Holiday Food Safety Reminders

Thanksgiving is almost here and Christmas will be here before we know it!

I just want to remind you that although we can all enjoy the holidays, we cannot take a holiday from food safety. This applies to what you do for your families as well as your customers.

The three ways food becomes unsafe are:

• Time-temperature abuse
• Cross-contamination
• Poor personal hygiene

Although we can relax the rules a bit at home (I don't wear a hairnet preparing turkey dinner for my family!) we still need to follow the basics.

• Keep hot foods hot and cold foods cold. Food should not remain in the temperature danger zone (41-135 degrees F.) for more than four hours. Basically, if it is at room temperature for more than four hours, discard it. Remember the old saying: if in doubt, throw it out.
• Cook foods to the proper internal temperature. The only way to know for sure is to take the temperature; wiggling the leg just isn't certain enough.
• Clean and sanitize work surfaces and utensils between working with different types of food. If you are cleaning the turkey in the sink, clean and sanitize the sink after you are done.
• Wash your hands frequently and thoroughly.

Incidentally, one reason we can relax the rules a bit at home is that if we do something wrong, it is only our immediately family and guests that may become ill. (I'm sure that will make them feel so much better!) If we do something wrong at our facilities, we could make all the residents and staff ill. Also, with residents and patients being at higher risk, they can become much more ill than our families. And, of course, we have legal and moral obligations to provide safe food to our customers.

I hope your all have a great Thanksgiving!

Speak Up! A Woman's Guide to Presenting Like a Pro (Book Review)

We all speak professionally every day. We may not be professional speakers and speak in front of large groups. But everyday we present proposals or ideas to our supervisors, our customers, our employees, our peers, and sometimes to top management. This may be formal proposals or simply sharing ideas at meetings. And sometimes we are called upon to introduce speakers at meetings, talk about a co-worker who has retired or passed away, or in other ways speak for a few moments to a large group.

Speak Up! A Woman's Guide to Presenting Like a Pro, by Cyndi Maxey and Kevin E. O'Connor, is not just for those who speak professionally. Although it has great suggestions for improving speaking skills to large groups, it also has fantastic information for everyday business and even social use.

The book is divided into five parts:

• Present to Impress
• Adapt with Professionalism
• Influence with Impact
• Lead on Your Feet
• Create a Lasting Impression

Each section has short topics and within each topic is a wealth of ideas and suggestions for improving presentations skills. As the name of the book implies, it is written for women and addresses many of the challenges women face in presenting, not only to men, but also to other women.

Since image is important, I highly recommend this book to any woman who wants to grow her career. It will help in creating a more professional image every day.