The short answer: yes. Hot food can go directly into the refrigerator if you divide it into shallow containers first. The one thing to avoid is putting a large, deep pot of hot food in whole.
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The short answer: do not leave raw chicken at room temperature for more than 2 hours (1 hour if the air is above 90°F), and throw it out if it has been. Keep the fridge at 40°F or below, store the chicken on the bottom shelf in
The short answer: bake a medium sweet potato at 400°F for about 45 minutes, until it is soft or tender. Clemson says 40 to 50 minutes, Montana State says 45 minutes and Iowa State says 45 minutes to
The short answer: for the Extension methods covered here, cook sweet potatoes first. Cool them promptly, peel, then halve, slice or mash. Pack them into freezer containers with a half inch of headspace, seal, label and
The Short Answer Two hours. USDA says perishable foods, including a cooked turkey dinner, should not be left out of the refrigerator for more than 2 hours. Its Thanksgiving page says to store leftovers within 2 hours of cooking, unless they're
The Short Answer: Store leftover Halloween candy in its wrappers, sealed in airtight containers, in a cool, dry, dark place away from heat, sunlight and strong odors. Published best-quality estimates vary by source, candy type and
The short answer: sweet potatoes and true yams are different vegetables from different plant families. Sweet potatoes usually have thin, smooth skin, while common market yams often have rough, scaly skin and
The short answer: pick a firm, well-shaped butternut that feels heavy for its size, with a hard, tough skin you can't easily pierce with a thumbnail. Skip any squash with sunken, soft or moldy spots. Whole butternut can keep
The short answer: keep your refrigerator at 40°F or below and check it with a thermometer, do not overload it, keep dairy off the door, usually wash produce just before you use it, keep ethylene-producing fruit away from
The short answer: skip anything light enough to get tossed around by the fan, anything runny, and loose parchment. Go easy on cheese, leave popcorn to the microwave or stovetop, and cut broccoli into
The short answer: choose sweet potatoes that are firm and smooth, with clean, evenly colored skin and no soft spots, bruises, cracks, cuts or sprouts. Pick the type for your recipe: pale-fleshed varieties tend to be
The short answer: plan on 1 to 1½ pounds of uncooked whole turkey per person, choosing the higher end if you want leftovers. Buy fresh turkey 1 to 2 days before cooking, or buy frozen earlier and allow
