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To help create a less stressful holiday meal, University of Georgia Extension specialists offer these tips. Plan ahead. 
Don't go it alone. Resist the urge to buy new things or try new recipes. Set realistic expectations for family affairs. Consider a seating chart. Remember, the traditional turkey your family has always enjoyed will round out your holiday meal much better than a half-frozen, half-cooked, deep-fried turkey would. CAES News
Worry-free Holiday
Does the stress of preparing for the holidays hit you like a sledgehammer? Are you Googling new recipes the night before the feast to find the perfect sides? Does a relative want Grandma’s cornbread stuffing instead of the Stouffer’s you had planned to prepare? Let’s face it: The holidays may look picture-perfect on social media, but in reality, they may not be so full of harmony and smiles.
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Cold Facts
According to the University of Georgia Center for Food Safety study, SARS-CoV-2 experimentally introduced onto berries remained infectious on frozen berries for at least a month. Refrigerating berries at 39 degrees Fahrenheit showed a 90% reduction in SARS-CoV-2 infectivity over the course of three days, as did washing berries before freezing.
Foodborne botulism can be prevented with proper canning techniques and equipment that prevent contamination, according to UGA Extension food safety specialist Carla Schwan. CAES News
Canning Precautions
As home canning season approaches, a University of Georgia food safety expert stressed the need for proper precautions to avoid foodborne illness. A recent death in Washington state was attributed to botulism, a toxin that is a byproduct of the heat-resistant spores of a bacterium called Clostridium botulinum that likely originated from a home-canned food.
Carla Schwan has been hired as an assistant professor and Extension specialist in food safety and home food preservation in the University Georgia’s College of Family and Consumer Sciences, beginning January 2022. CAES News
Food Preservation Lead
Carla Schwan has been hired as an assistant professor and University of Georgia Cooperative Extension specialist in food safety and home food preservation in UGA’s College of Family and Consumer Sciences. She is slated to get started January 2022.
Georgia 4-H'er Malavika Balamurali displays the dish she cooked during a virtual session of "Adulting 101," a virtual youth development series for 4-H youth that teaches life skills. CAES News
Adulting 101
Adulting is hard.
A favorite moment for many virtual cooking club participants is at the end of each class when students present their completed dishes to the camera. “They love to show what they’ve made,” explained Zoe Soltanmammedova, Family and Consumer Sciences Extension agent. CAES News
Kids Cooking Club
Before the COVID-19 crisis shut down in-person activities, Zoe Soltanmammedova held monthly meetings of a Kids Cooking Club for 4-H members at the University of Georgia Cooperative Extension office in Cobb County.
Tracey Brigman, clinical assistant professor in the College of Family and Consumer Sciences, has been named interim FACS coordinator of food safety and preservation. CAES News
Teaming up to promote food preservation safety
A team of University of Georgia Cooperative Extension agents, led by a faculty member in the College of Family and Consumer Sciences, will address consumer questions on food safety and preservation while overseeing the National Center for Home Food Preservation on an interim basis.
For a less stressful holiday, prepare and freeze holiday meals and treats in advance. Freezing prepared foods allows you the satisfaction of serving homemade meals with the convenience of store-bought ones, says University of Georgia Professor and Extension Food Safety Specialist Elizabeth Andress. CAES News
Food Waste
Public health experts are imploring Americans to avoid the kind of large gatherings that mark the holidays.
The only way to properly remove and kill bacteria from raw poultry meat is to thoroughly cook the poultry to a minimum of 165 degrees Fahrenheit. A USDA report now shows that even if consumers don't wash raw poultry, the food safety risk is still present due to other common habits. CAES News
Cooking Chicken Safely
Food safety experts have been warning consumers against washing and rinsing raw poultry for many years, citing how the bacteria in poultry juices can spread and cross contaminate other foods, utensils and surfaces. A USDA report shows that many aren't listening.
Georgia 4-H Club members Beau Gabriel, from left, Vatavion Faust and Davison Willis make ziti as part of Oglethorpe County 4-H Club's Cooking to Share program with adult volunteer Jane Eason. CAES News
Cooking to Share
They say that the quickest way into someone’s heart is through their stomach. For one group of Georgia 4-H club members, their heartfelt, healthy meals are touching the hearts of their community one family at a time.