Columnist Susan Snyder: Holiday should be safe haven

Friday, Nov. 22, 2002 | 9:26 a.m.

Susan Snyder's column appears Fridays Sundays and Tuesdays. Reach her at snyder@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4082.

Blanca Guevara and Norma Green stood in a West Las Vegas supermarket this week, greeting customers with enthusiasm and a rubber turkey.

Actually, two rubber turkeys. One looked raw. One looked cooked.

Both likely would be safer to eat than the ones cooked in some people's homes at Thanksgiving, which is why Guevara and Green set up shop inside Vons at Owens Avenue and H Street.

"This is something really needed in the community," Green said. "With all the excitement of the holiday time, people forget the safety part of it."

Read the paper on a daily basis, and you know people forget the safety part of just about everything throughout the year. Darwin did have a point.

I figure the safest way to enjoy a Thanksgiving dinner is to eat it at someone else's home.

No, wait. That's the safest way to avoid destroying your kitchen. Face it, Mom only comes to the Thanksgiving table placid and properly primped in two situations: She's on a TV sitcom or someone else cooked dinner.

Our Thanksgiving traditions included my mother yelling at the gravy like a foundry worker while trying to pry my brother and father away from the football game and remember the cranberry sauce in the refrigerator. (It usually showed up in time for seconds.)

Family Thanksgivings are far more enjoyable for those old enough to drink.

However, it's time for some serious turkey talk.

Green and Guevara are community instructors for the University of Nevada, Reno Cooperative Extension Services, who make presentations on preventing poultry poisoning.

Most problems start with defrosting. Bacteria thrives in birds thawed on the kitchen.

The safest way to thaw is in the refrigerator. But if you buy a huge frozen bird Wednesday, you may be eating Thanksgiving pizza.

According to a chart the women handed out, an 8- to 12-pound turkey takes one to two days to thaw in the refrigerator. Allow three to four days for a bird weighing 16 to 20 pounds. And if you're planning to serve a 20- to 24-pounder, better start thawing that puppy in the fridge Saturday.

Cold-water thawing takes less time -- four to six hours for a small turkey and about 12 hours for the largest ones. But Guevara says it is important to keep plenty of ice in the water.

The women also said people should be stuffed, but never turkeys. Bake dressing in a separate container, to make sure the bird is fully cooked and to keep the dressing from being contaminated.

Leftovers should be cleared and refrigerated within two hours of serving.

"They should be put up in smaller containers. They get cold faster in margarine or Cool Whip-size containers," Guevara said.

Charley Gray, Vons manager, welcomes the women's annual visit. It cuts down on his phone calls.

"Before they started coming, I'd get calls that said, 'Gee, I got sick.' People don't know how to cook turkeys," Gray said.

Oh, some of us do. That's why we avoid it like a rash. California, here we come.

For answers to turkey questions, call the U.S. Department of Agriculture hotline, (800) 535-4555.