Kitchen Tips.

1. Lots of garlic to peel? No problem! Break off the cloves and put them in a metal bowl. Cover the bowl with another metal bowl and shake like maracas. Cover your ears as its LOUD! The garlic peels itself. In fact, you could do this to music and get a work out as well.
2. Tired of not having ginger when you need it? Or worse yet, it rots before you can use it? Throw it in the freezer. That way, it lasts, it’s there when you need it, and if you use a rasper to grind it, it comes out as a lovely powder! No more difficulty with chopping. It melts right into the food. It is especially nice when you have a cold. You can make a fresh ginger tea with a bit of honey and some booze. Fix you right up.
3. Fruits going to waste? Seed them (if they have seeds), skin them (if you can’t eat the skin) and throw it in the freezer for smoothies and future baking. Fabulous to do with apples, peaches, bananas, pears, etc. I make my kids “salad shakes” all the time with frozen fruit. I stuff my vitamix (shameless plug again) half full with spinach, and then fill the rest of it with bananas, apples, blueberries (and other fruits) and a bit of water and whiz it all up. If you put enough blueberries in, it won’t be green so the kids won’t give a rats ass. If its green, they might object.
4. Oversalt a soup or stew? Throw in slices of potato. It will absorb the salt and save the day.
5. Chopping mushrooms? Slice off a bit to make a flat edge so the mushroom doesn’t roll around and you don’t chop off your fingers. Always a good thing.
6. Use scissors to cut lots of things, like pizza or chicken into chunks, herbs etc.
7. Burned a pot? No problem! Fill it with water and set it to boil for 10 minutes or so. It should come right off. If it is super stubborn and doesn’t, leave it to soak overnight with hot water and a tablespoon or so of either powdered laundry detergent or dishwasher detergent.
8. Wine goes off quickly if there is air in the bottle. Keep smaller wine bottles (you know the kind, you get them on airplanes or in hotel rooms) to pour the left over wine in. If its even less, freeze it in ice cube trays, then transfer to a freezer ziplock bag for those moments where you just need a bit. I know, I know… What leftover wine?
9. Wilted greens? Put them all in a big bowl, fill the big bowl with warm water and let sit for a few minutes. Drain, then fill with cold water. Drain again. They should be a whole lot fresher now. And if they aren’t, they can go in the blender to make the salad fruit drink for the kids.
10. Deep frying something? Add a chunk of carrot. It will help stop things from burning.
11. Stale bread? Moisten it with a bit of water, and bake in the oven for 10 minutes. Voila, fresh, steaming bread.