At some point we’ve all been tasked with the thankless Thanksgiving job of holding a hot casserole dish on our laps while the family drives to Grandmother’s house.
Those dishes can become a dangerous projectile if not secured properly in the car.
Here are some tips on how to safely transport holiday favorites so you and your favorites can arrive in tact and on time.
Casseroles and slow cookers
Piping-hot casserole dishes can be a pain and cause pain to the person in the car holding them in their lap. The heat from the dish itself can burn your spouse’s lap — not to mention the damage that could occur if it spills and your hubby is left with 350-degree green-bean casserole drippings on his, well, you get the idea. Placing the casserole dish on the floor rather than on someone’s lap isn’t much better. Do you really want to be cleaning oyster stuffing out of your car’s carpet and floormats for the next three months?
Instead, invest in a travel casserole dish that comes with a Pyrex casserole dish, a rubber lid, a microwaveable gel pouch to help keep the goodies hot on the road and an insulated carrying case.
You don’t, however, want your travel casserole dish to be sitting loose on the car’s floor. If you have to brake quickly to avoid another holiday road warrior, the casserole dish could become a danger to your passengers.
Try securing your travel casserole dish in your car’s trunk, or safely away from the passenger compartment.
If you don’t have a travel casserole dish and don’t want to invest in one, you can secure a casserole dish and lid with two rubber bands. This can then be secured inside a tote basket or laundry basket lined with towels. The basket can be stashed snugly on the floor behind the driver’s seat or better yet, secured in your car’s cargo space using a few bungee cords and the tie-down anchor points in the cargo floor. If the dish happens to leak during transport, the towels will soak up any messes. The same approach can be used for slow cookers.
Pies
If I had my way, we’d skip right to the pumpkin pie at any family celebration. Insulated pie carriers by companies such as eBags enable safe transport for the pie.
For passenger safety, secure the pie in the trunk. Use the grippy-drawer-liner technique to keep your pie carrier from sliding around, or better yet, stash it in the laundry basket next to your casserole.
Leftovers
If you’re going to take some goodies home, come prepared and arrive with your own plastic storage containers and zippered plastic bags. Pack a load of disposable plastic containers in areusable waterproof shopping tote. Then you can pack the containers full and have a convenient tote at the ready to carry them to the car.