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“Would you like a doggy bag to take home?” asks the waiter. “That would be great” says the diner. Nearly half of her dinner remains on the plate and will make a quick second meal for another day.

But wait. Here’s the same diner calling the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Meat and Poultry Hotline the following day. “I put a restaurant doggy bag in the back seat of my car last night, and when I came out to drive to work, there it sat. Is it safe if I heat it up again?”

As we gather with family and friends for Thanksgiving, USDA would like to thank our troops for their dedication to protecting our country and for the sacrifices they make to preserve our freedom.

U.S. Forest Service’s Northern Research Station is breaking out its 79-year-old collection of 20,000 fungus cultures – yes, the stuff that grows in dark, damp places – to help create a new 1,000-species fungal directory.

Yesterday, the USDA Meat and Poultry Hotline joined celebrity chef Ingrid Hoffmann and FDA’s Howard Seltzer to answer Thanksgiving food safety questions via Twitter. With @FoodSafetygov selecting questions from the audience, the panel of experts was able to answer 22 questions in an hour using the handle @USDAFoodSafety. Now that the chat is over, people are still sharing the tips with their friends and followers, helping get these important messages into as many kitchens as possible before Thursday.

The Thanksgiving questions and answers covered in the chat are listed below. Take a look—you might have been wondering some of these yourself. If you need to know something that is not listed here, call the Meat and Poultry Hotline weekdays at 1-888-MPHotline (1-888-674-6854) from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekdays, and from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day.

Last week, I was honored to travel to Bogotá and lead the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s trade mission with Panama and Colombia.

Beginning with the American pilgrims, Thanksgiving has always focused on celebrating the harvest and the abundance of food we are able to share with our friends and family.

This year is no different.  As we take stock of what we are thankful for, I hope that Americans will think of our farmers, ranchers and growers – and recognize the incredible contributions they make to the health and strength of this country we all love.

Special holiday series – Blog 5 of 5

Over the past week, Dr. Janey Thornton, Deputy Under Secretary for Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services, and I have provided low-cost recipes incorporating simple food safety tips to help you prepare healthy and safe holiday meals. So far, we’ve posted recipes for turkey, stuffing, baked apples and sweet potatoes, and green beans. For the final blog in this series, we’re focusing on pumpkin pie, one of the mainstays of holiday meals. Like other holiday treats containing eggs, pumpkin pie filling can be messy to prepare and may lead to foodborne illness if not done carefully. This pumpkin pie recipe incorporates food safety tips at every step from mixing to storing leftovers. If you have further concerns about cooking with eggs this holiday season, this fact sheet should be really helpful. Additionally, I invite you to call USDA’s Meat & Poultry Hotline at 1-888-MPHotline weekdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m EST, and from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. EST on Thanksgiving Day.

Enjoy a safe and happy Thanksgiving!

This post is part of the Science Tuesday feature series on the USDA blog. Check back each week as we showcase stories and news from the USDA’s rich science and research portfolio.

On Sunday, September 4, 2011, a firestorm known as the Bastrop County Complex Fire engulfed Bastrop, Texas, located just 25 miles east of Austin.  By September 30, the fire had destroyed 1,645 homes, burned 34,000 acres, and killed two people.  It is now regarded as the most catastrophic wildfire in Texas history and has set a somber state record for the most homes lost in a single fire.