LOL, Michael/Lyra, and that's why I love you!

Annie

Here's my favorite ones:

Hotel disposable shower caps can be used to cover a bowl instead of saran wrap. Makes a tight, resealable fit on variable sized bowls.

And my other one is kind of a kitchen tip/garden tip. Buy some green onions at the grocery store. cut off almost all of the green part (leave a little). Now take the white bulb end and plant it in soil. The green tops will regrow and then you can cut and come again forever more. I haven't bought green onions in over a year!

Susan

Since I still have a fresh basil plant growing in my kitchen window (from May of this year), I'm going to try the green onion tip. I can't grow chives in our humidity, so I always sub green onion tips.

Thanks for that idea, Susan.
Teresa

Jim:
I just checked my Oil and Vinegar Pantry shelf.
I had a Paper towel under. It was Oily.
So I have to use your suggestion.
*********************************

Plasitc bags
Sometimes I'll put something to freeze in an extra long bag
and tie it.
Then pull the bag back over it and tie it again.
Now it is Double Bagged.

Cross_Stitch:
I'm going to use your idea, using the spoon to pry a lid.
In fact I have already but the end was hard to get under the edge of the lid.
So! I'm going to shape the end of one, around a large diameter pipe ( the opposite way ) and
Sharpen it a little, so it goes under the lid easier.
I'll show you a Photo, when I do it.
Lou

One more on opening jars....tap around the edge of the jar top with heavy utensil of your choice (I use the back/handle of a knife).

You mean you all don't have a JarPop??

Here is a link that might be useful: Jar Pop

You are all so clever. I have (or should say HAD)no little tricks. I do love using binder clips to reseal bags. I've been known to staple shut the chips and things I shouldn't be eating.

If I am making a chocolate cake and it says to grease and flour the pan, I use cocoa instead of flour so there is no white residue on the sides and bottom of the cake. See? I do know a trick!

Admittedly, I haven't tried this yet, but a fantastic baker I know uses this mixture to replace greasing and flouring her pans in 2 steps.

1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup vegetable shortening
1/2 cup vegetable oil

Mix well with a hand mixer and store in a covered container. Use at room temperature.

Use a pastry brush to apply to muffin cake pans. You don't need to grease and flour the pans when using this mixture.

Jasdip:
Use Dedtired's tip and add some Cocoa too !!!
Lou

No greasing and flouring a pan for me. I just spray on a little Baker's Joy.

Hmmm....let me see.........

When I make cookies, I often (depending on the type) spoon the batter onto sheets of wax paper, and roll it up into cylinders to put in the fridge or freezer. When I want cookies, I can slice as many as I want to put directly on pans and into the oven. Cold batter doesn't spread as readily, and the finished cookie looks much more 'professional' as it doesn't have those singed edges so many home-baked cookies get...particularly chocolate chip. Plus, this gives me the option of having a few, oven-warm cookies for my husband and me, without having the temptation of a dozen or two sitting around waiting to be eaten!

When measuring out shortening, I fill my 2 cup measuring cup halfway with ice water. Then, I can add spoonfuls of shortening to get the third, half or cup I need by adding it to the water to the desired amount. This way, I don't have to squish the shortening into a measuring cup, fussing about making sure air holes aren't messing up my measurement, AND don't have a greasy measuring cup to wash. Just pour out the water, and use the shortening.

A variation on this idea works well also with sticky, gooey ingredients like Karo syrup, honey or molasses, if the recipe calls for any other liquid. Just pour the milk or water into a measuring cup and then add the gooey liquid to it, making up the appropriate amount.

To use a pomegranate, cut out the blossom end as though coring a tomato. Carefully quarter just the skin, cutting shallowly with a sharp knife. Then hold the pomegranate under water in a large bowl or tub to break it into quarters. Rub out the seeds, gently breaking the pith when you have to. The fruity seeds will sink, the pith and membranes float.

For vegetables with a stem end, like celery, greens,broccoli and lettuces, slice an eighth or quarter inch from the stem off, and place the vegetable in a container of cold water for an hour or two, just as though you were putting flowers in a vase. Water drawn up into the stalks and leaves will freshen the vegetable and lengthen it's refrigerator life.

When roasting meat, put it on a rack over the roasting pan. In the pan, pour enough water or stock to the level of 1/4 to 1/2 inch. The drippings will fall into liquid rather than onto a hot pan, lessening both smoke in the kitchen and spatters in the oven. If you want gravy, the water will catch all the goodness for your gravy. Cleaning the pan is much easier too!

If you sew at all, terrific, inexpensive potholders can be made by buying good quality terrycloth kitchen towels, doubling them and stitching the layers together. These can be thrown in the washer and dryer without ending up lumpy, and if you make a small stack of them can double as quick-grab towels to sop up messes.

Those are ingenious tips, Rachelellen. Especially the ones about measuring shortening and sticky stuff. And the descriptions are clear.

Jim

susancol, I'm sure going to try your green onions tip! I hadn't heard that before, & use quite a lot of green onions. I just might have a kitchen garden yet. Thanks!

I don't have any tricks but I'm sure enjoying all of the above !!

I've also never heard of the green onion tip so I plan to try that as well. Thanks for all the tips, enjoyed reading them all.

My tip - I make a ceasar salad with shrimp, pasta and romaine. When the pasta has about a min or 2 left to go, I add the shrimp to the boiling pasta water, with the pasta still in it and by the time the shrimp are done, so is the pasta and then there is only one pot to wash.

I have many strange tips. Most of them are somewhat involved. When I have a little more time, I will start posting them.

Here is one I posted some time ago. You can get hardware cloth from HD and make a quick sorter to separate sweet large blue berries for eating fresh, and small sour ones for muffins and pancakes.

dcarch

My tip is similar to Shaun's. While I cook pasta for a pasta salad, when the pasta has about 2 minutes left to cook, I toss in broccoli florets. They tend to rise to the top. I fish them out to blanch them and then the pasta is ready for draining. You can do the same with carrot pennies.

Helene

I like the shortening trick! My trick for measuring honey or other gooey liquids is this: If you are also using oil in your recipe, measure that first and then measure the gooey liquid in the same measuring cup, it'll slide right out. If you are not using oil, then give the measuring device a spritz of nonstick spray, then measure your gooey liquid, it works the same way.

Cj

It is not necessary to peel garlic cloves before placing them in your garlic press. In fact, garlic is lost if you do peel it. Think about it: It is impossible for a garlic press to extrude 100% of what goes into it. Something has to be left behind. If you leave the peel on, the peel is left in the press and the flesh is forced around and through it as you squeeze the handles

Cross Stitch:
There you are !!!
I thought the Sheriff ran you out of town at Sunset.
I've been watching John Wayne movies ???

After this Post,( good one ) You are not a newbie anymore.
So we can treat you as Oldie.
What are you doing tonight ???
Lou

Hawk, I am literally LingOL at your post. (I don't ROF.) Sorry to disappoint, but I'll be dining with friends tonight. For those who are interested, here's what I am taking in about and hour...

Here is a link that might be useful: Warm Olive and Caramelized Onion Tart

Adding another tip: to keep celery fresh for more than a month, tightly wrap it in foil with no openings. I bought some on 9/26 and used the last of it on Thanksgiving for stuffing. It was green and crisp, not pale or mushy.

To make a ziplock bag dryer, just take a 12 inch strip of wood, drill 5 or more holes into it and insert some dowel rods. Keep on top of your fridge to help dry the bags faster,it is nice and warm up there in the winter.

If you use non-stick frying pans, never use Pam type sprays on them. The propellent eats into the coatings and ruins them. Instead add a drop of oil and use a brush to spread it around.

Have only a few tablespoons of gravy left over? Save them as the mother sauce for the next batch. The same with the juices from a rotisserie chicken.

I like Rachelellen's suggestion to make potholders from kitchen towels. A great liner for a potholder or hot pad is a product called Insul-Bright. It's available from quilt shops (or JoAnn where it's on sale right now for $3.24 for more than 1 sq yard). This insulates your table and especially YOU from heat that would otherwise come through the potholder.

Here is a link that might be useful: Insul-Bright

Another thing to use for pot holders is old 100% wool clothing. Cut it into squares and sew it together.

I often use the bottoms and tops off of cereal type boxes for free organizers. Just use a box cutter and cut them to a couple inches tall. These make great kitchen drawer organzers. You can use the top and bottom but you'll have to reglue the top or tape it with packing tape.

OH and something else, use old newspaper under one sheet of clean paper towels to drain the grease off bacon and other greasy foods like French Fries. The paper towel keeps the food clean but the old newspaper absorbs all that grease.

Pkramer,
Do you clean the celery before wrapping in foil? I store it in ZipLoc bags and it spoils quickly.

You can get workshop cotton towels from Home Depot. They are 12" x 12". They are very cheap, long lasting, not bad looking, and very absorbent.

I bought 50 of them. I have them in a cabinet. They don�t take up much room. It is so convenient in the kitchen to have plenty of clean towels/pot holders to use.

When they get a little soiled, rinse and microwave to dry and sanitize. When they get greasy, wash them the next time you do the laundry.

Paper towels are very expensive.

dcarch

Papanda, no, do not wash it before wrapping. It only takes a moment to wipe or wash when you go to use it. And be sure there are NO OPENINGS in the foil or it will spoil as quickly as if it were not wrapped.

Peppi, you are so right about the celery. I tried wrapping in foil for the first time about 6 weeks ago and I was amazed the celery was perfect after weeks in the veggie drawer. Have you ver tried it with anything else? I'm wondering specifically about the 6 packs of Romaine from Costco. For the most part we use all six heads before they start to turn brown but it would be nice to wrap two in foil just in case they weren't used quickly enough.

Lee

Also remember to not ever put tomatoes in the same drawer with your other produce. It gives off a gas that makes produce ripen too fast. I've had heads of celery in the produce drawer for weeks without it going bad and I just leave it in it's original packaging. I guess it depends mostly on how fresh it is when I buy it.

When grating semi soft cheeses (like Colby) spritz the box grater or food processor blade w/ cooking spray. It helps to keep the grater from loading up cheese & makes clean-up easier.

My experience with celery is that not only can it be stored for a long time if wrapped air tight to keep it from drying out but it can be revived after it has started to wilt. Slightly limp celery can be held under running water and put away wet. In a day or two it will be crisp again. This doesn't work lettuce and other salad greens. They will spoil if kept wet.

dcarch, you are the only person I know with a custom built blueberry sorter. I can;t imagine how many gadgets you must have in your kitchen.

Jim

"---dcarch, you are the only person I know with a custom built blueberry sorter. I can;t imagine how many gadgets you must have in your kitchen. Jim"

Enough crazy gadgets to drive everyone here nuts. :-)

There will be more coming. Watch out! You are forewarned.

dcarch

Oh jeepers, Jim, don't encourage him!!!

LOL! :D

" Oh jeepers, Jim, don't encourage him!!! "

Too late. I have been encouraged. :-)
---------------------------------------

Here is a more practical one:

What do you do with a scrubby scruffy sloppy plastic kitchen sink scrubbing brush with frayed bristles?

1. Soak in bleach overnight to whiten the bristles.
2. Tie a rubber band around the bristles.
3. Cook in a pressure cooker and let it cool down completely.

The bristles will be re-set back to normal, straight and stiff.

dcarch

Sorry, Rachelellen. It's too late now. We've been warned. There's no telling what we are in for. The only certainty is that it will be unusual.

Jim

"Enough crazy gadgets to drive everyone here nuts. :-)"

Too late, I already am. I'm fun, though.....

Annie

I want to know how Dcarch's scientific mind works.
"I know, I'll put the scrubby in the pressure cooker!"
I think that's hilarious, to even have that cross your mind, and then actually do it. :D

Annie, sane people are boring. ;)

Oh goodness. I've been toying with the idea of buying a pressure cooker, and now I'm just gonna have to do it.

don't do it!! It's a trap...the bristles will melt in the pressure cooker and then you'll be asking for a tip on how to get melted brush bristles out of your pressure cooker. LOL!!

Speaking of which....how do I get melted plastic bag off of my toaster oven?

"----Speaking of which....how do I get melted plastic bag off of my toaster oven?"

That's interesting. I normally use my toaster to melt cheese. LOL

Serious. It is not easy to remove melt plastic. I am not aware of any household solvent that will desolve plastic. Methyline chloride (sp?) will remove Plexiglas, but not plastic bag.

I have done this but it's not easy.

Heat up oil to smoking hot (I mean smoking hot) and pour over the melt plastic. Immediately scrap off the softened melt plastic. You should use a long piece of scrap wood to do this so that you can throw it away after you are done.

dcarch

Maybe I'll just leave it there,.,not doing any harm but looking ugly..

I know it's risky. Promoting frozen TV dinners in a cooking forum could get me banned. :-)

I am not sure how you heat up TV dinners, especially if you have to heat up 2, 3, 4 or 5 servings. You know microwave doesn't work. Half of the meal is over cooked while the other half is still frozen.

You may want to try steaming them in an inexpensive Chinese bamboo steamer. You can stack them to have many servings done at the same time.

dcarch

Never throw away the bottom of the bag of the corn chips that are too small to dip...crush them up and put them on top of casseroles.

Annie:
Always smile, especially when working in the kitchen and don't want to be bothered.

They won't know if you are nuts or just happy.

If you don't smile enough your face will crack, when you do smile.

Cross_stich:
How come no one is picking on you except me ???

Dcarch:
Excuse me Sir. Do you mind if I put in something simple?
OK !!! Thanks.

Along with all the other clips and Ziploc holder openers,
that were already mentioned,
I use many others, along with new SS Scouring pads, pulled apart and loosened.
LOU

arkansas_girl, I don't recall exactly where I got the slide out cutting board/shelf but I'm sure it was one of the discount stores. Probably Kmart considering the time frame in which I got it. But wait a second, unless I ordered it from somewhere??? No I think I bought it in a store. I looked for some a year or two ago for a gift but didn't see them. I don't even know what you'd actually call it either. I'll try to take a picture of it, maybe someone else would know the "technical" name.

And yes mustangs, I have a jarpop. I bought it at the grocery store for about $3 as I recall. I gave some as gifts after trying it out. It hangs on the frig along with my other gadgets like the strap wrench, putty knife, instant read thermometer and what not.

Steamed TV dinners, huh? Hmmm. No, I think I'll have to pass!

Back to tricks... Freezer bags make great ice packs. Fill with water, remove most air, freeze flat and as they melt they keep things from getting wet. A block of ice lasts quite a while too. I use them at summertime picnics and don't care if they get lost or damaged.

An envelope or pouch set up by the door where you bring in mail (for me, it's the kitchen) is a great spot to stuff things you'll need for income taxes. As soon as it comes in, put it in the envelope and you know where everything is come tax prep time. I bought a fabric one that looks a little nicer than a plain envelope. Now I just have to put it up!

I have a steel back door (firewall requirement by code for attached garage) so a magnet clip is perfect for holding outgoing letters and other things I need to remember. I put a little shelf on there to put gloves, hold some change, car keys, extra garage door opener (that I use when I'm blowing snow or mowing grass, or blowing grass and mowing snow...)

Fantastic thread y;all got here... so many awesome tips... I don't know what I can add to all that are here...wow..
Thank you thank you thank you thank you... I guess I just cannot thank you enough...

But since I usually harvest about 50 lbs. of blueberries each year, I am Not gonna be sorting them.. but what a cute idea..

Carolyn

Here's one to add to cynic's tip: "Freezer bags make great ice packs.' If you drape the bag over an OJ can or larger curved container as it freezes you will end up with a concave ice pack ready for a sprained wrist, skinned knee, banged up elbow or burned hand -- form-fitting.

Lee, I have never tried the foil wrap with anything else, but now you have me curious. I may just run to the market tomorrow and wrap up some romaine.

Jim, you are correct, celery will crisp up after a day or so in cold water, but that isn't much help if I am making a tuna or chicken salad at 6 am before work on a crazy non caffeine whim.

Peppi, I bought a six pack of romaine hearts at Costco today and when I open them tomorrow, I am going to wrap one in foil. When we have used the other five I'll open the one wrapped in foil and post back.

Lee

If your pie crust is browning too fast, cut the center out of a foil pie plate, and the rim will fit over your pie.