Diwali is almost here and every year thousands of Indians take this time to give their homes a makeover. This year, Diwali falls on November 14, 2020 (Saturday) and many of us are planning spending quality times with family and loved ones. The weeks and days preceding Diwali usually witness frenetic cleaning drives across most homes in order to welcome goddess Lakshmi. It is believed that the goddess does not enter a dirty house and so it is good to declutter your living space at least this time of the year.
The one place in the house that should always be clean and spotless is the kitchen. Not only is it important to keep the place clean, it is equally important to keep it clutter- free. So this Diwali, throw out the old and rotten, refresh and de-clutter your cooking space with these quick and handy tips.
1. Broken favourite cups and pans? Throw them away
All of us have these chipped cups and broken saucepans that we have been using forever. Now is the time to throw them away. It is also said that keeping broken utensils at home is inauspicious. So pledge to throw them away this festive season and give way to new pans and cups to store in your shelves.
2. Toss away the old and unused spices
Spices lose their flavour and aroma with time, especially ground spices like cardamom, black peppercorn, clove, etc.; hence, don't store them endlessly. Time for you to toss them away and buy new ones to add just the perfect flavour in your curries.
Spices lose their flavour and aroma with time, especially ground spices like cardamom
3. Bought those Italian herbs and pastes to master cooking skills? They have become useless
We are all guilty of buying fancy herbs and pastes to cook a specialty dish 'someday'! That day never seems to arrive. What arrives instead is an expiry date that we forget to notice. Take out those Italian herbs and Thai cooking pastes from those hard-to-get corners of the cabinet and throw them! You will suddenly realise that your Kitchen actually has a lot of space!
4. Change the old set of water bottles
It is imperative to change your water bottles frequently, especially if they are plastic made. It is recommended to use glass bottles rather than plastic ones as they are not very healthy to use. Gift your kitchen a new set of glass bottles that will only add to the good looking kitchen.
It is imperative to change your water bottles frequently
5. Throw away the old stained kitchen towels and napkins
We have this habit of using the same towel or kitchen napkin again and again to clean our kitchen slabs, utensils or other areas of the kitchen, but rarely do we think of changing them. Get yourself a fresh set of cloth napkins and colour code them depending on usage. A fresh set of hand towels would be good too!
6. Give up on the leftover cutlery
That cutlery set from 10 years back has only 2 spoons and 3 forks left. Stop using them. Now. This is not the kind of mix and match glossy Kitchen magazines suggest. If you don't already have one, but yourself a fresh cutlery set that goes with your size of family and style of dining and hosting.
Other than these, clean your exhaust fans, chimneys and kitchen shelves and you are Diwali-ready. These things do go unnoticed while doing our daily chores, but this is the time when you must let go of old, broken things and make your kitchen look neat and clean.
Happy Diwali 2020, everyone!