Sometimes we senior cooks are satisfied to handle food and cooking the way we always have and hope it’s safe. I worry about fixing Christmas dinner this year – whether my “old” methods are still considered OK. What’s the latest on safe preparation of holiday meals?

Preparing your holiday banquet shouldn’t be a high risk activity! Consumers need to treat every turkey as though it harbors a feast of bacteria. And turkey isn’t the only problem. Popular holiday favorites from stuffing to eggnog to cider can also cause food poisoning. Here are some of the Center for Science in the Public Interest tips for safe holiday eating:

• First, treat your turkey with respect. Don’t leave it waiting – not in the store, not in the car, not at your house. Buy it last and refrigerate it promptly.
• Warm up to your turkey gradually. Start defrosting your frozen 20 pound turkey in your refrigerator on Sunday before Christmas.
• Clear the decks. When you are ready to start cooking, clear your counter top or table to prevent the raw bird from contaminating other foods. And watch out for raw turkey juices, which can also harbor hazardous bacteria. When it comes to poultry, cross-contamination is probably responsible for as many cases of illnesses as undercooking. Thoroughly wash all counter tops, cutting boards and utensils which have contact with your raw turkey and throw your sponges in the dishwasher.
• Undercooked turkey can harbor Salmonella and Camplyobacter. Use a meat thermometer, even if the turkey has a pop-up timer. Although these timers are generally reliable, they are not fail safe. Insert the thermometer into the thigh. When the temperature reaches 180 degrees, the turkey is done.
• Serve it mulled. Apple cider, the unpasteurized kind that you can buy on winding country roads, is not safe enough to serve. The good news is that consumers can make unpasteurized cider safe by heating it to 160 degrees on the stove. Boiling cider will also make it safe, and saves fiddling with a thermometer. Then serve it either hot or cold without worry.
• Pasteurize or else. Consumers can either use pasteurized egg products in making their homemade eggnog or heat the egg and milk mixture to 160 degrees.