A Short Hiatus. Very Short. You Probably Won?t Even Realize I?ve Gone Anywhere. But Just In Case You Do?

…I will be at The Beach!  I’m leaving very shortly.  Not with The Beloved.  With my best friend.  I have a trashy romance novel, plus another not-so-trashy novel.  I have my camera.  I have my phone and our GPS, Bambi, so I won’t get lost.  What I won’t have is a Connection to the Hinternet.  I will be back home on Friday, but you might not hear from me until Sunday Suppers.  We shall see.

Since I hate to just leave you without any Useful Information, here is some Food Safety Information for you.  Thrilling, I know.  Try to contain yourselves.

If you don’ t have a thermometer in your refrigerator, go get one.  You want to make sure that the temp in there is below 40F, even in the door, to keep your food out of the dreaded Temperature Danger Zone.  This is the zone where bacterial growth is Rampant, so store your food at below 40F.
Food safety regulations say no more than 4 hours total in the Danger Zone.  That means cumulatively.  If you take your roast chicken out of the fridge and it gets above 40F for about an hour for four days in a row, you’re done.
Whenever you make a Hot Thing and then need to refrigerate it, it’s going to be hanging out in the Temperature Danger Zone (between 40F-141F) for awhile.  Minimize that time as much as possible by cooling things off rapidly in an ice bath.  Don’t put your Hot Thing in the fridge while it’s still hot.  Refrigerators are meant to keep stuff cold, not make stuff cold.  What’ll happen is that everything in the fridge will end up in the Danger Zone for awhile.
Reheat foods to at least 160F for 15 seconds.  That should be enough to kill off any Baddies.
If you need to store raw foods in the fridge, make sure to store the meats on the bottom.  It’s coldest there, and if it leaks, it won’t drip all over your lettuce.  Ew.

And there you have it.

I have a couple of Items in the Queue, including how to substitute oil for solid fat in baking.  Ask away, and I will get to them.  If you don’t ask, I will just blather on about Whatever I Want.  I need some structure, people!

I hope everyone has a great week.

PS If you haven’t already seen my Glorious Spatchcocked Chicken, go check it out.  You will not be sorry.  Prolly.