To avoid kitchen mess, use vegetable oil spray on the inside and outside
For freezing cake-like or soft cookies, it is sometimes best to freeze
(If you have a dog:)
If you have lots of cookbooks, it's hard to remember which one has a
To effortlessly clean any thermos, drop one or two denture cleaner
Hate scrubbing grates on your stove? Try mixing 1 to 2 teaspoons
A way to keep bugs from getting into any stored product like beans,
To keep hamburgers moist and reduce shrinkage; add 1/2 cup of
To clean brass, copper, and stainless steel kitchen sinks; make a
Using a pastry blender is a quick and easy way to chop eggs for egg salad.
When you're ready to shred beef, pork, or chicken chunks that you'll be
When plastic wrap won't stick when you cover a dish, moisten the outer
Run your hands under cold water before pressing Rice Krispies treats
Add a little vinegar to the water when an egg cracks during boiling.
If you've had baking powder or soda for a time, you can check to see
If you refrigerate onions for an hour or so before peeling, slicing or
A good way to roll pie crust is to roll it in a large Ziploc bag leaving
Leaving the oven light on in a closed oven, the temperature is just
You can make egg rings out of 8 oz. pineapple cans. Just take out the
If you cook the leaves of celery with Brussels sprouts, it makes the
When cooking hard-boiled eggs, at the end of cooking drain the water
To crack alot of nuts at one time, place them in a towel or pillow case
Do not throw away left over vegetables, freeze, and use the next time
If you soak beans overnight, you will get less gas from them. When you
Instead of using waxed paper or plastic wrap to pound chicken breasts,
A good use for an old microwave's glass tray is -- it works wonderfully
When you have a spill in your oven, sprinkle some salt on it right away.
To bake potatoes more quickly, soak for about 20 minutes in salt water
To remove heel marks from wood floors, a little kerosene on a soft cloth
To clean a thermos, fill halfway with hot water, put a teaspoon of
To toast coconut for cakes, put in pie pan and place in moderate oven.
Save the waxed paper bag in your cereal boxes for use in pounding meat
When you need to chop garlic cloves, first smash them on your cutting
To keep things from sliding and walking on your counter, use a piece of
When preparing artichokes for stuffing, the best way to remove the fuzzy part
If you have recipes that call for the combination of a number of different
When "flouring" a pan for cake or coffee loaves, use powdered sugar rather
Keep one of those nice quart plastic containers that strawberries come
To keep apple slices from turning brown--
I like the salads in a bag and recommend them highly as we have very
If you have a stainless steel skillet or other pan that has been
It's important to let a roast -- beef, pork, lamb or poultry --
Putting bacon in the freezer for about twenty minutes makes it
When your cleaning sponges begun to start smelling bad, put them
in the microwave for 30-60 seconds (depending on the size). Then
rinse them and use....they will be disinfected and no longer smelly.
of measuring spoons when measuring peanut butter or honey. Makes for
easy release and clean-up. Also, spray cheese grater for same results.
them on a cookie sheet first to harden, then put them in the bags.
This goes for iced cookies too.
When you have meat in the fridge that's getting a little too old,
cook it for the dog by lining a baking pan completely in aluminum
foil and putting it in a 350 degree oven for about 20 minutes.
This way there is no pan to wash.
paticular recipe in it. Use one of those old-fashioned recipe boxes
that holds 3 x 5 index cards. When you find or have made a special
recipe that you want to remember, write on the 3 x 5 card, the name
of the recipe, the cookbook and page number where it can be found.
Also any notes about the recipe. Then place it in your recipe box
under which ever category it's in (meats, deserts, salads, etc).
This will save lots of time trying to find a paticular recipe
you have made before.
tablets into it and add hot tap water. Let the tabs work for several
hours or overnight and they will clean it like it was new.
cream of tartar with enough white vinegar to make a thin paste.
Coat stove parts with this, let sit for a few minutes. Wash off.
Works on oven glass, too.
rice or flour is to place a stick of spearmint gum in with them.
water to a pound of raw ground beef. Mix it well into the meat.
paste from ReaLemon and salt, scrub gently, then rinse with water.
using for dishes like enchiladas, etc., whip out that handy pastry blender.
It's much faster and easier than the old two-fork method.
edge of the dish before you wrap it.
in the pan~the marshmallow won't stick to your fingers!
It will help seal the egg.
if it still has leavening power by adding a small amount to a bit
of very hot water. If it bubbles and fizzes, then it's still good.
chopping you will not have anywhere near the gas that causes the tears.
about one inch open for air to escape. Turn it over and roll again, cut
around all four edges of the bag, and you have a nice pie crust and
no mess. You can trim it after you lay it into the pie pan.
right for rising any dough.
top and bottom. After washing them thoroughly, grease or spray them
before you put an egg in them so it won't stick. The same can makes
a good dough-nut cutter. If you have a very small lid (such as a
prescription bottle lid), you can cut doughnut holes out of the middle.
sprouts taste sweet.
and then shake the devil out of the eggs to break all the shells.
Then run them under cold water for five minutes. The shells literally
fall off. I didn't believe this when I read it, but it works!
and gently hammer them until cracked.
you make soups/stews.
drain the old water add a pinch of ginger to the new boiling cooking water.
use a Ziploc freezer bag. Just place the unopened bag over the chicken
and pound away. The plastic is thick enough to take the beating without
shredding and it keeps your meat mallet clean.
for baking cookies. The bottoms of the cookies do not get dark like they
do on a metal pan or sheet. You can heat nachos on it and also use it to
serve them. When cakes are done baking, dump them onto it to cool,
then you can ice the cake on it, less mess. They are very easy to clean.
Then when the oven cools wipe it off. This works great.
before baking.
will remove them. A typewriter eraser can also be used to remove heel marks.
automatic dishwasher detergent in it, put the stopper on it, shake,
remove cap and fill the rest of the way to the top. Put the stopper back
on and turn the thermos upside down and leave it for one half hour.
Pour out the soapy water and rinse.
Stir often until evenly browned.
cutlets thinner. Just clean the bag, slip in the meat, and pound away.
It's so strong, you can use it over and over again!
board with the side of your chef knife and then discard the outer part.
Then sprinkle the smashed cloves with a little salt and chop to the
desired size. The salt will keep them from sliding on your cutting
board and absorbs some of the oil that would be lost.
non-skid matting. It comes in a roll (in the kitchen section), so it can be
cut to any size. Any of the mass-market department stores should have it.
in the center is to use a grapefruit spoon. Just stick the spoon all the way
down, keep turning it and all the inedible part will loosen and come out.
spices to be sprinkled over meat, fish etc., measure and place them into an
empty spice bottle and shake away. You can keep the plastic covers that fit
over the bottle and have different size holes so that you can do this with
different size spices.
than flour. It absorbs into the cake batter without an additional taste,
gives a little moister cake, and doesn't leave a white film on your cake;
I have never had a cake stick and tear like with flour. When frosting a
cake, make and cool the day before on a cooling rack. Do not cover.
Frosting will be easier and the cake will be moist and tender on the
inside but a little less tender on the outside of the cake. Works every
time and no one knows unless you tell them.
in to store your mushrooms in the vegetable drawer. They have holes
in them to allow the air to circulate and they last twice as long.
It works like a charm.
in a spray bottle put one part lemon juice to three parts water and
keep the bottle in the refrigerator. Mist the cut fruit slices and
put them in baggies for lunches and snacks.
little radicchio etc. here unless we grow it ourselves. To make it
cheaper I rinse thebag lettuce well and add a head of cheaper leaf
lettuce - a salad spinner will dry it well and it sometimes lasts
me a week unless my husband sees it.
overheated resulting in a bluish discoloration of the metal, simply
swish a tablespoon of vinegar around the bottom of the pan. This
is sure a lot easier than using a soap pad and elbow grease.
sit a little while before carving. That allows the juices to
retreat back into the meat. If you carve a roast too soon, much
of its goodness will spill out onto the carving board.
firmer and easier to cut, chop, or dice.
