For cleaning smelly hands after chopping onions or garlic, just rub them on a stainless steel spoon. The steel is believed to ab- sorb the odor.
Fresh coffee beans can also ab- sorb nasty odors from the hands.
If you happen to over-salt a pot of soup, just drop in a peeled potato. The potato will absorb the excess salt.
When boiling eggs, add a pinch of salt to keep the shells from cracking.
Never put citrus fruits or to- matoes in the fridge. The low tem- peratures degrade the aroma and flavor of these persnickety fruits.
To clean cast-iron cookwear, don’t use detergents. Just scrub them with salt and a clean, dry pa- per towel.
To clean an electric kettle with calcium buildup on the heat- ing element, boil a 50-50 mixture of white vinegar and water, then empty.
the spicy chili oil. 9. If you aren’t sure how fresh
your eggs are, place them in about four inches of water. Eggs that stay on the bottom are fresh. If only one end tips up, the egg is less fresh and should be used soon. If it floats, it’s past the fresh stage.
Don’t store bananas in a bunch or in a fruit bowl with oth- er fruits. Separate them and place each one in a different location. Ba- nanas release gases which cause fruits (including other bananas) to ripen quickly. Separating them will keep them fresh longer.
To keep potatoes from bud- ding in the bag, put an apple in with them.
If you manage to have some leftover wine at the end of the eve- ning, freeze it in ice cube trays for easy addition to soups and sauces in the future.
To clean crevices and corners in vases and pitchers, fill with wa- ter and drop in two Alka-Seltzer tablets. The bubbles will do the scrubbing.
contains nutrients that your plants will love.
When defrosting meat from the freezer, pour some vinegar over it. Not only does it tender- ize the meat; it will also bring down the freezing temperature of the meat and cause it to thaw quick- er.
The substance in onions that causes your eyes to water is located in the root cluster of the onion. Cut this part out in a cone shape, with the largest part of the cone around the exterior root section.
Baking soda is an extremely effective cleaner. Use it with vin- egar to deodorize drains and clean stovetops and sinks.
A favorite tip of thousands of grandmas: when you nick your finger while cutting veggies, wait until the bleeding stops and paint on a layer of clear nail polish. It will keep juices out of the wound and won’t fall off into the spaghetti sauce like a bandage.
When you burn yourself in the kitchen, just spread mustard on the affected area. Leave it for a while and it will ease the pain and prevent blistering.
For aluminum pans that are looking dull, boil some apple peels in them. This will brighten the alu- minum and make your house smell yummy.
To keep cookies fresh, savvy grannies like to put some crum- pled-up tissue paper in the bottom of the cookie jar.
Keep iceberg lettuce fresh by wrapping it in a clean, dry paper towel and storing lettuce and pa- per towel in a sealed baggie in the fridge.
If your loaf of bread is start- ing to go stale, just put a piece of fresh celery in the bag and close it back up. This restores a fresh taste and texture to the bread.
Always keep an aloe vera plant in your kitchen. It’s invalu- able when you scrape your arm or burn your finger. Just break off a leaf and rub the gel from the inside on the injury.
When making a soup, sauce or casserole that ends up too fatty or greasy, drop in an ice cube. The ice will attract the fat, which you can then scoop out.