More folks are getting together this year, with the American Automobile Association predicting holiday travel will be nearly back to pre-pandemic levels.

If that’s the case at your house, it may have been a while since you faced a frozen turkey or remembered which cousins shouldn’t sit together.

To help you brush up on the holiday basics, here are some tips to keep everyone safe, healthy and sane:

FIRST, THE TURKEY

The big bird is the center of most Thanksgiving meals, but it’s important to handle raw poultry properly to avoid spreading bacteria that can send your guests home with an unwanted side of food poisoning. Thaw safely. A frozen turkey needs about 24 hours to thaw for every 4 to 5 pounds of weight, according to the Agriculture Department. In a pinch, it can be thawed in a cold water bath or even a microwave, but it must be cooked immediately if you use those methods. And don’t wash the turkey. It’s a bad idea to rinse it in the sink, a practice that can spread potentially dangerous germs like salmonella to nearby areas, said Jennifer Quinlan, a Drexel University nutrition sciences professor who has studied consumers’ turkey-handling habits. Instead, pat the turkey dry with paper towels and plop it in the roasting pan.

COOK THOROUGHLY, REFRIGERATE PROMPTLY

The best way to make sure your turkey is fully cooked, to an internal temperature of 165 degrees Fahrenheit, is to use a meat thermometer, said Lisa Shelley, who researches food safety at North Carolina State University. Don’t rely on golden-brown skin or the color of the turkey juices. Once the turkey is served, be sure to refrigerate it and all the other leftovers — mashed potatoes, gravy, yams — within two hours. “Really, set a timer when you put everything out,” suggested Quinlan. “You’ll be surprised at how fast two hours goes.”

And don’t skimp on the cleanup. Wash your hands before preparing food and after touching raw poultry. But make sure to consider the counters, the cutting boards and any tools that may be contaminated, too, said Shelley. Clean with soap and water, then sanitize with chlorine bleach. “It’s a two-step process,” she said.

DANGER ZONES

Certain holidays are known for specific injuries and Thanksgiving’s no exception, said Dr. Christopher Kang, president of the American College of Emergency Physicians. Carve carefully. Slicing a turkey is a lot harder than it looks, as Turkey Day injuries attest. “Always, with any cutting and carving, we see a lot of hand injuries and finger injuries,” said Kang, an ER doctor in Tacoma, Washington. Make sure the carving knife is sharp and never slice toward yourself, always away. Don’t put your hand under the blade to catch a slice of meat.

Beware, turkey fryer fires. Deep-fried turkey may sound delectable, but it’s a dangerous dish for home cooks to prepare. The fryers can tip over and spill — and the combination of a frozen or not-quite-thawed turkey and hot oil can create an explosion. Even when that doesn’t happen, Kang said he’s seen plenty of painful scalding injuries caused by hot oil.

AVOID THE “TRIPLE-DEMIC”

Thanksgiving gatherings also kick off a spike in other ER visits as generations gather and swap germs. This year, the danger posed by COVID-19 and other viruses, including an early flu season and RSV, respiratory syncytial virus, is a continuing worry, Kang said. Babies and young children are particularly vulnerable to some infections; older people are more susceptible to others. “What age group is not at risk?” Kang said. To reduce the chances of infection and serious illness, make sure everyone eligible is up-to-date on vaccinations. Ask folks who have any symptoms of illness — even “allergies” or “just a cold” — to stay home. Consider asking guests to take a rapid COVID-19 test before they show up. Make sure your home is well-ventilated: Open windows, keep a portable air purifier running. To protect the most vulnerable guests, consider wearing masks indoors.

BE MINDFUL OF YOUR MENTAL HEALTH

Hosting — or joining — a Thanksgiving holiday event after nearly three years of a tumultuous pandemic may be a challenge. It’s important to have realistic expectations — and to plan ahead to avoid familiar family pitfalls, according to the American Psychological Association. Take time for yourself. Despite the pressure of the holidays, don’t forgo your healthy routine. If you usually exercise, make time for a long walk, APA experts say: “Reflect on aspects of your life that give you joy.” Set boundaries in advance. If you’re worried about conflicts or heated discussions at your holiday table, the APA suggests making sure every knows Thanksgiving is a time to focus on “gratitude, appreciation and all you have, including each other.”

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Gathering again? Tips for a safe and healthy Thanksgiving

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The centenary events this week bring a welcome respite from winter gloom and spreading worries about the omicron coronavirus variant.

The bar is carefully checking COVID-19 health passes as visitors from Australia, Egypt and beyond gather to sample the famed drink at Harry’s, whose patrons over the past century have included writers Ernest Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald.

Franz-Arthur MacElhone, great-grandson of bar founder Harry MacElhone, recounted different legends around the reason for the drink’s name. According to Harry’s Bar history, bartender Fernand Petiot invented the drink and the recipe was first published in a book called “Harry’s ABC of Cocktails” in 1921.

Bartender Dante Agnelli demonstrated the technique for making the drink, ingredient by ingredient: Salt and pepper, Tabasco sauce, Worcestershire sauce, lemon juice, and vodka, tomato juice.

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Happy 100th, Bloody Mary: Paris marks cocktail’s birthday

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Since July, the small staff at Epicurious, a resource site for home cooks, has been scouring 55 years’ worth of recipes from a variety of Conde Nast magazines in search of objectionable titles, ingredient lists and stories told through a white American lens.

“It came after Black Lives Matter, after a lot of consciousness-raising among the editors and staff,” said David Tamarkin, the white digital director for Epicurious. “It came out of conversations that we had about how we can do better, where are we failing and where have our predecessors failed?”

Called the Archive Repair Project, the work is also an outgrowth of complaints and controversies at Conde Nast. But it’s just one effort on a full plate of initiatives, said Sonia Chopra, who’s been executive editor of Bon Appetit and Epicurious for about four months, working under the new editor in chief, Dawn Davis.

In all, the 25-year-old site (with a staff of 10) is a repository of a massive 35,000 recipes from Bon Appetit, Gourmet, Self, House & Garden, and Epicurious itself. They stretch back to 1965.

“The language that we use to talk about food has evolved so much from, sure, the 1960s but also the 1990s, and I think it is our duty as journalists, as people who work in food media, to make sure that we are reflecting that appropriately,” Chopra said.

Epicurious and Bon Appetit have been at the center of accusations that also plague others in the food world: undervaluing staffers of color, perpetuating structural racism, racial and gender discrimination, and more. Some of those issues led several Bon Appetit employees to leave earlier this year after Editor-in-Chief Adam Rapoport resigned over a 2004 Halloween “brownface” photo and amid allegations of racial discrimination.

While Conde Nast studies pay equity and have issued apologies and pledges to do such things as expand unconscious-bias education and create inclusion and diversity plans, the Archive Repair Project rolls on.

The bulk of Epicurious site traffic goes to the archive, mostly recipes but also articles and other editorial work, Tamarkin and Chopra said.

“Being such an old site, we’re full of a lot of ideas about American cooking that really go through a white lens,” Tamarkin said. “We know that American cooking is Mexican American cooking and Indian American cooking and Nigerian American cooking, that that’s the kind of cooking that’s really happening in this country every day.”

One of the first issues “repaired,” he said, was the use of the word “exotic.”

“I can’t think of any situation where that word would be appropriate, and yet it’s all over the site,” Tamarkin said. “That’s painful for me and I’m sure others.”

Another word requiring removal was a lime reference that included a racial slur directed at Black Africans, particularly in South Africa.

Other terms, such as “authentic” and “ethnic,” are also among repairs.

The work, Chopra said, is “certainly something that I think not just Conde Nast brands but all over food media and media, in general, are really thinking about.”

Since July, when Tamarkin outlined the project on Epicurious, he and his staff have fixed about 200 recipes and other work. Some repairs are more complicated than removing a single word, such as an entire story about the “ethnic” aisle at the grocery store.

“We have published recipes with headnotes that fail to properly credit the inspirations for the dish, or degrade the cuisine the dish belongs to. We have purported to make a recipe `better’ by making it faster, or swapping in ingredients that were assumed to be more familiar to American palates, or easier to find. We have inferred (and in some cases outright labeled) ingredients and techniques to be ‘surprising’ or `weird.’ And we have published terminology that was widely accepted in food writing at the time, and that we now recognize has always been racist,” Tamarkin wrote.

He noted: “Certainly there will be times when our edits do not go far enough; some of our repairs will need repairs.”

For Bon Appetit, that’s exactly what happened when an outcry among readers led it to make multiple changes including the headnote and references to Haiti on a pumpkin soup recipe put forth by Chef Marcus Samuelsson, a guest editor. The magazine referred to it as soup joumou, a beloved Haitian staple that symbolizes the country’s bloody liberation from its French colonizers.

It was not soup joumou, but was intended by Samuelsson as an homage. The magazine adapted an entry from one of his cookbooks, “The Rise: Black Cooks and the Soul of American Food.” Both Bon Appetit and Samuelsson, who is Black, apologized after calls of erasure and cultural appropriation.

Much of food media is facing race and ethnicity fallout that can be traced to white dominance in the highest echelons of the field. On the Epicurious repair project, for instance, just 31% of the people identifying and fixing the archive are staff of color.

Chopra said broader plans are in motion.

“We’re committed to building teams that are inclusive and thoughtful, and that means always assessing and reassessing our policies and processes. As we transition into 2021 with new leadership, we are examining these across the board, from hiring best practices to making sure we are communicating and working collaboratively and holistically across teams and platforms,” Chopra added.

In the meantime, Tamarkin and his crew are slowly pressing on with their archive repairs at Epicurious, where “Asian” is no longer the name of a cold rice noodle salad, and a vadouvan spice blend has lost its mention as “exotic.”

“A lot of these problems happened because there was a lack of thoughtfulness,” Tamarkin said, “so the solutions require that we be thoughtful now.”

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Epicurious is righting cultural wrongs one recipe at a time

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Tequila is the main alcohol in all Margaritas but some people like to use frozen strawberries and limeade concentrate to conceal the taste of the tequila. One of the country’s foremost cocktail historians, David Wondrich says the Margarita is a version of the Daisy cocktail (in Spanish: Margarita) and that margaritas often have a higher liquor ratio so they can be a dangerous cocktail if you’re drinking without eating.

These are some facts or myths told on days like National Margarita Day. But the real deal is margaritas are cocktails with flowery finesse.

Barcello restaurant, located at 11603 US Highway 1 in North Palm Beach is experimenting with new ingredients and flavor combinations to bring you an even better agave cocktail.

Mixologist Micah Hinde has created Hibiscus Margarita with Black Sea Salt, a cocktail deep red in color with floral notes and a subtle bite of ginger. A squeeze of fresh lime helps to brighten all the flavors.

For this rendition of the famous magic combo of sweet, sour and tequila dumped into a salt-rimmed glass, Hinde uses Cimarron Blanco Tequila, broVo Orange Curacao, Domaine de Canton Ginger Liqueur, fresh lime juice, agave, and salts the rim of the glass with Himalayan Black Salt creating a bold flavor.

This cocktail is a true game-changer and a fun twist on the traditional Margarita.

And the good thing is the cocktail is available every day from their signature cocktail list.

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The post Hibiscus Margarita with Black Sea Salt: a True Game-changer appeared first on The Florida Daily Post.

And she owes it to dinosaurs and Little Red Riding Hood.

The London-based Sian creates handmade, sometimes fairytale-inspired illustrations on wallpaper with magnetic linings, and sells it with three magnets of a customer’s choosing for interactive fun. A dinosaur motif is her best-seller among a dozen designs that also include an enchanted forest and tropical blooms.

“It was inspired by my final year thesis on Little Red Riding Hood. I was interested to see how the story evolved over the centuries,” said the 35-year-old Sian, a graduate of the art school Central Saint Martins, in London. “I wanted to create interactive magnetic wallpaper that would let people tell their stories using a set of characters.”

She was awarded $15,000, which she said she’ll put back into her Etsy shop, SianZeng.

Etsy, the online marketplace for handcrafted goods, opened the competition to sellers around the world. The competition drew thousands of contenders. Other winners are based in the United States, Greece and Israel.

Winners were chosen by a panel of judges, including actor Dan Levy, style expert Joe Zee, fashion designer Anavila Misra and artist Garance Dore. The idea, said Etsy trend expert and fellow judge Dayna Isom Johnson, was to recognize the very best of Etsy.

“We’re a global platform and I think sometimes people forget that,” she told The Associated Press. “The Etsy Design Awards are really about the celebration of our incredible community of over 2.3 million sellers that we have around the globe.”

Sian began her Etsy shop with other handmade goods in 2009, soon after her college graduation.

“Being young graduates, it was difficult to showcase our work anywhere,” she said. “Within the first week, we sold well.”

The competition’s other winners, in specific design categories, received $1,000 each.

A self-taught woodworker, Justin Nelson of the Etsy shop FernwehWoodworking, was recognized for inventive decor driven by his Sling Chair. It has a frame of hand-shaped American walnut and a hand-stitched leather seat and back. It was the first chair the Bend, Oregon-based former Marine ever created.

Molly Goodall, whose Etsy shop is called LittleGoodall, was the signature style winner for a sky-blue, wool-blend, felt girls’ coat featuring a rainbow and fluttery gilded butterflies. There’s also a faux fur collar and epaulets. The McKinney, Texas-based Goodall was inspired to launch her shop of whimsical children’s apparel when her 2-year-old son refused to wear his hood during winter. She created a felt lion coat to motivate him.

Etsy’s earth-friendly winners are an Athens, Greece, couple, Vicky Moudilou and Stam Guinis of the Etsy shop EatingTheGoober. They create clothes, accessories, and bags out of discarded tires and upcycled fabric. The judges recognized the pair for slide sandals made from recycled materials that come with wide interchangeable uppers.

The other winners include Tel Aviv, Israel-based Naomi Shiek of the Etsy shop WoodlandPapercuts, and architects Alejandro and Sara Pijuan, who create midcentury-inspired pet furniture in their garage, selling on Etsy at PijuanDesignWorkshop.

Shiek uses papercut techniques to create Jewish wedding ketubahs, with newlywed customers of many faiths commissioning designs to showcase their own wedding vows, meaningful texts or wedding contracts.

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Magnetic Wallpaper Tops Winners in First Etsy Design Awards

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The show is under an hour and Dalkin’s husband, Thomas Dawson, records it and reads out questions and comments from viewers.

Dalkin, who went to culinary school and has worked as a private chef, will offer tips for de-boning salmon, cleaning mushrooms, and joke about her polka dot sweatsuit that Thomas says resembles pajamas. It’s all very casual and doable, which Dalkin said is the point.

“It’s like you’re cooking alongside your best friend in the kitchen,” said Dalkin in a recent interview. “I don’t want to spend five hours cooking a meal and I know everyone else doesn’t. Let’s show people how to make something simple and delicious and go about our lives.”

It turns out there is an audience who make tuning in a ritual.

“We have people in India where it’s their morning when they’re watching,” said Dalkin.

She recently got a message from a viewer’s husband who said every Monday night he falls asleep listening to her voice because his wife is watching as they go to bed. He wanted to not like her, but now he’s a fan.

She also encourages her followers to make the recipes throughout the week and tag her on Instagram, which as Dalkin notes, is free marketing and publicity.

Thomas may be heard and not seen in the cooking demos, but he’s earned his own devotees. There’s an Instagram account, What’s Thomas Eating, where he’s often poking fun at his wife. He sometimes posts his own videos when he’s home alone and cooking her recipes.

“He started What’s Thomas Eating as a total joke and I think sometimes he’s more influential than I am,” laughed Dalkin.

Dalkin says she’s not looking for a traditional cooking show because she feels like she’s already doing that online.

“Back in the day, all I wanted was to be the ‘Next Food Network Star.’ I applied three years in a row and got denied three years in a row. Yes, we would do some sort of TV series, but I would need it to be a lot more animated and fun and maybe even lifestyle and travel-related.”

Dawson is in the process of transitioning from his day job in advertising to work with Gaby full-time. The goal is to ramp up their content and produce more videos for her website, YouTube and Instagram accounts. Dalkin also has two cookbooks, “Absolutely Avocados” (fans know she seriously loves avocados,) and “What’s Gaby Cooking: Everyday California Food.” She’s now working on a third.

“I haven’t taken a day off in the last probably five years,” confesses Dalkin. “Sometimes I’ll have a full meltdown because I can’t think of any recipes and Thomas is good about being like, ‘Let’s go for a walk and remove ourselves from the kitchen and where we normally work.’”

You can watch her shows here: instagram.com/whatsgabycookin

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What’s Gaby Cooking, a Weekly Instagram Cooking Show

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If you’re hoping to reduce household food waste, experts say there are two key things to do: Eat what you have, and buy only what you need.

Practicing smarter shopping is not only green for its environmental impact; it saves you money.

“People need to really think through whether they need to be buying as much food as they are,” said Jonathan Deutsch, a professor of culinary arts and food science at Drexel University in Philadelphia and author or editor of six books on food management.

We can rethink what we define as waste, Deutsch pointed out. A bruised apple or the green leaves encasing a head of cauliflower can be easily repurposed into a sauce or side dish.

“A good cook can make a good meal out of what’s already in most people’s houses,” he said.

“Make sure you’re buying only what you need, and then be sure to use it.”

The world’s food waste problem is well-documented and multi-faceted. Some estimates put global waste at 30 percent of all food. This is in spite of the 795 million people suffering from chronic hunger, according to numbers from the United Nations. Food waste that isn’t composted piles up in landfills.

Fortunately, there are ways to make your grocery shopping more environmentally friendly.

Buying expired or “last chance” produce at the supermarket is one way 38-year-old Jule Eisendick reduces waste. Eisendick has been practicing a low- to zero-waste lifestyle while traveling, and writes about it on her blog, The Happy Choices.

“I only buy fresh produce when the old one is gone,” she said, adding she tries to use every part of a fruit or vegetable. She might make chips with leftover potato peels, or throw remaining carrot and beet tops into a salad. “What I don’t use goes into compost.”

Much of the food waste problem starts in the supply chain. Tons of misshapen, small or bruised produce is left in the field. Sometimes, markets have too much of one particular food so the rest could get tossed by the wholesaler. And it’s common for grocery stores to reject foods that don’t look like what the customer expects.

In the last few years, however, a secondary market for these “rejects” has arisen. Now they can be donated or sold.

Two such companies are Misfits Market, based in Philadelphia, and Imperfect Produce, from San Francisco. Both have partnered with farmers to rescue rejected produce. Customers sign up online for a delivered box of funny-looking fruits or veggies. The box is then delivered to their front doorsteps.

Misfits Market, which opened last October, sells “ugly produce” boxes in the Northeast. Customer sign-ups have grown 10-fold in the first five months of business, according to Abhi Ramesh, Misfits Market’s chief executive officer.

“There’s a tremendous interest in doing something to reduce food waste,” Ramesh said. “People know it’s a huge problem.”

By comparison, the Imperfect Produce website touts some 40 million pounds of produce saved through its business model since the company was founded in 2015. The boxes of rejected produce are currently available in 15 cities, but the company plans to expand service to 12 more areas by the end of the year.

“There are some really funny-looking fruits and vegetables,” said Ben Simon, CEO and co-founder of Imperfect Produce. “Some are really anthropomorphic . a potato that looks like a teddy bear.”

Still, this food is fine to eat, Simon said.

“Maybe there’s an orange that is slightly smaller than one you’d find at a grocery store,” he said.

The convenience of these home delivery services appeals to busy professionals. Customers can choose the size of the box and frequency of delivery.

Zucu Ingersoll, a 36-year-old San Francisco Bay Area resident, has subscribed to Imperfect Produce for almost a year, and said the most unusual piece of food she recalls getting was an oversized head of cabbage. Getting the deliveries has cut down on time spent going to buy food.

“I don’t shop at the grocery store much now,” she said.

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Shopping to Reduce Household Food Waste

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