Cooking Spring Holiday Foods

Hi, I'm Donna Karlsons with the USDA's
Food Safety & Inspection Service.
Spring celebrations can often feature foods we
don't prepare as often during the year, so here
are some food safety tips to help you keep foodborne
illness from ruining your party.
As with any food preparation, always begin
with the basics: clean, separate, cook, and chill.
Clean your hands often with soap and warm water
and clean all surfaces and utensils with soap and hot
water.
Keep raw foods separate from uncooked meats by
using separate cutting boards and servers.
And cook foods to a safe minimum internal
temperatures and chill leftovers promptly.
If eggs are part of your celebration, store them in
the carton in your refrigerator at 40 °F or
below.
Eggs will keep good quality for 3-5 weeks from
the date you purchase them.
Many springtime celebrations call for hard
cooking eggs.
Cook the eggs until the yolks are firm, cool them
in cold running water, and refrigerate them within 2
hours.
At this point you can make deviled eggs or dye them.
If you're going to dye the eggs and hide them,
they'll still be safe to eat - IF you hide them in
clean places, and retrieve them within 2 hours.
Shorten that to one hour in hot weather.
You may also want to consider using plastic
eggs for the hunt.
If you know the eggs have been at room temperature
for longer than two hours, or if there is any doubt,
throw them out.
Some typical meats for spring celebrations
include ham, pork tenderloin, turkey breast
and corned beef.
Pork, Ham, and beef should reach a safe minimum
internal temperature of 145 degrees F as measured
with a food thermometer before removing the meat
from the heat source.
For safety and quality allow meat to rest for at
least 3 minutes before carving or consuming.
Turkey breast should reach a safe minimum internal
temperature of 165 degrees F.
After the meal, slice the leftovers and store in
shallow containers in the refrigerator promptly.
Don't let the meat or eggs sit out at room
temperature for more than 2 hours.
The leftovers will be safe in the refrigerator for 3
to 4 days.
If you don't serve the meats within the 3 to 4
days, you should freeze them.
Make sure your freezer is at 0 °F.
Apply the same guidelines for ham, turkey breast or
other spring seasoned meats.
If you have food safety questions, "AskKaren" at
AskKaren.gov.
Or, call USDA's Meat & Poultry Hotline at
1-888-MPHotline.
Both are available in English and Spanish.
Or visit USDA's Food Safety and Inspection website.