5 Problem / Solutions when it comes to Thanksgiving Day!

Problem 1: You can’t buy all the food you’ll need for the big day in a single trip.

Solution 1: Divide and conquer. Besides the fact that an entire feast’s worth of grocery bags is too much for one woman to carryor one trunk to hold―you’re more likely to forget a key ingredient or encounter depleted shelves if you try to buy everything in one go at the last minute.

Set your Thanksgiving dinner menu a month in advance, then make a master list of what you’ll need and divide it into perishables (dairy products, eggs, produce) and nonperishables (canned goods, spices, baking supplies). Buy everything that won’t spoil as far in advance as you can. Return for the turkey, the herbs, and the cheeses a few days before you begin cooking. Use this Thanksgiving shopping list to make sure you pick up everything you need.

Problem 2: You got everything inside the refrigerator, but closing the door is another story.

Solution 2: Empty the refrigerator of all but the essentials. “I’ve found so many things in people’s refrigerators that don’t need to be in there, like vinegars and jars of unopened jellies,” says Jennifer Clair, owner of Home Cooking New York, in New York City.

Make space for Thanksgiving by cleaning out unidentifiable leftovers and expired condiments and using up as much as possible of what’s in the freezer and the refrigerator.

Store hearty produce, like apples, fresh cranberries, and potatoes, in a cool, dry place, like the trunk of the car or the basement, says Jessica Leibovich, owner of Entrée Nous, a personal-chef and catering business in San Diego.

Use a beach cooler for the turkey, casseroles, dips, and other foods that must stay chilled. Filled with ice or frozen gel packs and stowed in the garage or some other cold spot out of the sun, a cooler will keep food fresh for at least 24 hours. (To make sure you’re in the safe zone, place a thermometer inside and make sure it stays below 40° F.)

Problem 3: 1 turkey + 5 side dishes + 2 desserts ÷ 1 stove = complete and total chaos.

Solution 3: To keep organized, create what caterers call a prep list, which lays out, in order, all the tasks that need to be done in the two days prior to your Thanksgiving dinner.

First, figure out which recipes can be made at least one day in advance. Things like pies, blanched vegetables, and gratins can all be prepared ahead of time and refrigerated. Find make-ahead Thanksgiving recipes.

Second, identify which of the dishes to be made on Thanksgiving Day will take the longest. Work backward from the time you want to eat, allowing 10 extra minutes per recipe.

Third, look at cooking temperatures and see what can go in the oven at the same time. Use multiple timers to keep track of what’s in the oven and on the stovetop. Put a Post-it note on each timer so you won’t forget which dish it’s for.

Problem 4: You have six cookbooks open and you still can’t find that recipe for sweet potatoes.

Solution 4: Cut through the clutter and make copies of recipes or print them out from the Web.

Tape them to cabinets at eye level. (This will save precious counter space, too.)

You can also use a magnet and stick them to the hood above the range.

Slip the recipe sheets into plastic sleeves and file them in a binder so they’ll be ready next year.

Problem 5: No matter how huge the turkey, you always have too much dark meat and never enough white.

Solution 5: Cook a small bird and an extra white-meat–only turkey breast. You can present the whole bird to your guests before carving, then add the additional sliced breast meat to the serving platter. “No one will know the difference,” say Dan Smith and Steve McDonagh, authors of Talk With Your Mouth Full: The Hearty Boys Cookbook ($28, amazon.com). Smith suggests cooking the breast until it’s just underdone (about 12 minutes per pound, or 36 minutes for a three-pound breast) the day before, then finishing it with about 25 minutes in the oven the day of.