(NAPSA)—For most, the joy of cooking is found in the process of creating a meal and enjoying it in the companyoffriends and family. That enjoyment, however, quickly fades when faced with the daunting task of kitchen cleanup. But cleaning doesn’t have to be something that people dread, says Cat Cora, Food Network celebrity chef and author of “Cat Cora’s Kitchen.” Cora recommends a few practical tips to ease the cleanup process: Everything must have its place. Assign a particular location to each item used in the cooking process, such as utensils, serving bowls or foil. Knowing exactly where each kitchen item belongs minimizes time spent searching for them, and also encourages you to clean them and get them back to their “home”as quickly as possible. * Toss it down the drain. To easily get rid of food waste, use a garbage disposer. The Evolution Excel by InSinkErator, a division of Emerson (www.insinkerator.com), grinds virtually any food waste, including troublesome waste such as potato peels, rib bones, arti- chokes, even corncobs, without fear of jams and clogs. As an added bonus, this model is 60 percent quieter than standard disposers. So you can focus on other things without being distracted by the noise of food grinding. Give it a silver lining. If it’s messy pans and baking sheets that make your blood boil, line cookie sheets with parchment paper and baking pans with aluminum foil. When you are done baking or cooking, simply remove the paperor foil and discard. Wash as you go. To avoid a According to Chef Cat Cora, throwing food waste into a food waste disposeris just one way to simplify kitchen cleanup. big stack of dirty dishes at the end of the night, clean the dishes you use as you go. This will also keep foods from drying and caking onto dishes. If you don’t have time to clean the dishes as you go, try to at least rinse them quickly or put them in soapy water to soak. Use multipurpose dishes. Invest in cookware that is designed to go into the freezer, the Microwave and oven, and onto the table for serving. This makes it possible to prepare, cook and serve food all in the same dish and minimizes dirtying multiple dishes. “The kitchen is really the heart of the home, where families spend a great deal of time together,” says Cora. “You should enjoy spending time in your kitchen, and using easytips like these will allow you to have more time with family and friends and less time cleaning up.”
