food poisoning

I am usually very careful about how I prepare food, especially meat. Thawing is usually done in the refrigerator. Cutting and preparing are done on separate boards. I wash the knife in between uses. I cook according to what are considered safe parameters--though I will admit to a weakness for rare to medium rare on red meat. My experience in the last 24 hours, however, demonstrates why this is so essential.

The bratwursts were from sustainable farmers at the Byrd House Market. The fingerling potatoes and red pepper were also local. The rosemary was from my garden. I packaged the potatoes and pepper slices in foil at the other end of the grill from the sausage and cooked everything until it looked and smelled perfect.

The potatoes, however, were undercooked, and the sausage once I cut into it was a little under-done as well. A few minutes in the microwave would solve the problem, I thought. And so it seemed to, until 2:30 in the morning when my stomach started clenching and I made a run to the toilet. When things had not cleared up appreciably by this morning, I realized that I must have poisoned myself.

This is all a propos of nothing other than giving my vegetarian/vegan friends grist, and realizing that I need to pay a little closer attention to what I'm doing.