It's every Thanksgiving cook's worst nightmare. After spending hours on a family favorite dish, you wrap or box it up to take to the family gathering spot only to have it spill out during the car ride. You've not only got ruined upholstery, you've got a ruined holiday.
Thankfully, INFINITI dealers know a few things about carefully transporting food and other items in an automobile, and they have a few tips for holiday travelers:
Secure heavy cookware - Slow cookers and other items you may be hauling to mom and dad's house are heavy, and they can be dangerous if not secured. Should you slam on brakes, these heavy items can hit you or a passenger. If you're traveling with heavy cookware, make sure it's well secured. Tie it down, if you must, to prevent it from moving when the vehicle is underway.
• Get the right casserole dish - Holding a hot casserole dish in your lap is uncomfortable, making you more likely to spill it as you shift around because of the heat. Travel casserole dishes are made specifically for safe and easy transport. They have extra insulation to keep them from being too hot to touch and carry.
• Extra wrap - Don't be afraid to overdo it on plastic wrap when packaging food for the road. Plastic wrap is cheap; upholstery is not.
• Oversized Tupperware containers - By placing already bagged or wrapped food items in a larger plastic container, you make them easier to secure in a trunk or on a floorboard. The rectangular shape and extra heft of the container make them easier to pack up and secure. Also, if they're in the container, they can't leak or spill in your vehicle.
• Wedge it in - If you're loading items in a trunk or rear seat, wedge them between other objects or weight them down by placing heavier objects on top of them to keep them from moving around as you drive. Securing your Thanksgiving meal will ensure that it ends up on the table instead of all over your back seat or trunk.
• Drive slowly - One of the best things you can do to prevent food from spilling in your vehicle is to drive carefully. Quick stops and starts can cause your food to move around or spill from a passenger's hand. The holidays have a lot of traffic, resulting in many accidents, so slowing down and driving a little more carefully are good safety tips, too.
• Use a cooler - Coolers provide handy containers for transporting food, even hot dishes. Load up your cooler with your contribution to the family meal, and you don't have to worry about it sliding around all over your vehicle. Most coolers come with a handle on top, which is another helpful feature.
If you're looking for a stylish vehicle to impress your folks during the holidays, check out INFINITI of Thousand Oaks. An established Los Angeles area INFINITI dealership, INFINITI of Thousand Oaks offers great year-end prices on quality automobiles.
