“Dinner on the grounds,” a treasured tradition in rural
churches, still delights many
Georgians. It carries over into large family gatherings and many
other holiday settings.

These feasts can offer the best of the fall holidays. People
tend to bring only their best
foods to share with their families and friends.

But if you’re not careful, these meals can lead to some of the
holidays’ worst, too.

“Bacteria are everywhere. But a few types especially like to
crash parties,” said Judy
Harrison, a foods specialist with the University of Georgia
Extension Service.

Some of the culprits, she said, are Salmonella,
Staphylococcus aureus, Clostridium
perfringens and Listeria monocytogenes. If they lurk
in your food, you won’t be able to
tell it.

“You can’t smell or taste these bacteria in food,” Harrison
said. “The only way to keep
them from ruining your party is to make a point of preparing and
handling food
safely.”

That means washing your hands before and after handling food. It
means keeping your
kitchen, dishes and utensils clean, too. And always serve food
on clean plates.

On the buffet table, keep hot foods hot (140 degrees or warmer)
with chafing dishes,
crock pots or warming trays. Keep cold foods 40 degrees or
colder by nesting dishes in
bowls of ice. Or use small serving bowls and replace them
often.

Keep track of how long foods have been on the buffet table. The
two-hour rule is
important. “Never let foods sit at room temperature more than
two hours,” Harrison
said.

If you’re taking the turkey, be especially careful.

“To transport an unstuffed cooked turkey,” Harrison said, “take
it out of the oven,
immediately wrap it in foil and put it straight into the cooler.
Then put it into the
warmest spot in the car.”

What about a cooked stuffed turkey? “Don’t try to transport it
stuffed,” she said.
“Remove the stuffing immediately after cooking and transport it
in a dish, not in the
turkey.”

Don’t partially cook a turkey ahead of time and then finish it
before the meal, either. It
can’t be safely done.

You can cook the turkey a day ahead, Harrison said, but not if
want to take it whole.
You can’t safely cool and then reheat a whole cooked turkey. If
you must cook a day
ahead, go ahead and carve it.

Be sure you cook the turkey in an oven set no lower than 325
degrees. Cook it until a
meat thermometer placed in the thigh reaches 180 degrees. Then
let it stand 20
minutes.

If it’s stuffed, remove the stuffing and cool it quickly in
small, shallow dishes. Carve
all the meat from the turkey, leaving legs, thighs and wings if
you wish.

Divide the carved meat and turkey parts into small, shallow
containers.

That will allow the turkey to cool fast and evenly and reheat
quickly at meal time.

When you travel, pack the turkey and other perishable foods in a
cooler with ice or
frozen gel packs. When you get where you’re going, refrigerate
the foods quickly.

Reheat the foods in a 325-degree oven or a microwave to an
internal temperature of
165 degrees, or until they’re steaming hot.

After the meal, throw out any foods that sat for more than two
hours on the buffet
table, Harrison said. Other leftovers are safe in the
refrigerator for four days.

They’re safe indefinitely in the freezer, she said. But most
will taste best if eaten within
four months. To be safe, thoroughly reheat leftovers to 165
degrees.

If you have to travel an especially long way, Harrison said,
maybe it’s best to
reconsider.

“Sometimes it’s safer just to give up on the idea of taking your
feast across the
country,” she said. “Look for new traditions when you get
there.”