in the back of a cupboard, add them to the pile. Hide some toys in the basket, too, and maybe a cracker or cookie sealed inside one of the containers. Then let the little one go for it. This should buy you at least 15 minutes to handle those hot jars safely.

Let older kids help. Some kids enjoy shelling peas or lima beans. Just don't turn it into a chore, or you'll have to deal with unhappy little ones in addition to processing all that food. Green beans were often a group project around my kitchen table, on the porch or at the picnic table in the shade. Older children tend to compete with each other trying to fill a bowl with snapped beans. Sometimes I could get a canner full of tomato juice done before the kids tired of snapping beans for me. And the little ones were safely at the table while I was handling the hot jars and canner.

Get Your Stuff Together

Even if you have a bushel each of four different vegetables to get processed, take one step at a time. If there is any task that can be done someplace besides the kitchen, take it there and take the kids, too. It's a nice change of scenery for everyone.

Make sure you have everything you'll need before you start a processing project. You don't want to run low on jar bands or lids while the batch of salsa waits on the stove. Remember things like lemon juice or citric acid for fruits. Keep extra spices, seasonings, vinegar and sugar in the pantry, just in case. Buy an extra box of freezer bags.

Wash your canning jars and check the lips for chips the night before you'll use them. You'll want to know if you have the right size and number of jars for the recipes you'll be making. The jars will be ready to sterilize and fill when you need them.

Keep up with the kitchen towel laundry. Get those towels washed the night before you do your food processing. Have some extra rolls of paper towels handy.

Chill out. Accidents happen when you allow stress to rush you.