Over the years I have come across some ideas in the kitchen that might prove helpful to readers. To be quite honest, I don't even know why most of them work the way they do. All I know for sure is they work. That's good enough for me.
I found that if I keep brown sugar for any length of time, it becomes rock hard. I used to pound and scrape to break some loose when I needed a few tablespoons. That is not really necessary. Just put a slice of bread or apple in with your brown sugar and the next day you will have beautiful, soft brown sugar. Somehow it draws all the moisture from the bread or apple.
Did you ever grate cheese(like a cheddar for instance)and have it smash all over your grater? Well, I discovered you can avoid this if you put the cheese in a freezer for 30 or 40 minutes. This makes it firmer and easier to grate.
Now this one really blew me away because I use cottage cheese all the time. Did you know that if you store the container upside down in the refrigerator the cottage cheese will actually stay fresh longer? I just can't figure that one out, but it works.
If you make the mistake of hard-boiling some eggs and putting them back in the fridge beside raw eggs, there is a way of telling them apart. Just give them a spin. A raw egg will not spin. A hard-boiled egg will.
If your bag of sugar turns lumpy, just put it in the refrigerator overnight and the lumps will disappear.
Did you ever end up with a few ounces(or more)of wine in a bottle that you didn't drink and eventually ended up throwing out? Well no need to do that. I found that you could freeze the wine into ice cubes and use it in recipes that call for wine.
I didn't believe this one until I tried it for myself, but if you put bacon under cold water before you fry it, you will cut the cooking shrinkage down by half.
When you bring home fresh vegetables from the supermarket and don't use them right away, you'll find that they will begin to wilt in a few days. This trick will work with most vegetables, but especially all lettuce, spinach, celery etc. Soak for 10-15 minutes in warm(not hot or cold)water. drain out excess water and store in plastic bag in the refrigerator. The next day you will have amazing crisp vegetables. People forget that much like a xmas tree, fresh vegetables are still alive and will respond well to water.
If you want to make a salad ahead of time, you can cut up all the vegetables a day ahead of time and store in a covered bowl. Except tomatoes--they should always be added just before serving the salad. Most people don't realize you can also prepare the lettuce ahead of time. It doesn't matter if its romaine, ice berg or leaf lettuce, just break it into the sizes you prefer. Wet several sheets of paper towel in cold water. wring out the excess water. Place one sheet in the bottom of the bowl and then put in a layer of lettuce. Put another sheet over the layer of lettuce and repeat. Do this as many times as you like depending on the size of salad you are preparing. Just be sure to top the last layer with the final wet sheet of paper towel. Place in the refrigerator until the next day. just before serving, pull out all the sheets of paper towel. You will have beautiful, crisp lettuce(not brown). Add the other cut-up vegetables and toss. Add tomatoes if desired. Your salad is ready.
