Ants are not the only unwanted guests at picnics

May and June are prime picnic season. With graduations and Memorial Day and the warming weather it's no surprise that everyone has the sudden urge to get out their potato salad, cut up some watermelons, and grill some hot dogs and hamburgers. Unfortunately if you're not careful there might be some hidden guests at your picnic that could make people's memory of that day rather miserable.

Food born illnesses are serious business. I had a professor one time who told us that there was no such thing at a 24 hour bug. If you have a stomach bug for 24 hours, you probably were the victim of a food born illness. This statement made me rethink every time that I got home from a picnic or party with a stomach ache. Now of course a tummy ache is not the worst that a food born illness can give a person. Poor food handling can result in death, especially to the old and the really young.

Thankfully there are some very practical things that you can do to make sure your next picnic ends with everyone happy,full, and not in need of extra trips to the restroom that night.

The first thing you should do is make sure if you're touching raw meat and your fruit salad, that you wash your hands. In fact even if you're not touching raw meat or something that might obviously cause sickness you should wash your hands. You never know if your guests might have a food allergy. I know this seems like something so simple, but when you're doing 500 things and everyone is coming in an hour taking 15 seconds to wash your hands might be the last thing you think of doing.

The second thing you should do is to consider the location of your picnic. If it's going to be outside make sure you have ice baths to put your potato and macaroni salad in. Anything that contains mayonnaise and even some fruits like melons need to be kept cold because they have the tendency to grow bacteria when left out. Keep them cold with a constant ice bath or if you have the option, leave them inside, where they might have a better chance of being colder. Also after 2 hours of being out, either put the food away or get rid of it. Any food that is out and not kept cold with an ice bath could be dangerous.

Finally make sure that all of the meat is cooked to the proper temperature. If you consider yourself a grill master you probably already have a meat thermometer by your grill to check the temps of your meat, but for the rest of us who still need a little help in that department here are some helpful temps:

Steaks and Roasts - 145 degrees Fahrenheit
Fish - 145 degrees Fahrenheit
Pork - 160 degrees Fahrenheit
Ground Beef - 160 degrees Fahrenheit
Chicken (breasts or thighs not whole chicken) - 165 degrees Fahrenheit

Now of course if you are someone who is a fan of rare steak, your steak will most likely not reach 145 degrees Fahrenheit, but when you're cooking for other people, especially children, try to make sure the community meat supply reaches at least these temperatures.

Some of you may be inviting some people to your picnics that you are not very fond of. It is probably wiser to make your feelings known in ways other than food, since more than one person will probably be eating your world famous macaroni salad. Keep the food safe or as safe as you possibly can. These tips I gave you are what they make us follow in restaurants. They also make us check the temperatures of food to make sure it stays cold or hot enough, but if you keep a generally close eye on your food to make sure it is staying cold or hot as it should be you should be fine.

My favorite picnic hands down was on a cliff by the ocean in Maine. The pastry chef and I brought bread, cheese, and fruit and sat on the rocks enjoying the ocean view and the simplest little picnic I ever attended. There are always a million things to consider when planning a picnic, but never forget the simple pleasures of a little bit of food, beautiful weather, and a nice view.

Happy Eating!!!

Emily