Hosting an Australia Day party or get together can be a stressful time – so much to do, so little time! But being prepared and knowing the basics of food safety will ensure you provide your guests with delicious food without the ill effects of food poisoning.
We’ve put together our top tips for planning ahead, what to do on the day and how to treat leftovers. Read until the end of the post for some Aussie Day recipe inspiration to make sure your party is talked about for the right reasons.
Plan ahead
If there is one thing in life we know to be true, it’s that preparation and planning are key!
- With extra food and drinks, make sure you’ve cleared enough fridge and freezer space.
- To make room in the fridge for food, use coolers for drinks. This will also help keep the fridge at a more stable temperature.
- If you’re cooking meat on the BBQ remember to move it from the freezer to fridge in plenty of time to defrost it. Don’t defrost your meat or chicken on the kitchen bench, always do it in the fridge.
On the day
Make sure the only headless chook is the one on the grill by giving yourself plenty of time and asking for help on the big day.
- You will need to set aside plenty of time for preparing things like starters, salads and snacks so leave yourself plenty of time and get help.
- Use different chopping boards and utensils for raw meats and cooked/ready to eat foods to avoid contamination.
- Don’t wash your meat or poultry under the tap – bacteria will be killed while cooking, so you’re only spreading germs around the kitchen!
- Stack your fridge mindfully. Ready to eat foods on top, raw and uncooked foods at the bottom.
- Wash your hands thoroughly before preparing foods and after touching raw meat and food.
Leftovers
There’s a good chance you’ll have some leftovers after your get together, whether they are things that got forgotten in the fridge or food that wasn’t consumed on the day. Make sure you’re treating your leftovers correctly and avoid food poisoning by following our tips.
- Put leftovers away immediately into the fridge, don’t leave them on the table or bench to cool first.
- Dispose of any high-risk food left in the temperature danger zone (between 5 °C and 60 °C) for more than four hours.
- Don’t keep leftovers for more than few days in the fridge.
- You can freeze appropriate leftovers for up to a month.
What to cook? Australia Day party recipe inspiration
You’re now well informed about how to keep you, your family and guests out of harm’s way when it comes to food safety. But maybe you’re feeling a little uninspired when it comes to your Australia Day menu? We’ve selected some recipes to get your imagination into gear:
- Start your party with an Aussie classic with a modern twist: Cheesy spinach damper with rosemary butter! This is sure to be a winner with everyone, including vegetarians. Plus this version is green and gold – perfect for Australia Day.
- With a bit of preparation, you can get some healthy sausage rolls ready to go before the day. Simply freeze and then pop them in the oven when you’re ready. This recipe has been written with kids in mind, so why not get them to help?
- Fire up the grill and pop on some quick salt and pepper prawn skewers or Vegemite BBQ chicken wings – yes, they really do have Vegemite on them!
- Finish the day with some sweet treats. You could try this fun Iced VoVo lamington mashup or reinvent the pavlova with passionfruit pavlova ice-cream sandwiches.