Welcome back, dear friends!! As you know, the Jewish Holidays are coming up in just a few short weeks!!

The whole month of October will be filled with incredibly festive and joyous days this year!

Of course we know that any celebration we partake in involves lots of cooking.

And we love the cooking….

Yes, we really do……

And the shopping….

Oh, how we enjoy the shopping….

Oh joyous day!

Can’t wait for it all to start!!!

One of the worst things (in my humble opinion) that can possibly happen to a balebusta when she is busily preparing her culinary masterpieces is to find out she is missing an ingredient.

There she is, chugging right along baking her favorite apple cake…“okay, eggs… great, 2 eggs, DONE! Now, let me get the cinnamon. Cinnamon, cinnamon, cinnamon… where are you???” Sinking feeling sinking feeling…. “oh man… I think we used the cinnamon up last week… NOOOOOO!!!!”

And…..she’s stuck! Just like that, the whole “Bake it till you can’t take it” marathon has ground to a screeching halt.

Well guess what is not going to happen to you this year?

 The scenario I just described above Will. Not. Happen. To. You.

And do you know why??

Because I am going to show you how to organize your menus and shopping list so that no leeks will be left behind, no flour bag will be forgotten, and no onions will be overlooked!!

Let’s jump right in and get started.

Creating A Menu

 

The first step in the fabulous cooking process is to put together a menu. Sit down with your cookbooks, and a pen and paper. Some of you might be more comfortable to work on your computer, and that’s great, especially since you can save your menu plans from year to year.

This year, Rosh Hashana falls out on Sunday night, so you can start off your menu page like this:

The next step is to fill out the menu from soup-to-nuts.*

Literally.

Every single thing you will be needing for each meal should be written on the menu. If you will need soup nuts* (get it? Like how I pulled it all together from the “soup-to-nuts” reference above? Oy I’m so awesome) for your soup, write it down.

So this is how your menu would look:

(Now, please don’t get too excited, because I’m only going to give you a sample menu for the first meal, and then you’re on your own.  Hey, I’m an organizer, not a chef :-)

Hooray, you’ve pulled your first full meal together!! Good for you!!

Now, you can make your menu as simple or as complex as you’d like. If you want to write some notes for yourself, for instance the names of the guests who will be coming, go ahead. It’s your menu for heavens sakes!! Do whatever you want with it.

I’ve got a wonderful friend who makes me laugh all the time. Our biggest fear is “fear o’ the silent table” where no one will be speaking and there will be this empty awkward space with nothing to say.

My friend, who I will call Leila, came up with what I think is an ingenious plan. Right on her menu, under the names of the guests who will be gracing her table, she jots down some notes. Here’s how it looks:

If the convo is lagging, Leila runs into the kitchen, takes a peek at her menu to jog her memory, and can launch right into a fascinating story about her bunions to the joy and delight of all assembled!!

Another great tip to use when creating your menu, is writing down the amount of people you will be having at each meal, plus guests. This is to ensure that if you are buying paper goods, you will purchase the correct amount for the whole Yom Tov.

Start by adding up the base amount of people in your family who will be at all meals:

Moish

Jenny

Rikki

David

  4

If you have any sleepover guests eating all meals with you, add them as well:

Moish

Jenny

Rikki

David

Marlene

Bubby

  6

(I’m so awesome at math. MIT called, I turned them down.)

You now know that you will need 24 sets of full settings.

Because…..

6 people x 4 meals = 24 place settings.

Then, take a look and see how many people you invited for each meal.  Maybe this year you are just having the 4 Finkels and 2 Silverstein kids. So simply add:

24 base family members + 4 guests = 28 place settings for the whole Yom Tov. It’s always good to add a few extra of each thing so that you don’t run short.

Your list should include:

1. Dinner Plates
2. Salad Plates
3. Dessert Plates
4. Cups
5. Napkins
6. Soup Spoons
7. Teaspoons
8. Forks*
9. Knives

*Always double the amount of forks you buy because you will need extra forks for fish and forks always come in handy. 

Creating A Shopping List

And now… time for our shopping list!!!

Take a look at the first item on your menu.

Okay, Grape juice/Wine.

Ask yourself the following:

“Do we have grape juice and/or wine?”

If you have it, of course it does not have to go on your shopping list.

Otherwise write down what you need in the Kiddush/wine department..

 Take a look at the next item on your menu

Next item on your menu is Challah, so put the challah ingredients on your list.

And that’s how it’s done, my friends. Just follow along and get all your ingredients onto that grocery list so that you never, ever, get caught without cinnamon again!!

It’s been a pleasure chatting with you about Yom Tov prep, now GO GET ‘EM!! You can do this!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I would love to hear from you, dear readers, with questions, comments, or praise for the information I so kindly shared with you.  (Notice I didn’t say “criticism,” because hey, a girl likes to hear good stuff.) Feel free to post your upbeat thoughts in the comments section below.

Also, (never start a sentence with the word “also,” but since I have been a published author for ‘lo these 5 days, I have granted myself the privilege of not following grammar rules and I gotta say, IT FEELS REAL GOOD!!!)  Please keep an eye out for my upcoming article which will be published early next week.

Also, (ahh that was nice!!) kindly share this article with your friends and anyone else who you think could benefit from my wise words of advice. (ummmm… who couldn’t??) How nice are you, thinking of others like that?? GO YOU!!!

Topics for next week?

Funny you should ask!

There will be 2 topics covered:

  1. Prepare it once, serve it twice. (Or, “Good things come to those who freeze.”)

And…

  1. How to organize your guest room in a few easy steps. (Or, “I know there is a bed in there somewhere, and we have to find it for grandma.”)

Best,

Tanya

 

As a professional Organizer and public speaker serving the Pikesville, Owings Mills, and Towson neighborhoods, Tanya specializes in residential and home office organization. Her experience allows her to quickly asses the needs of her clients, and teach them how to best use systems to handle the “stuff” in their lives more effectively. Tanya can be reached by phone at 443-956-2522 or feel free to email her at tanya@precisionorganizing.net.