Holidays bring people together to eat and celebrate. So much food will also need enough storage space before and after the festivities.

To help in this seasonal quandary here are tips from MedlinePlus and Living Bellisima:

• Make sure there are available containers- hard containers for dishes with liquids, and ziplock or cling wrap for solids. Prepare cleaners as well. The best cleaners should also serve as disinfectants.
• Start organizing the ref with the condiments and go shelf by shelf, cleaning along the way.
• Check the expiry dates of the food. Store the food in such a way that would also serve as a reminder of the length of time before they expire-- near-expiry in front. If possible, label the containers with the dates of when the food was purchased or prepared.
• Get rid of food that is already expired -- this should be done regularly for the sake of everyone's health. Check the dates if the labels are legible; if not, the pungent smell of the food should be a good indicator.
• Set the temperature at 40-60 degrees Fahrenheit in the ref and 0 degrees in the freezer. This is the recommendation of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
• Place meats at the bottom shelf and separate from the ready to eat dishes. Make sure that they're all wrapped and labeled properly.
• Ideally, from top to bottom, store food in this order: desserts, ready-to-eat food, veggies, meats.
• Thaw food in the ref. This may take more time but it ensures that the food will not degrade fast.
• Throw away any food that has been left out of the ref for at least two hours, with or without the smell of decay. The smell of old food may not be very obvious at the onset.

Some of these tips can also work if the family will be away traveling for the holiday. Jobs and Hire has a separate feature on food during trips.