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CHICAGO, Nov. 22, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Almost everyone has faced this dilemma one time or another: how to get their food to Thanksgiving dinner without spilling it all over the inside of their car. Kristin Varela, senior family editor at Cars.com, has compiled for the holiday season suggestions on how to safely transport Thanksgiving dinner items in the car. The list includes tips and gadgets that get food safely to its destination, keep the dish hot or cold, and help bring leftovers back home after the big meal.

"Most Americans worry about holiday traffic and keeping the kids happy in the backseat during long drives to the relatives' house," said Varela, senior family editor at Cars.com. "Hardly anyone considers how to avoid cleaning cranberry sauce off the backseat or how food insecurely packed can become dangerous when you're rushing to get to dinner on time."

To ensure safe travel of family and holiday dishes, Varela put together a list of gadgets and tricks to get food back and forth easily. Some of her Cars.com family tips include:

• Using bungee cords and tie down loops to secure food in the trunk.
• Placing items like cakes, pies and casseroles in a laundry basket to keep them from shifting and spilling.
• Bringing along a few beach towels in case of any spills. They can also double as insulation for hot items.
• Keeping hot items in a lockable Crock-Pot while in transit. It will keep them hot and secure during the drive.
• Bringing supplies like Ziploc bags and reusable grocery bags to bring leftovers home in.

"While spilling food is certainly not ideal, safety should always be the biggest concern," said Varela. "According to a study by Safety Research and Strategies, projectiles in cars are responsible for 13,000 injuries per year."

To see all of Cars.com's tips for transporting Thanksgiving dinner, or any food, click here.

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Cars.com, the premier online resource for buying and selling new and used cars, was recently named the "Best Overall Customer Experience" by Keynote Systems, the leader in Internet and mobile cloud marketing. Cars.com is an online destination for car shoppers that offers information from consumers and experts to help buyers formulate opinions on what to buy, where to buy and how much to pay for a car. Cars.com offers thousands of new and used vehicle listings, consumer reviews, side-by-side comparison tools, photo galleries, videos, unbiased editorial content and many other tools. Cars.com put millions of car buyers in control of their shopping process with the information they needs to make confident buying decisions.  

Launched in June 1998, Cars.com is a division of Classified Ventures, LLC, which is owned by leading media companies, including Belo (NYSE: BLC), Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE: GCI), The McClatchy Company (NYSE: MNI), Tribune Company and The Washington Post Company (NYSE: WPO).

SOURCE Cars.com