It’s that time of year again. Time for turkey and all thetrimmings on Thanksgiving, and all sorts of delicious culinaryconcoctions for holiday parties and celebrations.

But it’s also the most dangerous time of year for kitchen fires.Still, with a little careful planning you'll be able to serve thoseholiday dishes you love and still keep your family safe.

Click "Next" to see some tips on avoiding cooking fires at yourhome.

Still frying your turkey?

Although the craze for cooking the Thanksgiving turkey in anoutdoor gas-fueled fryer that uses hot oil seems to have faded,some people continue to fry their turkey. But there is a safe wayto do it.

If you really want a fried turkey, the National Fire Protection Association(NFPA) suggests looking for one that's been pre-cooked at grocerystores, specialty food retailers and restaurants, or consideringusing a new type of oil-less turkey fryer. If you’re going to tryfrying a turkey yourself, keep in mind that the biggest risk ofpersonal injury is a burn from hot oil splattering. Forexample:

• You have to use a propane-fired turkey fryer outdoors, butweather can affect the cooking. If rain or snow hits the hotcooking oil, the oil may splatter or turn to steam, leading toburns.
• Your turkey must be completely thawed before placing it in thefryer because a partially thawed turkey will cause the oil tosplatter—risking more burns.
• Fryers use a lot of oil—about five gallons. It’s difficult toplace a 20-pound turkey into five gallons of oil without riskingsplatters and possible burns.

The Midland, Mich., fire department staged the followingdemonstrations showing safe and unsafe ways of frying a turkey

Distracted cooking

Although fires from deep-frying turkeys have garnered the mostpublicity, “distracted cooking” causes more kitchen fires.

For many, watching a Thanksgiving Day parade on television is asmuch a tradition as the meal. Kitchen fires start when someoneleaves the turkey in the oven too long at too high a heat or startsto make gravy and lets it boil over, focused on the marching bandsand character balloons instead of the stove.

Small children often want to “help,” especially if they’revisiting grandparents that they don’t see often. You can easily getdistracted paying attention to the children or finding tasks forthem to do and forgetting about the food on the stove. Plan aheadso children will be occupied or make sure someone is delegated tokeep them away from the kitchen while you’re cooking.

Too much alcohol, too little sleep

When you’ve been celebrating a little too much or you’ve been uplate preparing for the holidays, you may get careless.

Pizza boxes keeping pizza warm in the oven can be forgotten whenyou’ve had one too many, leading to an oven fire or worse.

Some cooks decide to get creative at the holidays and plandishes that ignite, like Bananas Foster. The recipe sounds simple,but lighting alcohol is tricky and best practiced several timesbefore serving to guests. The most important rule to keep in mindis to measure the alcohol into a container and pour it into the panbefore lighting, then step back as the flames flare up. (Onceagain, be sure to have a lid handy to smother the flame ifnecessary.) One hostess almost set her wig on fire by standing tooclose to the Cherries Jubilee!

Crowded counters

No matter how much counter space you have, at holiday time itseems as though there’s never enough.

Keep anything that can catch fire—pot holders, oven mitts,wooden utensils, paper or plastic bags, food packaging, and towelsor curtains, for instance—away from any heat-generating appliance,not just your stove.

Plastic bags on top of the toaster oven, anyone?

Not a time to ‘do it yourself’

The NFPA says that there are some actions you can take to dousea cooking fire if they’re small enough.

• Keep a lid nearby when you’re frying to smother small greasefires.
• Smother the fire by sliding the lid over the pan and turn offthe stovetop. Leave the pan covered, in place, until it has cooledcompletely.
• For an oven fire, turn off the heat and keep the doorclosed.
• Keep a fire extinguisher handy and be sure you know how to useit correctly.

For any other kind of kitchen fire, just getout!

When you leave, close the door behind you to help contain thefire. Call 9-1-1 or the local emergency numberafter you and all family members are safely out.

With a few precautions, everyone can have several great mealswithout the risk of fire. Bon appétit!