This Thanksgiving, you plan to host friends, family, and their children for the annual feast. Your to-do list includes keeping your guests happy, staying on top of the mess, and cooking up a feast with all the fixings. You might feel overwhelmed and forget a few tasks that can put your guests in danger. Follow these tips to keep your family and home safe this Thanksgiving.
Cooking a turkey is a science. This big bird can take up to 5 days to thaw so make sure you are prepared! Keep the turkey in the refrigerator until it is time to place in the oven. A turkey should reach an internal temperature of 165 degrees to ensure the meal is safe from bacteria. Once dinner is over, make sure to put all leftovers in the refrigerator. All leftovers must be refrigerated within two hours of serving.
The number of kitchen fires triples on Thanksgiving Day. Take some simple precautions to make sure your home doesn’t become part of this statistic. “Stand by your pan” encourages homeowners to never leave food, especially grease, cooking on the stove top unattended. Keep all pets and children away from hot stoves and pans. Make sure all handles are facing inwards so they are not knocked over by guests. If you have a grease fire, do NOT use water or a fire extinguisher to put it out. Turn off the heat source, cover the flames with a pot or pan if possible, and dump baking soda and/or salt on the flames.
Clogged drains can be expensive, time consuming, and stinky for you and your guests! Once a drain is clogged, homeowners can either call a plumber or run to the store for a bottle of Drano. Proper drain maintenance can avoid clogs, here are a few easy steps!
1. Lift any pop-up stoppers in sinks, remove gunk that has collected around the stopper and place it in the trash. Rinse the stopper and place it back in the drain.
2. Remove the shower drain and use a wire, a croquet hook, or a Zip-it to remove hair and other waste. Place the waste in the trash and rinse with hot water.
3. Grind up a combination of ice and salt in your garbage disposal. This will help remove grease. Once finished, rinse with cold water and grind up half a lemon or lime to leave it smelling fresh and clean.
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