The Picnic or Tailgate Golden Rule

For picnics, the golden rule is safety. Any cook surely does not want people becoming sick from their food. Observing sanitary food preparation practices and proper storage is the key to safety. You want to keep your fresh foods in the refrigerator as long as possible. You want to include recipes with vinegar, lemon juice, and acidic ingredients. This keeps bacteria to a minimum. You want to keep hot foods hot and cold foods cold.

It is important to refrigerate your cold food until the food is thoroughly cold. If you are going to grill hamburgers, steak, chicken, or fish, freeze them and keep them cold with ice in a cooler. They will thaw as you drive to the special place you are going to picnic.

The challenge of a picnic is serving hot foods. For hot foods, the good old thermos bottle is an excellent storage container. If you bring a grill or gas stove, you can easily heat up your meal.

The golden rule of picnicking, �if you think it might not be safe, it is not. You throw it out.�