Tips to Minimize Dish Cleaning During Holidays

Hosting a holiday gathering for friends and family can be really fun, but also pose a tremendous challenge. The opportunity to provide guests with good food, a warm home, and refreshing spirits for one evening will make the holiday season even more special. Before setting a date for a holiday gathering, one must consider the heavy work load required to put the whole evening together. Aside from expenses, one of the greatest overlooked items to a party is the work required before, during, and afterwards.

So much time and effort goes into shopping for ingredients and cleaning the home. Once the house is clean, the food is cooked, and the candles are lit, the work is done, right? Wrong. There is still the great responsibility of having to clean the dishes. Holiday meals tend to generate numerous dishes that will leave the host toiling long hours in the kitchen long after the guests have left and gone home to sleep. Does not seem fair does it? After putting forth all that hard work and expense, the host reaps the rewards of wrinkled hands and tired feet. The good news is there are a few tips to minimize dish loads for your next holiday gathering.

Disposable Dishes

Maybe not the greenest of advice, but one way to rid yourself of having to spend hours cleaning dishes will be to use paper or plastic plate ware and silverware. Many people refrain from doing this because they may want to maintain a holiday theme using their favorite Christmas or Hanukkah patterned dishware. Another reason people may not use disposable items is because he or she does not appear cheap. The good news is that much of the dishware sold in stores today will include fancy patterned themes printed on the cups and plates. Just be sure to leave the carbon footprint light by using those items that can be recycled after the party is over.

Use Fewer Cooking Dishes

Another way to use reduce dish washing time is to cook with less pots and pans. Serving multiple side dishes can be the main culprit to a mountain of cookware to clean. Decrease the variety of offerings at your party or consider cooking a greater quantity of those items you are sure everyone finds the most popular. Another acceptable measure to minimize cleaning cookware is to outsource some of your meal items. It also doesn't hurt to allow a few other guests to bring side dishes, appetizers, or desserts especially if they offer their contributions.

Disposable Cookware

Cleaning plates and cups is much easier than tackling the heavy duty items such as pots and pans. Most plate ware requires a simple rinse before being placed in the dishwasher. There are many types of cookware that are not dishwasher safe and require a lot of manual soaking and scrubbing. Be sure to keep the cookware cleaning to a minimum by opting for disposable pans such as aluminum roasting pans. These pans are great for preparing turkeys, roasts, lasagna, and even side dishes. These pans will serve as excellent storage containers once the party is over.

These are just some simple steps to keep dish loads light. In addition to these tips, consider accepting help from those that volunteer help with cleaning up. This help will cut kitchen time in half and become a great venue to catch up on some good conversation.