Common Mistakes in the Kitchen

Tasting food to check if "it's still good" is not safe because you cannot see, smell or taste harmful bacteria and ingesting just a small amount of contaminated food could lead to food-borne illness. For example, just a small taste of food contaminated with botulism toxin can lead to something as severe as Paralysis or even death produced by the bacteria, Clostridium botulinum. If in doubt, throw it out!
Rinsing your vegetables is great but not your raw poultry, meat or eggs! Their juices may actually help to spread bacteria to your sink, counters and / or kitchen surfaces that you are unable to see. All commercial eggs are washed before they are brought for sale, therefore washing them again at home is just increasing the risk for contamination, especially if the egg shell becomes cracked.
Using raw marinade from meat to season your food has great potential of spreading germs from the raw meat to your cooked food; reusing meat marinade is fine to do as long as it is brought to a boil before use.
Leaving perishable foods out for more than two hours is taking a risk because this gives bacteria enough time to grown and multiply. Refrigerate foods within two hours to eliminate bacterial growth. Decrease wait time to one hour in the summer because bacterial growth increases in warm environments.
Stuff safely during Turkey time! Stuffing should be prepared and stuffed into the turkey right before it's placed in the oven. Mix the wet and dry ingredients for the stuffing separately and combine just before using. Whether its cooked inside or outside the turkey, all stuffing and dressing recipes must be cooked to a minimum temperature of 165 °F. but for prime safety and more even cooking, cook your stuffing separately in a casserole dish.