Yes, it’s still approximately one million degrees outside, but my brain has already jumped ship to pumpkin season. I haven’t baked much this summer (besides pop-up bakery testing), but suddenly I’m daydreaming about bread marathons (yes, I restarted my sourdough starter), pumpkin muffins, and lighting a fall candle while the A/C whirls in protest.
This time of year I love a little kitchen reset. It’s like stretching before the big holiday bake-off. Consider it preseason training (this concludes my sports analogies) for your oven. Here are 10 ways I’m cleaning, reorganizing, and cozying up my kitchen before September shows up with apples and cinnamon in both hands. If you’re feeling ambitious, call it your Sunday project. Bonus points if you’ve got a podcast queued and a cold drink nearby (because again, it’s still August).
1. Take Stock of Spices
As fall creeps closer, I like to pull out my cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and cloves – the background players of summer that are about to become the main characters of every bake. I (carefully) give them a good ol’ sniff, and if they smell less than robust, out they go. I don’t think of it as waste because the real waste would be making pumpkin bread that tastes like bunk cinnamon and sad nutmeg.
This is the time to restock with the good stuff. I love Burlap & Barrel’s cinnamon, buffalo ginger, and coriander (the coriander is key for Dad’s Sweet Potato Pie). Fresh spices make all the difference when the recipes get cozy.
2. Restock and Refresh the Baking Staples
Flour, dark brown sugar, salt, cocoa powder – check everything for freshness and top them up. Buy fresh containers of baking powder and baking soda. The few bucks is worth the guaranteed freshness and we’ll use the old baking soda for cleaning around the kitchen. I keep most of my pantry essentials in these clear air-tight containers so I can see when I’m running low and avoid a 9 p.m. store run mid-bake.
3. Deep-Clean Your Oven
Count this as my least favorite thing to do in the kitchen but nevertheless! We’ll be firing the oven up a lot more soon, and nothing says “welcome, fall” like the smell of pie… not the smell of singed cheese drips on the oven floor. I skip the hard chemical cleaners and make a paste of baking soda and vinegar. It’s must less harsh but does a solid job. See: How to Clean Oven with Oil and Vinegar
4. Swap in the Cozy Linens
After I clean the oven, my reward is draping the oven handles with fresh fall towels. I trade the summer crawfish boil printed towels for something plaid or gingham. It’s silly, but I swear it sets the tone for baking things like Ina’s Apple Pie Bars (which really needs to be first up on deck).
5. Prep Your Baking Sheets & Pans
For extra credit (and if we have another good podcast episode to listen to) I like to check my cookie sheets, give them a quick scrub with any extra baking soda and vinegar paste from the oven cleaning. I also like to pre-line a few pans with parchment so you’re ready for spontaneous chocolate cake. It’s a small pain in the butt but your future self really appreciates it!
6. Make a Freezer Dough Stash
Whip up two pie crusts, roll them out, and freeze them crimped in their pans. Future you will thank past you when a random weekend in October needs French Silk Pie. A pie emergency – I swear those happen.
7. Organize the “Baking Zone”
Pull all your baking tools into one area – mixing bowls, measuring cups, rolling pin, spatulas. When the craving hits, you don’t want to be digging through a junk drawer for the whisk.
8. Warm Up Your Flavors
Infuse a jar of granulated sugar with spent vanilla bean pod, make a jar of cinnamon sugar for toast, and whip up some homemade pumpkin pie spice now so we’re ready for pumpkin pie.
9. Rotate Out Summer Gadgets
I just juiced my last watermelon and pineapples, put up the juicer, and pulled out the bread maker and slow cooker. I might not be ready to use them just yet but I can tell we’re close!
10. Full-On Cozy Kitchen
This is your permission slip to go full cozy-core. Rotate in your chunky fall mugs (are you that kind of girlie? I support you), plug in a fall-scented wax melter, and maybe even add a little cordless lamp to the counter for soft, warm light. It’s the easiest way to make the kitchen feel like a hug when the days get shorter.
And there you have it! The August-to-autumn kitchen glow-up. It’s less about perfection, more about setting the stage for all the pies, breads, and cookies about to storm the countertops. So light that cozy candle and let’s get ready to bake our way into fall (after a few more pool days, of course).
