I Don't Know What I Need.

And I'm not sure I don't already have it.

No offense, but I bet you have no idea if you have what it takes to make it through the end of the year.

In your kitchen.

OMG, we’re talking about your kitchen.

Please. I am totally not making a statement about your personal fortitude. I would never question your peppermint latte-fueled determination or your ability to grin your way through a white elephant exchange.

I’m just saying that buying more vanilla extract when you’re at the store because you know you’re gonna need it for your Thanksgiving sweet potato casserole is exactly how you ended up with 4 bottles of the stuff IN VARYING DEGREES OF EMPTY sitting in your cupboard.

Taking up space.

Making it hard for you to find the fried onion thingies.

Getting knocked over every time you reach for the penne.

And sometimes leaving sticky brown drops all over your cabinet that you are definitely going to have to clean before the ants catch on that dessert is now available.

We both know that all it would take to resolve this situation is for you to block out a Saturday morning and get your cupboards (and your candy-cane-caffeinated self) organized already.

You just need to put it on your calendar.

And do it.

And then it will be done.

I suggest that this weekend would be an awesome time to do it.

Maybe even the BEST TIME to do it.

Because if you let another couple of weeks go like this? You’re not getting to it until January. Or later. You’ll have too many other things going on. Things that you’d like to actually have organized cupboards for.

Merry things. Like:

😍 cooking

😍 baking

😍 entertaining

😍 watching Hallmark Christmas movie marathons where you get to live your secret dream of inheriting a farmhouse in a small town, hiring a handsome (but moody) local to renovate the place and even though you fight like bandits at the beginning, love will bloom when a random snowstorm traps you in the barn overnight. And then everyone will come over for the Christmas dance so they can toast you for somehow changing their life when you moved to town. 🫠

(dreamy sigh)

Meanwhile, back in my “not-a-farmhouse” kitchen …

I’m going to be going through all of my cupboards this weekend because the Saturday after Thanksgiving has been established as “Cookie Making Day” in my house since 1992.

And Reader: It is quite the day.

I invite my friends over to hang out and keep me company while I make approximately 42,000 cookies.

Including fudge (which technically is a candy).

And magic cookie bars (which technically are…bars).

And bourbon balls (which technically are…off limits to children).

I am not kidding even a little bit when I say that this extravaganza requires planning.

And organization.

And having all of the ingredients in my house, where I can see them and grab them and use them, over and over again and again.

Until all the cookies are baked. And stored. And easily pulled out of storage when it’s time to eat them.


You’d think that I’d have a pretty good grasp on my Cookie Making inventory. What with all the GBBO Bake-Along-ing I’ve been doing.

Alas.

I do not.

I really do not.

But before the clock strikes midnight on Saturday night, I absolutely will know everything I need to buy at the store next week. And everything I don’t.

Because “stocking up” is not the same thing as “rebuying stuff you already have crammed in your cupboard in the back somewhere.”

And 100%? I am not even a little bit interested in cramming more stuff into that cupboard.

My honey needs some space.

It’s time to JUST DO THIS already.

Are you with me?

Because you don’t need a Cookie Making Day to justify a good old clear-out of the stuff in your cupboards that’s old, expired, unusable, or that you’re just not eating.

You can just go ahead and make space for the food and ingredients you need and like and use. And then set up your cupboards so things are exactly where you need them to be and easy to grab when you want to use them.

I know you think this is a giant task. But it seriously won’t take as long as you think. And the ROI every time you open the cupboards? It’s ridiculously good.

Because if we can’t have peace on Earth this year (again), then maybe we can say that 2025 was the year that we stopped fighting with our canned goods. And playing Tetris with the groceries in the fridge. And losing our foil packets of leftovers in the freezer.

And maybe we can spend that time making memories with the people we love, in a home that makes us feel all soft-around-the-edges-happy.

And not just because we ate all the bourbon balls.

Your Favorite Home Organizing Cookie Maker,
Vivian

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PS. I am not the only one sorting out my cupboards tomorrow.

And if you’d like to join us, you are invited to my 3-Hour Fridge, Freezer, Pantry Reset Sprint.

We’ll spend 3 hours, working on 2 food zones. You’ll walk away with 1 master grocery list, which means zero last-minute grocery runs for vanilla extract.

It’s not about making your kitchen look pretty.
It’s about making it work.

✅ It’s about walking into December knowing exactly what you have in your cupboards and fridge and freezer.

✅ And what you need to get at the store so you can fill your holiday table with traditions.

✅ And having space to put the groceries you bring home.

✅ It’s about making the space you live in support the life you lead. And the kitchen you cook in support the holiday season you want to have.