Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/614916
With Thanksgiving be- hind us, the holiday season is just gearing up. The next few weeks are full of good cheer and plenty of food. To help keep your holiday season healthy, the U.S. De- partment of Agriculture's (USDA) Food Safety and In- spection Service (FSIS) is is- suing holiday inspired food safety recommendations for your Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, New Year's Eve, Three Kings Day, or other festive gatherings. These tips come from years of ex- perience working to make sure that the meat, poultry and egg products you eat are safe, wholesome and properly labeled. To start, download the FoodKeeper application. This smartphone and tab- let app created by FSIS will help you evaluate what items in your refrigerator and pantry are still good and what may be past its prime. As you're putting together dishes for meals at home or parties at work, it will help you make sure you're using fresh ingredi- ents. The FoodKeeper of- fers storage advice on more than 400 different food and beverage items and can help you decide what you can keep and what you should throw out. It also of- fers handy guidance on left- overs, which you'll probably have a lot of after the big meal. Download the Food- Keeper today on your An- droid or iOS device. Holidayroast Use separate cutting boards, plates and utensils for raw roasts and cooked roasts to avoid cross-con- tamination. Wash items such as cutting boards that have touched raw meat with warm water and soap, or place them in a dishwasher. To avoid overcooking beef, veal, pork and lamb roasts use a meat thermom- eter. These roasts should be removed from the oven when they reach an inter- nal temperature of 145 °F and allowed to rest for three minutes before serving. Turkey, duck, and goose should be cooked to an in- ternal temperature of 165 °F as measured by a food thermometer. Tempera- tures should be taken in three areas of the bird: the thickest part of the breast, the innermost part of the wing, and the innermost part of the thigh. Holiday party buffets Keep hot food hot and keep cold food cold by us- ing chafing dishes or crock pots and ice trays. Hot items should remain above 140 ˚F and cold items should re- main below 40 ˚F. Use several small plates when serving food. Discard perishable foods left out for 2 hours or more. Leftovers should be re- frigerated or frozen imme- diately in shallow contain- ers. Reheat leftovers to 165 °F. If you're transporting pre-cooked food to a holi- day get together, keep cold foods safe on the way there by placing items in a cooler with ice or gel packs to keep them at or below 40 ˚F. If you're transporting hot foods, wrap dishes in in- sulated bags or towels and newspaper to keep their temperature above 140 ˚F. Food safety gi s Food Thermometer: a useful tool for even the most experienced cook as it is the only way to ensure that meat is fully cooked. Cutting Board: using sep- arate cutting boards for raw meat and ready-to-eat food is a great way to prevent cross-contamination. Kitchen Towel: these towels should be washed frequently to avoid cross- contamination, so a home cook can never have enough kitchen towels. Mail-delivered food Check with the mail de- livery company to ensure they send perishable items, like meat and poultry, cold or frozen and pack it with a cold source. Foods should be pack- aged in a foam or heavy corrugated cardboard con- tainer. Delivery should occur as quickly as possible — ide- ally, overnight. Foods should arrive fro- zen or partially frozen with ice crystals still visible or at least refrigerator cold — be- low 40 °F as measured by a food thermometer. Consumers can learn more about key food safety practices at Foodsafety.gov and follow @USDAFood- Safety on Twitter. Consum- ers with questions about food safety can call the USDA Meat and Poultry Ho- tline at 1-888-MPHotline (1- 888-674-6854) or chat live with a food safety special- ist at AskKaren.gov, avail- able from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, Monday through Friday, in English or Spanish. USDA Fo od s af et y sh ou l d be a t top of you holiday list Steve Nelson won the 12 gauge Weatherby shotgun that was raffled by the Po- lice Activities League with the drawing held on Sat- urday, Dec. 5 at Reynolds Farm and Ranch Supply on Madison Street in Red Bluff. The gun was presented to the winner by Lt. Lou Aviles, commander of the Red Bluff California High- way Patrol office and PAL board president. Repre- senting Reynolds was Sam Webb. Reynolds provided the shotgun to PAL at a reasonable price to help support PAL in Tehama County. The proceeds from the raffle will go to Tehama County PAL, which spon- sors various free sports and activities for the youth in Tehama County throughout the year. PAL is a 501 (c) (3) non profit youth anti-crime, drug demand reduction, alcohol and tobacco free and anti-bullying organi- zation. To donate to PAL, visit http://www.tehamaso. org/ or call 529-7950. PAL is partially funded by the United Way of Northern California. All donations help keep programs free. FUNDRAISER Nelson wins PAL raffle Pictured,fromle ,areSamWeb,SteveNelsonandLou Aviles. Due to historically strong El Niño patterns, re- cent storms and more wet weather in the forecast, the Mendocino National Forest is encouraging visitors to monitor the weather and check conditions before vis- iting Forest recreation sites. The first wet weather clo- sure of the season was im- plemented today for both the Grindstone and Up- per Lake Off-Highway Ve- hicle (OHV) trail systems after trails were saturated by more than 2 inches of rain in 24 hours. The trails will reopen after at least 48 hours of no measurable pre- cipitation. Recent drenching storms may have impacted roads in the forest. If you come across an area where the road is compromised or washed out, please report it to Forest Engineer Shan- non Pozas at 530-934-3316. As winter conditions re- turn to the Mendocino Na- tional Forest, all visitors are asked to be cautious when recreating on the forest, whether they are driving, hiking, camping or enjoy- ing other recreational pur- suits — including selecting a Christmas tree. "While this wet weather gives hope to the drought- stricken Mendocino and many other parts of Cal- ifornia, it also presents some challenges for visitors enjoying our Forest dur- ing early winter through spring," said Forest Super- visor Ann Carlson. "Poten- tial hazards to both visi- tors and forest resources arise when weather condi- tions are constantly chang- ing throughout the season. We want everyone to have a safe and enjoyable trip to the forest, while preserving resources so they can be en- joyed for years to come. To help with this, visitors are asked to be prepared for changing conditions, aware of their surroundings, and minimize impacts to satu- rated roads and trails." Many popular trails and some access points to rec- reation sites on the Men- docino involve crossing normally small creeks and streams. Caution should be used at these stream cross- ings. People and vehicles can be swept away by cur- rents in even relatively shal- low water. Also, conditions can change rapidly and a stream that was easy to cross in the morning can become impassable by af- ternoon, trapping people on the wrong side. Following are some addi- tional safety suggestions for those recreating in the for- est this winter: Plan your trip — check the weather, bring plenty of warm clothes, water, emer- gency food, tire chains, shovel and any other sup- plies necessary for the ac- tivity. Call to check if the area you are planning to visit is still open and acces- sible. Make sure you have a full tank of gas when you leave and are prepared for chang- ing conditions in the moun- tains! For more information, call the Mendocino Na- tional Forest at 934-3316 or visit www.fs.usda.gov/men- docino. MENDOCINO Forest visitors urged to be aware of wet weather closures C a l l 8 7 7- 4 D A D 4 11 o r v i s i t w w w . f a t h e r h o o d . g o v be a dad today. Take time to Newpatientsalwayswelcome! 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