For many Floridians, hosting Thanksgiving dinner is both a fun and stressful experience.
From preparing your home for guests, to making sure you’ve picked up all of your cooking ingredients before they fly off grocery store shelves, there’s a lot that goes into preparing Thanksgiving dinner.
To help you out, we’ve rounded up some top Thanksgiving preparation tips to get your home ready for the greatest feast of the year.
Thanksgiving Preparation: The Week Before…
Don’t overbuy. Check your pantry first.
Before heading to the grocery store to pick up your holiday meal ingredients, set aside 30 minutes to sort through your pantry, refrigerator and freezer, getting rid of anything old and expired. Not only will this make room for those delicious casseroles and pies, but it also will help you know what items you need to add to your grocery list.
Make your kitchen kid-friendly.
Setting up the kids’ table for Thanksgiving dinner? Move all potentially harmful objects to the top shelves in your upper cabinets, out of reach of small children. When cooking, try to use the back burners on your range as much as possible. This reduces the chance that a child will grab the handle of a hot pot and hurt themselves or others.
Remember the basics.
In addition to standard Thanksgiving meal ingredients, remember to stock your kitchen with the following vital (and often overlooked) items:
- Trash bags
- Plastic bags
- Aluminum foil
- Plastic wrap
- Roasting pan
- Containers for leftovers
- Dishwashing soap
- Toothpicks
- Batteries
- Fire extinguisher
Organize Cookware.
Save time and stress by making an inventory of your cookware prior to Thanksgiving Day. If you want to get really organized, use sticky notes to label what dishes will be served in each piece of cookware. A little extra preparation will prevent numerous “Don’t use that!” and “It doesn’t go in there!” moments.
The Night Before…
Stock the bathrooms.
Make sure your bathrooms are fully supplied with toilet paper, towels and toiletries. Put extra supplies in visible, open places that will be easy for guests to find. Also, keeping a plunger and some antacids within reach can negate a variety of embarrassing guest situations.
Pick up loose objects.
Despite all the cleaning you may have done, family members can often be more focused on football and food, than helping with the house. Pick up loose toys, shoes and any other miscellaneous objects strewn across the floor. Not only will this make your home look better, but it also may prevent trip and fall accidents. No one wants to end up in the emergency room with a broken ankle on Thanksgiving night.
Click here for more tips on how to prevent those dreaded Thanksgiving disasters.
Get a head start on Thanksgiving cooking.
Prepare dishes, such as desserts, ahead of time to reduce your workload on Thanksgiving Day. This will provide more time to focus on cooking key Thanksgiving dishes, like the turkey, to perfection, and enjoying time with family and friends.
Don’t hesitate to decorate.
Set the table and make sure all decorations are up before guests arrive. In addition to saving time on Thanksgiving Day, this will ensure that everything is displayed exactly how you prefer.
Do you have any additional Thanksgiving preparation tips? Let us know in the ‘Comments’ below.
People’s Trust Insurance wishes you a happy and safe Thanksgiving!