Thanksgiving Day is the first fall holiday after the kids return to school. Hosting family and friends can be incredibly stressful. This year, get ahead of the Thanksgiving feast frenzy with our workback cleaning schedule guaranteed to lessen the stress and have you prepared well ahead of turkey day!
3 WEEKS BEFORE
Prep Your Gear
Pull out your roasting pan and sharpen your carving knife. With plenty of time to hit the stores, now is the time to shop for tools you may have needed last year, or upgrade some of your current tools to help ease the cooking process.
Clean Out the Fridge
A turkey takes up a lot of space. Cleaning out the fridge will make room for the bird and all the extra dishes required for your feast. No Thanksgiving meal is complete without multiple side dishes. The mashed potatoes, roast potatoes, sweet potatoes, beans, squash, turnip, yams, Brussel sprouts, and corn all need room in the fridge too. Once clean, leave a box of baking soda on the top shelf to draw out any lingering odors.
Buff the Silverware
Special occasions call for setting the table with our best silverware. To buff and polish your heirlooms and favourite silverware, gather up your aluminum foil disposable baking trays and baking soda. Bring four cups of water and one tablespoon of baking soda to a boil. Place the tarnished silverware in the baking tray, add the tarnished silverware and then pour the boiling baking soda water over the silverware until each piece is submerged. Wait 10 seconds (or longer if very tarnished), before removing with kitchen tongs. Dry with a clean dishtowel.
2 WEEKS BEFORE
Clean Out the Freezer
Cooking and freezing as much as possible will save you lots of time on the big day. Clean out the freezer to make room for everything you’ll be putting in it. Consider adding some magazine holders from the dollar store as makeshift shelves. Laid on their sides, they’re the perfect way to store pies or sauces you’ve frozen flat in a Ziploc freezer bag.
Decide on Décor
Once you’ve decided whether you’re serving a sit-down or buffet-style dinner, you can start to plan your decor. Think about whether you’ll want to order flowers ahead of time or if you’ll create a non-perishable centerpiece. Give artificial flowers a deep clean with a bag of salt. Simply place flowers in a plastic bag with two tablespoons of salt and gently shake. The grains of salt will gently loosen dust and grime, leaving flowers clean and dust-free.
1 WEEK BEFORE
Plan Ahead for Leftovers
Make it easy on yourself by having containers and bags readily available. Plan a trip to your local dollar store to pick up some zip lock bags and re-suable containers so that leftovers can be wrapped up within a few hours of finishing your meal. Your guests will be extra thankful for your thoughtfulness!
While you’re busy planning a Thanksgiving to remember, why not find a local Molly Maid to help tidy up your home before your guests arrive? Our cleaning and housekeeping services are thorough, consistent and reliable so you can focus more on perfecting your stuffing recipe and less on mopping the kitchen floors. Find your local MOLLY MAID today!
