Dental floss
Cut soft cheese such as Brie, Camembert, or chevre by placing unflavored dental floss under it, crossing the ends over the top, and pulling.
Cake can be split horizontally into layers in a similar manner. Use a ruler to place toothpicks evenly around the cake to guide the floss, wrap, and pull.
Dental floss is also a good choice for stringing food-coloring-dyed or painted pasta "beads" (or any kind of beads) when kids need something "crafty" to do. Please note that dental floss is particularly strong and probably won't break if the kids try to strangle each other with it or their new necklaces, so this should be discouraged.
Potato flakes
Thicken soup, especially the "cream" kind, by adding instant mashed potatoes. Add it little by little and give it time to absorb liquid and dissolve before adding more if you particularly want to stay soup-ward of mashed potatoes with stuff in. I find this especially useful for commercially-made soups, because the potatoes also cover up some of the saltiness.
Scissors
Chop bacon with kitchen shears instead of a knife and cutting board.
Cut pizza -- especially the thin-crust kind -- with kitchen shears.
Spoon
Spread jam, jelly, and nut butter with the back of a spoon -- it's easier than trying to dig the stuff out of the jar with a knife and then keep it balanced until you get it to the bread.
Wine bottles
Pit cherries by placing them stem-end up on the opening of a wine bottle and pushing the pit out with the handle end of a chopstick. If you wash the bottle out first, you can then use the pits to make flavored water or vodka. Add sparkling water to the pits, give them a good swirl, and strain the water into flasses to serve, or collect a good pile of pits, add vodka and a few whole cherries, and infuse for at least a week.
24 January, 2018
10 January, 2018
Slow cooker tricks
To convert a traditional recipe for a slow cooker, adjust the cooking time as follows:
Recipe time Slow cooker (on low)
15 minutes 1.5-2 hours
20 min. 2-3 hrs.
30 min. 3-4 hrs.
45 min. 5-6 hrs.
1 hr. 6-8 hrs.
1.5 hrs. 8-9 hrs.
2 hrs. 9-10 hrs.
You'll probably need less liquid, as well.
Doubling a slow cooker recipe is a little more complicated than with a normal recipe. Only add half again as much liquid as in the original recipe (for instance, 1 cup of broth in the original slow cooker recipe should only become 1.5 cups when "doubled"). You'll also need to cook it about an hour longer; check it carefully for doneness and cook longer if needed.
On those cold winter days when your hair sticks to your face and the cat's ears give you little static shocks, an unlidded slow cooker full of water (and any dried herb you care to add, optional) makes a passable humidifier. (If the cat will let you touch his paw with one hand, making skin-to-skin contact, you can pet him with the other hand without snapping either of you. Try slipping your hand under the paw rather than holding it, most cats object to having a paw trapped.)
Much of this information came from: Slow cooking for two : basics techniques recipes / Cynthia Graubart. Gibbs Smith, c2013. ISBN: 9781423633839.
Recipe time Slow cooker (on low)
15 minutes 1.5-2 hours
20 min. 2-3 hrs.
30 min. 3-4 hrs.
45 min. 5-6 hrs.
1 hr. 6-8 hrs.
1.5 hrs. 8-9 hrs.
2 hrs. 9-10 hrs.
You'll probably need less liquid, as well.
Doubling a slow cooker recipe is a little more complicated than with a normal recipe. Only add half again as much liquid as in the original recipe (for instance, 1 cup of broth in the original slow cooker recipe should only become 1.5 cups when "doubled"). You'll also need to cook it about an hour longer; check it carefully for doneness and cook longer if needed.
On those cold winter days when your hair sticks to your face and the cat's ears give you little static shocks, an unlidded slow cooker full of water (and any dried herb you care to add, optional) makes a passable humidifier. (If the cat will let you touch his paw with one hand, making skin-to-skin contact, you can pet him with the other hand without snapping either of you. Try slipping your hand under the paw rather than holding it, most cats object to having a paw trapped.)
Much of this information came from: Slow cooking for two : basics techniques recipes / Cynthia Graubart. Gibbs Smith, c2013. ISBN: 9781423633839.
03 January, 2018
Baking powder and baking soda
Chemically speaking, baking soda is a base -- alkaline -- and produces a gas when mixed with an acid. This is the source of both its leavening action and the more explosive effect that makes it a popular drain-cleaner and component of baking-soda-and-vinegar volcanos. Lemon juice, buttermilk, honey, molasses, and chocolate are all acidic enough to trigger leavening. Do not let baking-soda-leavened batter sit too long before baking it or the chemical reaction will run its course and the batter will start to deflate.
Baking powder pre-combines baking soda with a dry acid or two to produce the same effect. The most common kind, double-acting baking powder, contains two acids, one that starts leavening as soon as it gets wet and another that doesn't start working until it's heated. Some recipes will advise you to let baking-powder-leavened batter sit briefly before baking it, in order to, as it were, get the maximum lift from the first stage before heat sets off the second stage.
Baking powder loses strength as it ages. If you're not sure how long that can has been sitting in the cupboard, test it by mixing 1/2 tsp. of it into 1/4 cup of warm water; it will fizz if it's still good.
A possible substitute for baking powder is to add 2 tsp. cream of tartar, 1 tsp. baking soda, and 1 tsp. salt PER CUP OF FLOUR (not in direct proportion to the recipe's baking powder). Keep in mind, though, that you're edging from cooking into chemistry here and this work-around won't work for every recipe.
Baking powder pre-combines baking soda with a dry acid or two to produce the same effect. The most common kind, double-acting baking powder, contains two acids, one that starts leavening as soon as it gets wet and another that doesn't start working until it's heated. Some recipes will advise you to let baking-powder-leavened batter sit briefly before baking it, in order to, as it were, get the maximum lift from the first stage before heat sets off the second stage.
Baking powder loses strength as it ages. If you're not sure how long that can has been sitting in the cupboard, test it by mixing 1/2 tsp. of it into 1/4 cup of warm water; it will fizz if it's still good.
A possible substitute for baking powder is to add 2 tsp. cream of tartar, 1 tsp. baking soda, and 1 tsp. salt PER CUP OF FLOUR (not in direct proportion to the recipe's baking powder). Keep in mind, though, that you're edging from cooking into chemistry here and this work-around won't work for every recipe.
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