Whipping Your Kitchen Back Into Shape, Part I

Inspired by conversations on the FOOD52 Hotline, we're sharing tips and tricks that make navigating all of our kitchens easier and more fun. 

It's Resolution Week at Food52, and we're looking ahead to how we want to run our kitchens, 2013-style.

The holidays, with their friends, families, cookie crumbs and sticky countertops, their empty champagne bottles and stained wine glasses, are now over. You're tired -- and so is your kitchen. It's a New Year: it's time to make your kitchen feel new again.

We've created a cleaning-out-the-kitchen checklist: a checklist to whip your kitchen back into shape, to get it ready for another year of cooking, baking, and a whole lotta fun. Happy 2013!

• First, wash all of your dishes. And then maybe a second time, for good measure.

• Organize your pantry. Not sure what goes where? Check out our guides for pantry storage and refrigerator and freezer storage.

• Use up all of your holiday leftovers. (And throw out ones that may be past their prime.)

• Now: build a new grocery list, and stock up on pantry essentials.

Doesn't that feel better? Check back tomorrow for even more kitchen maintenance ideas!