Whether you’re preparing for your first big Thanksgiving at home or you’re a seasoned veteran, chances are there’s still many things to check off on your to-do list. Here’s a few things to help you prepare for the biggest eating holiday of the year.

Cooking Tips

First, don’t forget to defrost your turkey. During one of our first Thanksgiving feasts we ever made on our own, I oopsed and forgot to take the turkey out in advance to defrost. It all worked out in the end; we just had to move dinner time back a few hours.

The experts at Butterball recommend thawing your bird for 24 hours in the refrigerator for every four pounds of turkey. Or you can place your turkey breast-side down in cold water to thaw for 30 minutes per pound of turkey. For more turkey questions call 1-800-BUTTERBALL or go to www.butterball.com.

You can start doing the prep work for your meal a day or two in advance as well. Chop vegetables, prepare dough, or make pies before your guests arrive. At the very least, make a list of all of the items you are preparing and figure out what order you’ll have to cook them to make sure everything comes out hot at the same time.

Cleaning Tips

If your house is anything like mine, it doesn’t stay clean for long. So if you’re expecting guests, you’re probably worried about how to get all of the cooking and cleaning done in one day.

Get the deep cleaning out of the way early and then you’ll just have to wipe down and sweep up before you set out the appetizers and turn on the football game. You might also want to consider sending everyone outdoors for a bit (for a Turkey Bowl or a neighborhood scavenger hunt) to give you some down time to do last-minute chores.

Question: Do you prefer to cook your Thanksgiving dinner at home or do you hope for invites from family and friends?