Pathogens lurk everywhere: doorknobs, countertops, shopping carts, refrigerator handles, basically every surface you touch contains bacteria, some of it harmful. Your food can harbor nasty bugs too - salmonella, campylobacter, listeria, and E. coli are frequently found in grocery items ranging from salad greens to chicken. As someone who was once hospitalized (at Christmas, no less) for food poisoning, I do not take the issue of contamination lightly. At the same time, I continue to take risks in the kitchen.

A recent article from Food & Wine asking whether people left butter out on the counter or refrigerated it reminded me of this subject. (The US Food & Drug Administration says butter can be safely left out at room temperature although it can become rancid and therefore unpleasant to eat.) Leaving butter out at room temperature is the least of the risks I take with food. I eat raw cookie dough, even though the eggs and the flour both pose a slight risk of being contaminated. The Centers for Disease Control estimates that 1 out of every 20,000 eggs contains salmonella; however, even if you eat an egg with the bacteria, that doesn't mean you will necessarily become ill. While approximately 1 in 6 Americans will get some type of foodborne illness in a year, the odds of dying from it are less than 1 in 100,000. (To put things into perspective, the yearly odds of dying in an automobile crash in the US are about 1 in 10,000.)

Not only do I eat raw or runny eggs, I do not follow the FDA's guidelines for safe meat temperatures because chewing on a dry chicken breast is about as much fun as eating sawdust. I pull roast chicken out of the oven several degrees lower than what is recommended. My steak preference is medium-rare. I consume products past their best-by date if they do not contain mold or smell bad. For breakfast, I occasionally eat leftover pizza that has been sitting at room temperature overnight (please do not judge).

My risk tolerance is higher than others because I do not fall into any high-risk health group, plus it is in my nature to be adventurous. I ride a motorcycle, one of the riskiest pastimes you can have. Last week I climbed a 24-foot ladder on a stormy day to rescue a kitten from a tree when none of the neighbors would do it. (The cat is fine and was reunited with his owners.) When I was a child playing Truth or Dare, I always chose Dare.

While I do take some food risks, I am conscientious about kitchen safety, avoiding cross-contamination, making regularly cleaning high-touch surfaces, and throwing things away if they seem sketchy. I have a fire extinguisher handy because I am more concerned about a kitchen fire than I am about getting sick from cookie dough. My goal is to maintain a balance between being safe and enjoying life's small pleasures, and I am happy with where I land on this spectrum. What is your kitchen risk tolerance?