For Megan: Kitchen Tips (long) These are not in any order, and several came from right here at the archive_swap36901-37000.....
Kitchen and Household Tips:
Nana’s Lump Free Gravy: Place flour and
water in jar and shake to blend. Then add
to your drippings - you’ll never have lumps
again!
Foolproof Hard-boiled Eggs w/easy peel:
Place eggs in saucepan large enough to hold
them in one layer. Fill with cold water
cover by 1 inch. Bring to a gentle boil
over high heat. Cook for 30 seconds.
Remove from heat and cover tightly. Let
stand 15 minutes. TO PEEL NOW: Pour out
water and replace with cold, add ice cubes,
let water get cold, then drain water, put
cover back on and shake pan well. Open
cover and eggs will have mostly peeled
themselves! TO PEEL LATER: Pour out water
and put pan in sink, let cold water run over
them about 3 minutes.
Holy Burgers! To cook burgers fast and
thoroughly, stick your finger in the middle
to make a hole. It will cook more evenly
and won’t puff up in the middle. Plus,
you’ll never have to wonder if it’s too pink
in the center ever again! - Don't worry
hole will mostly close up while cooking.
To prevent egg shells from cracking, add a
pinch of salt to the water before hard-
boiling.
To determine whether an egg is fresh, place
an uncracked egg in a glass of water. If it
sinks it’s fresh. If it floats throw it out!
The correct way to hold a large chef’s
knife: This helped me so much when I saw
this on a cooking show: “choke up” on the
knife, holding it at the base of the blade
as well as the handle (thumb and forefinger
on blade the rest on handle).
Also when chopping with a knife: Hold food
with fingers and rest knuckles against
blade - this is how chefs on TV chop without
looking at their hands. Note: this doesn’t
work if you have long fingernails (me!).
Burn a candle when chopping onions to
prevent tearing - this works better if the
candle is tall.
To get onion smell off your hands, wash them
in milk, then cold water rinse. Also a
peeled potato rubbed on hands works.
To quickly chill drinks/Champagne put in
bucket with not just ice - add water to the
ice, it’ll chill MUCH faster.
No buttermilk? To sour milk add 1 tsp.
white vinegar to 1 cup milk and let stand 5
minutes.
For fluffy eggs/omelets beat in small amount
of water instead of milk.
Always cook meat/poultry in a regular (not
non-stick pan). You get the brown bits to
stick so you can deglaze the pan and make a
great sauce.
Red potatoes are better in most any recipe.
Makes a great improvement to potato salads.
To eliminate smell when cooking greens drop
in a unshelled pecan.
To quickly eliminate grease from soup drop
in a lettuce leaf to absorb. Repeat until
desired amount is removed. Discard lettuce.
To skim fat from stock/soup refrigerate
overnight then remove hardened fat. If soup
is still hot do not cover, it could make it
bitter.
When buying celery, chop off the ends with
leaves and keep in plastic bag in freezer
for soup stock. Same for extra chopped
onion.
Soup, stew or sauce too salty? Pop in a
chunk or two of peeled, raw potato.
In the fall and winter I make lots of soups,
stews, and sauces and freeze for easy
dinners. After making a batch, I take
Tupperware or Rubbermaid containers, and put
clear food storage bags (no zip closures--
too bulky) in them. Ladle the amount of
soup you need (for us, 2 bowls worth).
Squeeze out air and twisty close. Freeze.
When frozen, soups pull out of plastic
containers. Plastic containers can be used
for next batch of soup. And the next
batch. For that matter....
When freezing a casserole or any item - line
it with plastic wrap with edges hanging over
to grasp, and freeze in container you want
to reheat in. Then when frozen solid, pop
out of pan and put in freezer bag. When
ready to use, slide back in pan and heat.
You save space and free up your pan for
current uses.
When boneless, skinless chicken breasts go
on sale, buy a couple of big packs and foil-
wrap them in pairs, write 2 BR in permanent
marker and freeze. Always ready!
To thaw frozen chicken or soup packets, get
a plastic bowl (or use sink) filled with
cool water and submerge. Change water
frequently if really in a hurry. Glass or
metal bowls conduct the cold and stay too
cold for food to thaw.
When I have a two-layer cake to make, I make
the cake layers the weekend before and
freeze (covered) on a cookie sheet. The day
I need the cake, I prepare the frosting,
pull out the frozen cake and frost. So much
easier and no crumbs. Also, if the cake
baked unevenly, it’s easier to slice to even
it out. Also, it spreads the work out and
doesn’t seem like such a hassle. Note: I've
also popped the cake in the freezer after
cooling from the oven about 10 minutes.
After 30-45 minutes it was cold enough to
not crumb when I frosted it - so much easier!
When making drop cookies where the batter
was prepared in my Kitchen Aid stainless
bowl, use plastic spoons and you won’t
scrape the inside of the bowl up.
Always use at least one plastic spoon for
drop cookies—using two metal will scrape up
your spoons!
When navel oranges are in, grate the peel
before eating and freeze by the teaspoon
(fill teaspoon measure, pack it in and
turned out formed peel onto foil). Place in
freezer. Eventually, you can keep separated
by a bit of saran wrap and put all in
baggie. You can also do this when oranges
are too bitter to eat, then don’t feel
guilty about tossing them! Nothing like the
taste of freshly grated orange peel!
After buying lettuce, rinse well in cool-
warm water and set upside down in sink to
drain a bit. Then wrap a two-length of
paper towel around, put back in plastic
grocer bag. Lettuce keeps remarkably well.
If lettuce is in fridge long enough for
paper towel to dry out, squirt it with sink
hose and pop it back in.
To get even more juice from any citrus fruit
pop it in the Microwave for about 2 minutes.
For a rich additional flavor to any stock
add lettuce leaves. (Smells so good)
A little red wine will lift any so-so soup
or stew (not that we ever happen to make a
so-
so soup!!)
If using a jar spaghetti sauce, always rinse
it out with a little wine.
Keep a small grater just for the whole
nutmeg with the nutmeg, that way it's almost
as fast to use as ground and taste so much
better.
To remove garlic smell from your fingers
after chopping, rub your fingers on the
stainless steel knife or on a stainless sink.
When preparing a recipe put it in a clear
loose-leaf paper sleeve and tape it to the
kitchen cupboard, it stays clean and is easy
to read
After squeezing a lemon, toss it in a
plastic bag in the freezer and save it for
when you need acidulated water.
After taking butter or margarine from its
wrapper, toss the wrapper in a bag in the
fridge and pull it out for use in greasing a
pan.
You can use a long piece of unflavored
dental floss (either waxed or unwaxed) to
cleanly cut cheesecake slices
Store nuts in the freezer to keep them from
spoiling and going rancid
Recipes calling for honey or other sticky
ingredients like molasses, just spray a tiny
bit of cooking oil into the measuring cup
or on the measuring spoon then the honey
will
slip right out.
When a recipe calls for chopped fresh herbs
or parsley clip the herbs from the garden,
put them in a coffee mug and then snip them
right in the mug to the desired size with
kitchen shears.
Keep a clean popsicle stick in your flour
and sugar canisters to level off the flour
and sugar. Also keep a few in the drawer
with measuring spoons.
Put a small piece of coal in the pot when
you peel potatoes ahead of time. You can
peel them a day ahead and put a piece of the
coal in the water. The potatoes stay white
and crisp until you’re ready to boil them.
Note: coal is not bbq charcoal briquettes.
When the soup, or stew, or sauce seems to
lack something but you don't know what, add
a dash of vinegar - it will brighten it up.
After cutting citrus with a good knife,
rinse and dry it immediately or the knife
will dull much more quickly.
Always reserve scraps from pie making to be
used on future bottom crusts.
To be able to make muffins and quick breads
easily, mix and store all the dry
ingredients in a zip-lock; so when you are
ready to bake, all you need to do is add the
liquids.
A long, slow rise is always better for yeast
goods than a quick one. Develops better
texture and taste.
When making an apple pie wait until you are
ready to put the fruit into the pie pan to
sugar and season them or they will produce
too much juice and sog up the bottom crust-
always bake that pie in the bottom third of
the oven.
Use a plastic baggie to make a quick piping
bag, then just throw it out.
Keep those knives sharp! They are safer than
dull knives because you don't have to exert
as much pressure while cutting.
Keep a whole set of measuring cups in your
flour canister, one in the sugar canister,
and one in the bread flour canister. (And
one not in anything.) That way you've always
got one there when and where you need it,
and don't have to wash a measuring cup
halfway through a recipe. Also keep a
chopstick in the canister for leveling off.
Squeeze lemon juice out and put it in ice
cube trays to freeze, then dump 'em in a
plastic bag. Depending on the size of your
cubes, one is perfect for most uses . . .
The same goes for stock. Often 1 cube
equals 2-3 T depending on your ice cube tray.
When making something that contains cocoa,
add a little vanilla to the recipe; it
boosts the flavor of chocolate.
Don't dust your cake pans with flour. Use
sugar for white cakes and cocoa for
chocolate cakes.
If your recipe calls for both raisins and
water, measure out your raisins and cover
them with hot water; even put them in the
microwave for a couple of minutes. Let them
stand and absorb water until they are nice
and plump. Then drain off the water into a
measuring cup and add however much more you
need for your recipe. Result is more
flavorful and nice plump juicy raisins in
your cookies. (Or whatever).
The fastest way to make cracker crumbs or
bread crumbs is in the blender.
When using pepperoni... gently heat the
slices on paper towels your toaster-oven
first. The paper absorbs excess grease (and
extra calories) and pizza, etc. gets the
full flavor of the pepperoni. You can also
do this on a non-stick skillet and dry the
slices on paper towels. Be careful not to
get the heat too high or leave the slices on
too long or the pepperoni will get hard and
crumbly. If (or rather I should say when)
that happens though, just sprinkle the
crumbs on the pizza or use them in salads,
potato skins or pretty much wherever you
would otherwise use bacon bits.
Parchment paper instead of greasing (or,
occasionally, an addition to). Use on cookie
sheets, in cake pans, and so on. To fit
parchment paper for a cake pan: turn over
the pan. Lay a sheet of parchment paper on
top. Rub over the edge with the blunt edge
of a knife. The paper will crease/score
along the edge. Pull apart and presto! a
fitted piece of parchment.
Heat resistant rubber spatulas are god's
gift to cooks. It's hard to have too many
and you can color code them by size. For
example: small ones - green, regular red,
scooped white, oversize blue.
For easy pie crust, grate frozen butter into
the flour. It mixes more easily than chunks
and is convenient for folks (like me) who
keep butter in the freezer.
Cool hot foods before putting in fridge or
freezer. This is a health issue, not a
convenience one. Quick way to cool:
surround food with icy water (lots of ice
for quicker cooling), stir both water and
food occasionally. To make it quicker, use
a metal container -- it conducts heat
nicely -- and put it on a cookie cutter so
the cold water gets under the bottom as well.
Make your own dried herbs rather than
buying. It's fresher and better tasting.
There are two ways to do this. 1) Tie herbs
together with a thread at the stems, hang
upside down in the oven till dry. Detach
leaves from stems. 2) easier but not quite
as flavorful: detach leaves from stems.
Spread on plate, dry in oven.
Fish Smell- put a little Vodka in the pan
when you sauté fish, that it will keep the
fish smell from permeating the kitchen or
whole house.
Throw out old herbs and spices and cheap way
to replace... every new year: empty every
jar, wash and dry them. Buy as small or
large quantity of each from bulk jars at
Whole Foods (other health food stores often
have these too). It is so cheap, a fraction
of the price of those bottles! For things
you seldom use, buy only about 1/3 of the
jar. As you replenish jars during the year,
mark on a sticker on the bottom when it was
replaced. Then on the annual replacement,
leave these alone. When you see the
intensity of color and smell the freshness
of the new, you realize how old spices
diminish your cooking efforts.
Store your knives “upside-down” in the knife
block (blade side up) so they don’t dull
every time you pull them in and out.
When baking add flour and milk to egg
mixture alternately, beginning with flour
mixture and ending with flour mixture for a
lighter cake, muffin, or biscuit.
For double crust pies: Brush top layer
lightly with milk for a shiny crust; for a
sweet crust sprinkle with sugar or sugar
mixed with cinnamon; for a glazed crust
brush lightly with a beaten egg. If you
place the pie on a hot cookie sheet in the
oven during preheating, it will ensure that
the bottom crust will bake through.
You can always substitute 1 2/3 cups all-
purpose flour for 2 cups cake flour.
Remember 1 1/2 cups corn syrup equals 1 cup
of sugar dissolved in 1/2 cup water.
Out of sweetened condensed milk? Make your
own: Mix 6 cups whole milk with 4 1/2 cups
sugar, 1 stick butter, and 1 vanilla bean
(or 1 tablespoon vanilla). Cook over medium
heat, reducing liquid for 1 hour. Stir
occasionally. Cool. Yields 4 1/2 cups.
This can be stored in refrigerator for
several weeks.
To keep pasta from boiling over add a few
drops of cooking oil.
To keep steps in the kitchen to a minimum,
store items in kitchen near where you use
them, such as putting a crock with all you
utensils next to the stove. (This sounds
like a no-brainer, but when I finally
cleaned out and reorganized I found it
really makes a big difference.)
If you don’t have built-in organizers in
your cabinets, plain old Rubbermaid (or the
like) turntables in cabinets are heaven
sent. (Cheap too!)
When using dried herbs, try mincing them
together with a little fresh parsley. It
freshens them up remarkably.
Add a dash or two of cayenne pepper to spark
up dull sauces or stews - it won't taste
hot,
but seasons well. A teaspoon of sugar will
also often add flavor.
Invest in a good pair of kitchen shears and
use for snipping herbs, cutting pizza,
chicken (raw or cooked), green beans, more.
An ice cream scoop is perfect for portioning
muffin or cupcake batter. Use smaller scoops
for cookie dough.
Line baking pans with aluminum foil for easy
cleanup & storage. Tear off enough foil to
line the pan AND to wrap around the item
(quick-bread, cakes) after baking for
storage. Form the foil over the BOTTOM of
the pan, turn the pan upright, and the foil
will slip right in. Fold the extra flaps of
foil out of the way to bake. After baking,
cool the item, then just fold the ends over
the top & crimp tightly.
Invest in and learn to use a big chef's
knife (watch the cooking shows to learn
how). Keep
it sharp, & always use the BACK of the knife
to scrape things off the cutting board.
When baking, you want your eggs to be at
room temperature for best volume. You can
warm the whole eggs in a bowl of slightly
warm water.
To get the most intense flavor out of citrus
peel simply peel the fruit and place the
peel
in a small blender jar or processor with
part of the sugar from your recipe. Of
course,
this works only if the recipe includes sugar.
Miso is great for soup making. A spoonful in
place of salt really imparts a rich flavor
to
any stock. It keeps for months in the
refrigerator.
Quickly dip vegetables in boiling water,
then chill in ice water, when using as
ingredients
in "raw" vegetable salads. Color and flavor
will be brighter.
Sprinkle plain ground cinnamon (or nutmeg or
ginger?) on pancakes just before you turn
them. Great fragrance, flavor. Or add a
tsp. of cocoa to the batter for a
great "what
is it?" taste.
Stuff a miniature marshmallow in the bottom
of a sugar cone to prevent ice cream drips.
Use a meat baster to "squeeze" your pancake
batter onto the hot griddle - perfect shaped
pancakes every time.
To keep potatoes from budding, place an
apple in the bag with the potatoes.
Run your hands under cold water before
pressing Rice Krispies treats in the pan -
the marshmallow won't stick to your fingers.
To get the most juice out of fresh lemons,
bring them to room temperature and roll them
under your palm against the kitchen counter
before squeezing.
To easily remove burnt-on food from your
skillet, simply add a drop or two of dish
soap and enough water to cover bottom of
pan, and bring to a boil on stovetop -
skillet will be much easier to clean.
Spray your Tupperware with nonstick cooking
spray before pouring in tomato-based sauces -
no more stains.
When a cake recipe calls for flouring the
baking pan, use a bit of the dry cake mix
instead - no white mess on the outside of
the cake.
If you accidentally over-salt a dish while
it's still cooking, drop in a peeled potato -
it absorbs the excess salt for an
instant "fix me up".
Wrap celery in aluminum foil when putting in
the refrigerator - it will keep for weeks.
Place a slice of apple in hardened brown
sugar to soften it back up.
Put a soda cracker in the sugar bowl to soak
up moisture and keep it lump free.
When boiling corn on the cob, add a pinch of
sugar to help bring out the corn's natural
sweetness.
Cure for headaches: Take a lime, cut it in
half and rub it on your forehead. The
throbbing will go away.
Don't throw out all that leftover wine:
Freeze into ice cubes for future use in
casseroles and sauces. (Like there is
leftover wine! Ha!)
If you have a problem opening jars: Try
using latex dishwashing gloves. They give a
non-slip grip that makes opening jars easy.
Or if it still to difficult, use a bottle
opener to gently lift an edge releasing the
vacuum seal.
Potatoes will take food stains off your
fingers. Just slice and rub raw potato on
the stains and rinse with water.
To get rid of itch from mosquito bite: try
applying soap on the area, instant relief.
Ants, ants, ants everywhere ... Well, they
are said to never cross a chalk line. So
get your chalk out and draw a line on the
floor or wherever ants tend to march - see
for yourself. They are also said to be
detracted from mint.
Use air-freshener to clean mirrors: It does
a good job and better still, leaves a lovely
smell to the shine.
When you get a splinter, reach for the
scotch tape before resorting to tweezers or
a needle. Simply put the scotch tape over
the splinter, then pull it off. Scotch tape
removes most
splinters painlessly and easily.
NOW Look what you can do with Alka-Seltzer:
Clean a toilet - drop in two Alka-Seltzer
tablets, wait twenty minutes, brush, and
flush. The citric acid and effervescent
action
clean vitreous china.
Clean a vase-to remove a stain from the
bottom of a glass vase or cruet, fill with
water and drop in two Alka-Seltzer tablets.
Polish jewelry - drop two Alka-Seltzer
tablets into a glass of water and immerse
the jewelry for two minutes.
Clean a thermos bottle - fill the bottle
with water, drop in four Alka-Seltzer
tablets, and let soak for an hour (or
longer, if necessary).
Unclog a drain - clear the sink drain by
dropping three Alka- Seltzer tablets down
the drain followed by a cup of Heinz White
Vinegar Wait a few minutes, then run the hot
water.
If your VCR has a year setting on it, which
most do, you will not be able to use the
programmed recording feature after
12/31/99. Don't throw it away. Instead,
set it for the year 1972 as the days are the
same as the year 2000. The manufacturers
won't
tell you. They want you to buy a new Y2K VCR.
Whipped Cream That Actually Stays on a Cake.
I whipped cream with confectionary sugar
and added vanilla in the usual way to ice
a cake. It was too "droopy". Then, I
remembered a tip from a friend--Add instant
nonfat dry milk. So, I added about 1
tablespoon. It firmed beautifully!!! The
cake lasted for 3 days and it was perfect.
Her complete recipe is:
1 pt heavy whipping cream
3 T. instant nonfat dry milk
1/2 c. confectioners' sugar
1 t. vanilla
Place all ingredients except vanilla in a
chilled bowl and whip to desired
consistency. Add vanilla and mix in well.
It is easy to spread and does not taste like
powdered milk!! This is especially nice in
hot weather.
To clean your outdoor grill: Place the grill
in a large plastic bag. (You need to be
able to seal the bag completely. I use
large, black lawn bags). Thoroughly wet an
old rag with ammonia. Place the rag in the
bag and seal tightly. There should be a
little air in the bag. Place outside
preferably where there is a bit of sun, and
leave for 2 days. Hose off the grill outside
and it should be almost all clean. The
ammonia fumes do the scrubbing for you.
Have fun.
Stabilizing whipped cream:
To 2 cups of cream add 1/2 cup of
confectioners sugar and 3 tablespoons of
nonfat dry powdered milk. Beat till soft
peaks form. Add 1 teaspoon of vanilla.
Beat till stiff peaks form.
1 cup of self rising flour = 1 cup of all
purpose flour + 1 1/4 t baking powder + 1/8
t salt.
Kitchen and Household Tips:
Nana’s Lump Free Gravy: Place flour and
water in jar and shake to blend. Then add
to your drippings - you’ll never have lumps
again!
Foolproof Hard-boiled Eggs w/easy peel:
Place eggs in saucepan large enough to hold
them in one layer. Fill with cold water
cover by 1 inch. Bring to a gentle boil
over high heat. Cook for 30 seconds.
Remove from heat and cover tightly. Let
stand 15 minutes. TO PEEL NOW: Pour out
water and replace with cold, add ice cubes,
let water get cold, then drain water, put
cover back on and shake pan well. Open
cover and eggs will have mostly peeled
themselves! TO PEEL LATER: Pour out water
and put pan in sink, let cold water run over
them about 3 minutes.
Holy Burgers! To cook burgers fast and
thoroughly, stick your finger in the middle
to make a hole. It will cook more evenly
and won’t puff up in the middle. Plus,
you’ll never have to wonder if it’s too pink
in the center ever again! - Don't worry
hole will mostly close up while cooking.
To prevent egg shells from cracking, add a
pinch of salt to the water before hard-
boiling.
To determine whether an egg is fresh, place
an uncracked egg in a glass of water. If it
sinks it’s fresh. If it floats throw it out!
The correct way to hold a large chef’s
knife: This helped me so much when I saw
this on a cooking show: “choke up” on the
knife, holding it at the base of the blade
as well as the handle (thumb and forefinger
on blade the rest on handle).
Also when chopping with a knife: Hold food
with fingers and rest knuckles against
blade - this is how chefs on TV chop without
looking at their hands. Note: this doesn’t
work if you have long fingernails (me!).
Burn a candle when chopping onions to
prevent tearing - this works better if the
candle is tall.
To get onion smell off your hands, wash them
in milk, then cold water rinse. Also a
peeled potato rubbed on hands works.
To quickly chill drinks/Champagne put in
bucket with not just ice - add water to the
ice, it’ll chill MUCH faster.
No buttermilk? To sour milk add 1 tsp.
white vinegar to 1 cup milk and let stand 5
minutes.
For fluffy eggs/omelets beat in small amount
of water instead of milk.
Always cook meat/poultry in a regular (not
non-stick pan). You get the brown bits to
stick so you can deglaze the pan and make a
great sauce.
Red potatoes are better in most any recipe.
Makes a great improvement to potato salads.
To eliminate smell when cooking greens drop
in a unshelled pecan.
To quickly eliminate grease from soup drop
in a lettuce leaf to absorb. Repeat until
desired amount is removed. Discard lettuce.
To skim fat from stock/soup refrigerate
overnight then remove hardened fat. If soup
is still hot do not cover, it could make it
bitter.
When buying celery, chop off the ends with
leaves and keep in plastic bag in freezer
for soup stock. Same for extra chopped
onion.
Soup, stew or sauce too salty? Pop in a
chunk or two of peeled, raw potato.
In the fall and winter I make lots of soups,
stews, and sauces and freeze for easy
dinners. After making a batch, I take
Tupperware or Rubbermaid containers, and put
clear food storage bags (no zip closures--
too bulky) in them. Ladle the amount of
soup you need (for us, 2 bowls worth).
Squeeze out air and twisty close. Freeze.
When frozen, soups pull out of plastic
containers. Plastic containers can be used
for next batch of soup. And the next
batch. For that matter....
When freezing a casserole or any item - line
it with plastic wrap with edges hanging over
to grasp, and freeze in container you want
to reheat in. Then when frozen solid, pop
out of pan and put in freezer bag. When
ready to use, slide back in pan and heat.
You save space and free up your pan for
current uses.
When boneless, skinless chicken breasts go
on sale, buy a couple of big packs and foil-
wrap them in pairs, write 2 BR in permanent
marker and freeze. Always ready!
To thaw frozen chicken or soup packets, get
a plastic bowl (or use sink) filled with
cool water and submerge. Change water
frequently if really in a hurry. Glass or
metal bowls conduct the cold and stay too
cold for food to thaw.
When I have a two-layer cake to make, I make
the cake layers the weekend before and
freeze (covered) on a cookie sheet. The day
I need the cake, I prepare the frosting,
pull out the frozen cake and frost. So much
easier and no crumbs. Also, if the cake
baked unevenly, it’s easier to slice to even
it out. Also, it spreads the work out and
doesn’t seem like such a hassle. Note: I've
also popped the cake in the freezer after
cooling from the oven about 10 minutes.
After 30-45 minutes it was cold enough to
not crumb when I frosted it - so much easier!
When making drop cookies where the batter
was prepared in my Kitchen Aid stainless
bowl, use plastic spoons and you won’t
scrape the inside of the bowl up.
Always use at least one plastic spoon for
drop cookies—using two metal will scrape up
your spoons!
When navel oranges are in, grate the peel
before eating and freeze by the teaspoon
(fill teaspoon measure, pack it in and
turned out formed peel onto foil). Place in
freezer. Eventually, you can keep separated
by a bit of saran wrap and put all in
baggie. You can also do this when oranges
are too bitter to eat, then don’t feel
guilty about tossing them! Nothing like the
taste of freshly grated orange peel!
After buying lettuce, rinse well in cool-
warm water and set upside down in sink to
drain a bit. Then wrap a two-length of
paper towel around, put back in plastic
grocer bag. Lettuce keeps remarkably well.
If lettuce is in fridge long enough for
paper towel to dry out, squirt it with sink
hose and pop it back in.
To get even more juice from any citrus fruit
pop it in the Microwave for about 2 minutes.
For a rich additional flavor to any stock
add lettuce leaves. (Smells so good)
A little red wine will lift any so-so soup
or stew (not that we ever happen to make a
so-
so soup!!)
If using a jar spaghetti sauce, always rinse
it out with a little wine.
Keep a small grater just for the whole
nutmeg with the nutmeg, that way it's almost
as fast to use as ground and taste so much
better.
To remove garlic smell from your fingers
after chopping, rub your fingers on the
stainless steel knife or on a stainless sink.
When preparing a recipe put it in a clear
loose-leaf paper sleeve and tape it to the
kitchen cupboard, it stays clean and is easy
to read
After squeezing a lemon, toss it in a
plastic bag in the freezer and save it for
when you need acidulated water.
After taking butter or margarine from its
wrapper, toss the wrapper in a bag in the
fridge and pull it out for use in greasing a
pan.
You can use a long piece of unflavored
dental floss (either waxed or unwaxed) to
cleanly cut cheesecake slices
Store nuts in the freezer to keep them from
spoiling and going rancid
Recipes calling for honey or other sticky
ingredients like molasses, just spray a tiny
bit of cooking oil into the measuring cup
or on the measuring spoon then the honey
will
slip right out.
When a recipe calls for chopped fresh herbs
or parsley clip the herbs from the garden,
put them in a coffee mug and then snip them
right in the mug to the desired size with
kitchen shears.
Keep a clean popsicle stick in your flour
and sugar canisters to level off the flour
and sugar. Also keep a few in the drawer
with measuring spoons.
Put a small piece of coal in the pot when
you peel potatoes ahead of time. You can
peel them a day ahead and put a piece of the
coal in the water. The potatoes stay white
and crisp until you’re ready to boil them.
Note: coal is not bbq charcoal briquettes.
When the soup, or stew, or sauce seems to
lack something but you don't know what, add
a dash of vinegar - it will brighten it up.
After cutting citrus with a good knife,
rinse and dry it immediately or the knife
will dull much more quickly.
Always reserve scraps from pie making to be
used on future bottom crusts.
To be able to make muffins and quick breads
easily, mix and store all the dry
ingredients in a zip-lock; so when you are
ready to bake, all you need to do is add the
liquids.
A long, slow rise is always better for yeast
goods than a quick one. Develops better
texture and taste.
When making an apple pie wait until you are
ready to put the fruit into the pie pan to
sugar and season them or they will produce
too much juice and sog up the bottom crust-
always bake that pie in the bottom third of
the oven.
Use a plastic baggie to make a quick piping
bag, then just throw it out.
Keep those knives sharp! They are safer than
dull knives because you don't have to exert
as much pressure while cutting.
Keep a whole set of measuring cups in your
flour canister, one in the sugar canister,
and one in the bread flour canister. (And
one not in anything.) That way you've always
got one there when and where you need it,
and don't have to wash a measuring cup
halfway through a recipe. Also keep a
chopstick in the canister for leveling off.
Squeeze lemon juice out and put it in ice
cube trays to freeze, then dump 'em in a
plastic bag. Depending on the size of your
cubes, one is perfect for most uses . . .
The same goes for stock. Often 1 cube
equals 2-3 T depending on your ice cube tray.
When making something that contains cocoa,
add a little vanilla to the recipe; it
boosts the flavor of chocolate.
Don't dust your cake pans with flour. Use
sugar for white cakes and cocoa for
chocolate cakes.
If your recipe calls for both raisins and
water, measure out your raisins and cover
them with hot water; even put them in the
microwave for a couple of minutes. Let them
stand and absorb water until they are nice
and plump. Then drain off the water into a
measuring cup and add however much more you
need for your recipe. Result is more
flavorful and nice plump juicy raisins in
your cookies. (Or whatever).
The fastest way to make cracker crumbs or
bread crumbs is in the blender.
When using pepperoni... gently heat the
slices on paper towels your toaster-oven
first. The paper absorbs excess grease (and
extra calories) and pizza, etc. gets the
full flavor of the pepperoni. You can also
do this on a non-stick skillet and dry the
slices on paper towels. Be careful not to
get the heat too high or leave the slices on
too long or the pepperoni will get hard and
crumbly. If (or rather I should say when)
that happens though, just sprinkle the
crumbs on the pizza or use them in salads,
potato skins or pretty much wherever you
would otherwise use bacon bits.
Parchment paper instead of greasing (or,
occasionally, an addition to). Use on cookie
sheets, in cake pans, and so on. To fit
parchment paper for a cake pan: turn over
the pan. Lay a sheet of parchment paper on
top. Rub over the edge with the blunt edge
of a knife. The paper will crease/score
along the edge. Pull apart and presto! a
fitted piece of parchment.
Heat resistant rubber spatulas are god's
gift to cooks. It's hard to have too many
and you can color code them by size. For
example: small ones - green, regular red,
scooped white, oversize blue.
For easy pie crust, grate frozen butter into
the flour. It mixes more easily than chunks
and is convenient for folks (like me) who
keep butter in the freezer.
Cool hot foods before putting in fridge or
freezer. This is a health issue, not a
convenience one. Quick way to cool:
surround food with icy water (lots of ice
for quicker cooling), stir both water and
food occasionally. To make it quicker, use
a metal container -- it conducts heat
nicely -- and put it on a cookie cutter so
the cold water gets under the bottom as well.
Make your own dried herbs rather than
buying. It's fresher and better tasting.
There are two ways to do this. 1) Tie herbs
together with a thread at the stems, hang
upside down in the oven till dry. Detach
leaves from stems. 2) easier but not quite
as flavorful: detach leaves from stems.
Spread on plate, dry in oven.
Fish Smell- put a little Vodka in the pan
when you sauté fish, that it will keep the
fish smell from permeating the kitchen or
whole house.
Throw out old herbs and spices and cheap way
to replace... every new year: empty every
jar, wash and dry them. Buy as small or
large quantity of each from bulk jars at
Whole Foods (other health food stores often
have these too). It is so cheap, a fraction
of the price of those bottles! For things
you seldom use, buy only about 1/3 of the
jar. As you replenish jars during the year,
mark on a sticker on the bottom when it was
replaced. Then on the annual replacement,
leave these alone. When you see the
intensity of color and smell the freshness
of the new, you realize how old spices
diminish your cooking efforts.
Store your knives “upside-down” in the knife
block (blade side up) so they don’t dull
every time you pull them in and out.
When baking add flour and milk to egg
mixture alternately, beginning with flour
mixture and ending with flour mixture for a
lighter cake, muffin, or biscuit.
For double crust pies: Brush top layer
lightly with milk for a shiny crust; for a
sweet crust sprinkle with sugar or sugar
mixed with cinnamon; for a glazed crust
brush lightly with a beaten egg. If you
place the pie on a hot cookie sheet in the
oven during preheating, it will ensure that
the bottom crust will bake through.
You can always substitute 1 2/3 cups all-
purpose flour for 2 cups cake flour.
Remember 1 1/2 cups corn syrup equals 1 cup
of sugar dissolved in 1/2 cup water.
Out of sweetened condensed milk? Make your
own: Mix 6 cups whole milk with 4 1/2 cups
sugar, 1 stick butter, and 1 vanilla bean
(or 1 tablespoon vanilla). Cook over medium
heat, reducing liquid for 1 hour. Stir
occasionally. Cool. Yields 4 1/2 cups.
This can be stored in refrigerator for
several weeks.
To keep pasta from boiling over add a few
drops of cooking oil.
To keep steps in the kitchen to a minimum,
store items in kitchen near where you use
them, such as putting a crock with all you
utensils next to the stove. (This sounds
like a no-brainer, but when I finally
cleaned out and reorganized I found it
really makes a big difference.)
If you don’t have built-in organizers in
your cabinets, plain old Rubbermaid (or the
like) turntables in cabinets are heaven
sent. (Cheap too!)
When using dried herbs, try mincing them
together with a little fresh parsley. It
freshens them up remarkably.
Add a dash or two of cayenne pepper to spark
up dull sauces or stews - it won't taste
hot,
but seasons well. A teaspoon of sugar will
also often add flavor.
Invest in a good pair of kitchen shears and
use for snipping herbs, cutting pizza,
chicken (raw or cooked), green beans, more.
An ice cream scoop is perfect for portioning
muffin or cupcake batter. Use smaller scoops
for cookie dough.
Line baking pans with aluminum foil for easy
cleanup & storage. Tear off enough foil to
line the pan AND to wrap around the item
(quick-bread, cakes) after baking for
storage. Form the foil over the BOTTOM of
the pan, turn the pan upright, and the foil
will slip right in. Fold the extra flaps of
foil out of the way to bake. After baking,
cool the item, then just fold the ends over
the top & crimp tightly.
Invest in and learn to use a big chef's
knife (watch the cooking shows to learn
how). Keep
it sharp, & always use the BACK of the knife
to scrape things off the cutting board.
When baking, you want your eggs to be at
room temperature for best volume. You can
warm the whole eggs in a bowl of slightly
warm water.
To get the most intense flavor out of citrus
peel simply peel the fruit and place the
peel
in a small blender jar or processor with
part of the sugar from your recipe. Of
course,
this works only if the recipe includes sugar.
Miso is great for soup making. A spoonful in
place of salt really imparts a rich flavor
to
any stock. It keeps for months in the
refrigerator.
Quickly dip vegetables in boiling water,
then chill in ice water, when using as
ingredients
in "raw" vegetable salads. Color and flavor
will be brighter.
Sprinkle plain ground cinnamon (or nutmeg or
ginger?) on pancakes just before you turn
them. Great fragrance, flavor. Or add a
tsp. of cocoa to the batter for a
great "what
is it?" taste.
Stuff a miniature marshmallow in the bottom
of a sugar cone to prevent ice cream drips.
Use a meat baster to "squeeze" your pancake
batter onto the hot griddle - perfect shaped
pancakes every time.
To keep potatoes from budding, place an
apple in the bag with the potatoes.
Run your hands under cold water before
pressing Rice Krispies treats in the pan -
the marshmallow won't stick to your fingers.
To get the most juice out of fresh lemons,
bring them to room temperature and roll them
under your palm against the kitchen counter
before squeezing.
To easily remove burnt-on food from your
skillet, simply add a drop or two of dish
soap and enough water to cover bottom of
pan, and bring to a boil on stovetop -
skillet will be much easier to clean.
Spray your Tupperware with nonstick cooking
spray before pouring in tomato-based sauces -
no more stains.
When a cake recipe calls for flouring the
baking pan, use a bit of the dry cake mix
instead - no white mess on the outside of
the cake.
If you accidentally over-salt a dish while
it's still cooking, drop in a peeled potato -
it absorbs the excess salt for an
instant "fix me up".
Wrap celery in aluminum foil when putting in
the refrigerator - it will keep for weeks.
Place a slice of apple in hardened brown
sugar to soften it back up.
Put a soda cracker in the sugar bowl to soak
up moisture and keep it lump free.
When boiling corn on the cob, add a pinch of
sugar to help bring out the corn's natural
sweetness.
Cure for headaches: Take a lime, cut it in
half and rub it on your forehead. The
throbbing will go away.
Don't throw out all that leftover wine:
Freeze into ice cubes for future use in
casseroles and sauces. (Like there is
leftover wine! Ha!)
If you have a problem opening jars: Try
using latex dishwashing gloves. They give a
non-slip grip that makes opening jars easy.
Or if it still to difficult, use a bottle
opener to gently lift an edge releasing the
vacuum seal.
Potatoes will take food stains off your
fingers. Just slice and rub raw potato on
the stains and rinse with water.
To get rid of itch from mosquito bite: try
applying soap on the area, instant relief.
Ants, ants, ants everywhere ... Well, they
are said to never cross a chalk line. So
get your chalk out and draw a line on the
floor or wherever ants tend to march - see
for yourself. They are also said to be
detracted from mint.
Use air-freshener to clean mirrors: It does
a good job and better still, leaves a lovely
smell to the shine.
When you get a splinter, reach for the
scotch tape before resorting to tweezers or
a needle. Simply put the scotch tape over
the splinter, then pull it off. Scotch tape
removes most
splinters painlessly and easily.
NOW Look what you can do with Alka-Seltzer:
Clean a toilet - drop in two Alka-Seltzer
tablets, wait twenty minutes, brush, and
flush. The citric acid and effervescent
action
clean vitreous china.
Clean a vase-to remove a stain from the
bottom of a glass vase or cruet, fill with
water and drop in two Alka-Seltzer tablets.
Polish jewelry - drop two Alka-Seltzer
tablets into a glass of water and immerse
the jewelry for two minutes.
Clean a thermos bottle - fill the bottle
with water, drop in four Alka-Seltzer
tablets, and let soak for an hour (or
longer, if necessary).
Unclog a drain - clear the sink drain by
dropping three Alka- Seltzer tablets down
the drain followed by a cup of Heinz White
Vinegar Wait a few minutes, then run the hot
water.
If your VCR has a year setting on it, which
most do, you will not be able to use the
programmed recording feature after
12/31/99. Don't throw it away. Instead,
set it for the year 1972 as the days are the
same as the year 2000. The manufacturers
won't
tell you. They want you to buy a new Y2K VCR.
Whipped Cream That Actually Stays on a Cake.
I whipped cream with confectionary sugar
and added vanilla in the usual way to ice
a cake. It was too "droopy". Then, I
remembered a tip from a friend--Add instant
nonfat dry milk. So, I added about 1
tablespoon. It firmed beautifully!!! The
cake lasted for 3 days and it was perfect.
Her complete recipe is:
1 pt heavy whipping cream
3 T. instant nonfat dry milk
1/2 c. confectioners' sugar
1 t. vanilla
Place all ingredients except vanilla in a
chilled bowl and whip to desired
consistency. Add vanilla and mix in well.
It is easy to spread and does not taste like
powdered milk!! This is especially nice in
hot weather.
To clean your outdoor grill: Place the grill
in a large plastic bag. (You need to be
able to seal the bag completely. I use
large, black lawn bags). Thoroughly wet an
old rag with ammonia. Place the rag in the
bag and seal tightly. There should be a
little air in the bag. Place outside
preferably where there is a bit of sun, and
leave for 2 days. Hose off the grill outside
and it should be almost all clean. The
ammonia fumes do the scrubbing for you.
Have fun.
Stabilizing whipped cream:
To 2 cups of cream add 1/2 cup of
confectioners sugar and 3 tablespoons of
nonfat dry powdered milk. Beat till soft
peaks form. Add 1 teaspoon of vanilla.
Beat till stiff peaks form.
1 cup of self rising flour = 1 cup of all
purpose flour + 1 1/4 t baking powder + 1/8
t salt.