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Party411 wants to make sure that we never lose a visitor,
thus we thought it would be in your best interest and ours, to give you
some pointers on food safety. What is food safety? Well, it's several
things. It's making sure your family and friends are safe from food
poisoning-whether you are entertaining or just serving dinner! It's also
about being knowledgeable when it comes to shopping, preparing foods and
serving them.
Shopping
I don't know about you, but when I'm in the supermarket, the last
thing I think about is where to go first (or last). Now that we've
researched this, the following makes a lot of sense:
- Never shop for meat or poultry until the very end of your
"spree." You don't want these purchases sitting in your
cart and not refrigerated! It makes for a big bummer at the party
when your salmonella chicken poisons some of the guests.
- Keep all your cold foods together-this will help protect them from
spoiling. And when putting these items on the checkout belt, put
them together so they are bagged together (hopefully). This will
help keep them cool on the ride home.
- Never let the bag-boy/girl put your cold/frozen groceries in the
trunk of your car on a warm day. Always place your refrigerator and
freezer items up front with you and the air conditioning.
Grocery Games
Yeah, yeah. There's more to putting groceries away than meets the
eye! Certainly don't start with the bag you want to eat out of first!
And if you are shopping for a party or special dinner, that's more than
a day away-FREEZE don't REFRIGERATE!
- Start with the meats and poultry-put them in the fridge or the
freezer immediately.
- Put your frozen food away next, followed by the refrigerated stuff
like milk, butter and eggs.
- Finally, you can relax and put dry goods away-and sample to your
heart's content.
Cooking
You've got to thaw, prepare, maybe marinate and more. This
entertaining thing is not as easy as it sounds, I know.
- Defrost meat or chicken in the refrigerator not on the counter, in
the sink or in the microwave (unless you are going to use the meat
immediately).
- Marinate in the refrigerator-not on the counter. That warm air can
foster the growth of nasty bacteria (sounds pretty revolting, eh?)
Meat and poultry must remain refrigerated and, anyway, why tempt the
dog or cat to pay a little visit to the counter?
- Make sure everything is clean, clean, clean-wash your utensils and
platters before using them. And wash your hands frequently…you
never know what was on that raw meat!
- Cook all your food thoroughly-you may want to use a meat
thermometer. Any cookbook will tell you what temperature
meat/poultry should be before serving.
- Never put cooked meat or poultry on the same platter that the raw
meat was on. Again, it's that bacteria thing.
- Make sure to keep all your prepared foods HOT! For example, if you
are using the grill, move the food to the side where it is no longer
cooking but can still stay hot!
- Always put your leftovers in the refrigerator or freezer within
two hours of when it was prepared or it may spoil.
- Never use homemade mayonnaise, ice cream or raw cookie dough
unless the ingredients include pasteurized eggs. And don't let this
stuff sit out in the sun or on the party table too long, the result
can be disastrous for you and your guests. Pepto Bismal, here we
come, if you know what I mean.
Finally
It's important that you know the symptoms of food poisoning. If
someone is experiencing mild stomach upset, vomiting, cramps, diarrhea,
chills or fever, it may be food poisoning. But if you follow these
rules, it won't be your fault!!
Have fun. And remember, when in doubt, throw it away…
The Party Girl
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