I just learned that my meat thermometer is outdated. Last year the U.S. Department of Agriculture lowered the minimum internal temperature recommendation for cooked poultry (turkey, chicken, duck and goose) to 165 degrees. My thermometer says 180 degrees which is the old standard.

I always check the temperature of the meat before we eat it. Years ago I struck up a conversation with a man in the optometrist’s office. He told me that he’d gone to the optometrist’s house for a cookout one day. Chicken was on the menu. It turned out that the chicken wasn’t cooked enough and the man still had stomach problems because of it. “He’s lucky I didn’t sue him!” the man said. I learned two things on that day. Not to eat dinner at my optometrist’s house and to always use a thermometer to make sure the meat is done.