Kitchen Hints

[Jeanieb]

BAKING

Baking Pans
When baking in a glass pan, reduce oven temperature by 25ºF.

Breads and pies bake best and will have the best crust when baked in a dark colored pan that absorbs heat well. Cookies, biscuits and cakes do better in a shiny pan that reflects the heat for a more delicate browning of the crust.

Baking Powder
If you're afraid it's "dead," test by putting 1 teaspoon into a cup of hot water. If it fizzes actively, use it. If not, buy a new box.

Biscuits
Biscuits will be crisp on the outside and flaky in the center if you roll the dough thin and fold it over once before cutting out biscuits. They'll also split open easily when you're ready to butter them.

To re-freshen and heat biscuits, put them in a well-dampened paper bag, twist it closed and put in a 300º oven for several minutes or until warm.

If you want soft-sided biscuits, bake them in a pan with sides and put the biscuits close together.

If you want crusty biscuits, bake them on a cookie sheet and place them apart from each other.

Bread and Rolls
Keep bread fresh longer by placing a rib of celery in the bread bag.

For quick and easy garlic breadsticks, split a hot dog bun down the middle and cut each half lengthwise. Butter each strip; sprinkle with garlic salt or garlic powder. Place on a cookie sheet and bake or broil until toasted.

To butter many slices of bread quickly and evenly, heat the butter until soft, then "paint" it on with a flat pastry brush.

To thaw frozen bread and rolls, place in a brown paper bag and put into a 325ºF oven for 5 minutes to thaw completely.

For a shiny bread crust, brush the top with a mixture of 1 beaten egg and 1 tablespoon of milk before baking.

Place aluminum foil under the napkin in your roll basket and the rolls will stay hot longer.

To glaze the tops of rolls, brush with a mixture of 1 tablespoon sugar and 1/4 cup milk before baking.

For a soft, well-browned but not shiny crust, before baking brush the loaf with a tablespoon of melted butter.

For a crisp, shiny crust, bake the bread for 20 minutes, then remove from the oven and brush with an egg white that has been beaten with a tablespoon of water. Return the bread to the oven to finish baking.

For a slightly browner and crisper crust, brush bread after 20 minutes of baking with a whole egg beaten with a tablespoon of milk.

Yeast breads are more moist when made with potato water (water in which you have boiled potatoes) than when made with other liquids. The potato water keeps the bread fresh longer and gives it a slightly greater volume, but coarser texture.

Cakes
To keep holes and tunnels out of your cake, run a knife through the batter after you have finished mixing it. This removes air holes.

To keep loaf cakes fresher longer, cut slices from the middle rather than from the end. When you're finished slicing, firmly push the two leftover sections together to reform a loaf. This way, you eliminate leaving an exposed, quick-to-dry-out "end" slice.

To plump dried fruit for fruitcake, place fruit in a shallow baking dish, sprinkle generously with water, then cover. Place dish in oven while oven is heating for baking cake. In 10 to 15 minutes the fruit will be soft and plump. Cool slightly and add to cake batter.

To decorate a cake directly on its serving plate, slip strips of wax paper under the edge of the cake, allowing them to hang over the rim of the plate. Frost cake, then, with a quick motion, pull out the paper. This leaves the serving plate nice and clean without a trace of frosting.

To prevent a freshly-baked cake from sticking to the serving platter, dust the platter with confectioners' sugar.

An angel food cake will slice neatly without crumbling if you freeze it first, then thaw it.

To cool a cake quickly for frosting, pop it into the freezer while you make the frosting. By the time frosting is ready, the cake will be cool and ready to slip out of the pan.

To prevent cake filling from soaking into the cake, sprinkle layers lightly with confectioners' sugar before spreading filling.

Cake will be less like to stick to the pan if you put it on a wet towel to cool as soon as you take it from the oven.

For a fast topping, place a paper doily on top of the cake. Sift confectioners' sugar over it. Lift the doily off gently.

To keep cake moist, put half an apple in the cake box.

If you sift dry cake mix before you stir in the other ingredients, it won't be lumpy.

Use paper coffee filters to line 8-inch cake pans. Just flatten one into a large circle and lay it on the bottom of the pan.

Use cold coffee instead of water when making a chocolate cake from a box. It gives the cake a rich, mocha flavor.

When baking a chocolate cake, don't use flour to "dust" the pan. Use cocoa instead. This way, the white flour "dust" won't cling to the sides of the cake.

To cut a fresh cake, use a wet knife.

A little flour mixed into the remains of melted chocolate in the pan will get the last bit of chocolate out of the pan and into the cake batter.

To keep a cake from sticking to the pan, grease the pan with one part shortening and two parts flour mixed until it has a sandy consistency.

Heat fruits and raisins in the oven before adding them to cake batter. They'll be plumper and juicier.

When testing a large cake to see if it is done, use a strand of uncooked spaghetti. It reaches where a wooden pick won't.

Roll fruits, raisins and nuts in flour before adding to cake batter. The will be less likely to sink to the bottom of the cake.

If you don't have a ring mold for baking a cake, cover an empty, appropriately-sized can with aluminum foil, weight it, and place it in the center of a round, deep casserole dish.

If the cake sticks to the pan and threatens to split, hold the pan over a low flame for about 5 to 8 seconds and the cake will come out nice and firm.

Make a cake decorator by rolling up a piece of wax paper into a cone shape so that one end has a smaller opening than the other. Snip the small end with scissors to make a good point. Put icing in and squeeze it out through the pointed end.

For a fast topping for cakes, place a paper doily with a large design on top of the cake, then dust with confectioners' sugar. Gently lift doily off the cake.

To split a cake into layers, loop a length of waxed dental floss around the outside of the cake at the point you want the cut, then cross the ends and pull gently but firmly. The floss will cut right through the cake.

An easy way to split layers evenly: Measure halfway up side of each layer and insert wooden picks into the cake all around, about 1 to 1 1/2 inches apart. Rest a long serrated knife on wooden picks, using them as a guide on where to slice. Discard wooden picks before proceeding with the icing.

If the top of your cake is browning too quickly, place a pan of warm water on the rack above the cake while it is baking in the oven.

To prevent cakes from cracking while they cool, add one envelope of unflavored gelatine to the dry ingredients of any cake batter. This will prevent cracking, and will also make the cake fuller. The gelatin does not change the flavor or moistness of the cake.

Use unflavored dental floss to slice evenly and cleanly through a cake or torte. Simply stretch a length of the floss taut and press down through the cake.

An apple cut in half and placed in the cake box will keep the cake fresh several days longer.

To frost a cake quickly without having it crumble, freeze the layers in the cake pans for about one hour, then remove them from the pans and frost them. This also prevents the layers from splitting in the center.

If tiers of a multi-layer cake slip as you are applying frosting, insert strands of uncooked spaghetti through the cake for support. Carefully pull out spaghetti when the frosting has set.

Fill cake pans about two-thirds full and spread batter well into corners and to the sides, leaving a slight hollow in the center.

The cake is done when it shrinks slightly from the sides of the pan or if it springs back when touched lightly with the finger.

Cheesecakes
When using a cookie crust recipe in the springform pan, bake the bottom crust first, then add the side crust and filling and bake the whole cake. An easy way to pat the dough up the sides of the pan is to remove the bottom of the pan.

After removing a cheesecake from the oven, keep it away from drafts and cold places while it cools. Too sudden a temperature change can cause the top of the cheesecake to crack.

[Dedlered]

Thanks

[Jeanieb]

More baking hints
Cookies
Before cutting cookie dough into shapes, dip cutters into flour. Lift cutouts with a long, thin spatula. There's less chance of distortion.

To give a fruit flavor to your brownies, use flavored soda pop instead of water in the mix.

When mailing cookies, pack in unbuttered and unsalted popcorn to help keep them from crumbling.

Put dough for refrigerator into empty frozen juice cans, then chill. When you are ready to bake, cut the bottom off the can and use it as a pusher to move the dough out as you slice the cookies. This makes perfect round slices every time.

To keep cookie dough from sticking to cookie cutters, chill the dough thoroughly before you roll it out. Dip each cookie cutter in oil before pressing into the dough and the cookies will cut cleanly. This treatment is wonderful when using cutters with intricate designs or cutters made of plastic. You can also spray the cutters with oil spray.

Bake a batch of gingerbread cookies in assorted shapes. Decorate with each guest's name and use as table place markers.

Cookies will spread if your dough is too pliable by allowing butter to get too soft. If your cookies are spreading too much, try refrigerating the dough for a couple of hours before baking.

Cookie dough can be frozen up to three months in an airtight container or refrigerated three to four days.

Check cookies at minimum baking time.

Let cookies cool completely before storing. Store different types of cookies in separate containers so they'll keep their original flavor and texture.

For a quick glaze for sugar cookies, beat an egg white until just frothy and brush over the unbaked cookies. Sprinkle with sugar and bake. This will give your cookies a shiny, sweet crust.

When cookie dough is soft and difficult to handle, place it between pieces of wax paper that have been floured. Roll to desired thickness, remove the top paper, and cut cookies.

Natural cereals ground in the blender or food processor can be substituted for all or part of the flour in most cookie recipes. Or use very fine unseasoned bread crumbs.

When you re-roll dough scraps, dust the pastry cloth with a mixture of half flour and half confectioners' sugar. This makes the cookies more tender than if they were rolled on a surface dusted with flour only.

To keep homemade cookies just-baked fresh, put a slice of white bread in the jar or container.

If you flour a cookie sheet after greasing it, cookies made from thin batters will be less likely to spread during baking.

Pack cookie dough in clean empty frozen juice cans and store in the refrigerator or freezer. Remove one end to insert dough and tightly cover the can with foil. When ready to use, remove the other end and push the dough out. Slice and bake! Use a coffee can for jumbo cookies!

Before making oatmeal cookies, toast the oatmeal by spreading it on a cookie and baking it in a preheated 300ºF oven for eight to 10 minutes until it has colored lightly. Cool oatmeal before folding it into the other ingredients.

When rolling out cookie dough to cut, use a thin dusting of confectioners' sugar instead of flour on the board. The flour tends to make the dough thicker and heavier, while the dusting of sugar will help the cookie to brown evenly.

For a just-baked taste for store-bought cookies, wrap two to four cookies in a paper towel. Microwave on HIGH for 30 to 45 seconds. Cookies come out tasty.

If you are in a hurry, instead of chilling, simply drop dough from a spoon and bake as you would drop cookies.

If dough is soft and difficult to work with, put bowl in refrigerator or freezer until firm enough to shape.

For square cookies, take an empty wax paper or plastic wrap carton, line with foil and pack dough in firmly. Then chill.

For an extra touch, roll chilled dough in colored or cinnamon sugar, ground nuts or flaked coconut before slicing and baking.

When slicing, use your sharpest knife. Give dough a quarter turn occassionally so the bottom doesn't flatten.

Cream Puffs and Eclairs
Bake cream puffs in muffin cups to prevent them from spreading. You'll get beautiful, airy cream puffs every time.

To fill, use a pastry bag of whipped cream or pastry cream.

Cupcakes and Muffins
To divide batter evenly when making cupcakes or muffins, use an ice cream scoop to transfer batter from mixing bowl to baking pan.

When baking muffins, fill unused cups half full of water to prevent warping the pan.

When having trouble removing muffins from the pan because the bottoms stick, place the hot pan on a cold wet towel for about 30 seconds, then remove the muffins.

To prevent muffins from burning around the edges, fill one section with water instead of batter.

Make heart-shaped cupcakes by lining a muffin pan with paper baking cups, then placing a small ball of boil between the paper liner and the pan, pressing in toward center so paper is indented into the shape of a heart.

If muffins brown around the edges before the centers are cooked, partly fill one section of each muffin pan with water. The extra steam will keep the edges from overcooking.

[Jeanieb]

even more baking tips
Flour
In the South, flour from soft wheat is often used for biscuits and other baked goods. This soft, southern wheat flour has a gluten content of about 8 percent. However, all-purpose flour is an acceptable substitute.

Bread flour, milled especially for baking bread, is higher in gluten (a protein) than all-purpose flours. To determine gluten content of flour, look at the panel on the side of the bag labeled "Nutritional Information." For bread baking you should use a flour with 14 percent gluten. The higher this protein percentage, the greater volume in your bread loaf.

When a recipe calls for one cup sifted flour, it means you should sift it first. When it calls for one cup flour, sifted, it means you should measure the flour before you sift it.

Keep a new powder puff in your flour canister. When a recipe says to "dust" a pan with flour, use the powder puff!

Frosting
When making butter cream frosting for spice and carrot cakes, use one-half cup maple syrup instead of milk and vanilla extract.

When making frosting consisting of milk or cream and sugar, add 1 teaspoon white corn syrup for each cup of sugar used. Boil in the usual way. Your finished product will be much smoother and not so apt to become sugary.

Press cookie cutter shapes lightly into cake icing, then fill in the outline with tinted icing in desired colors.

Add 1 teaspoon cornstarch to fudge frosting for the smoothest frosting yet.

Canned frosting makes a quick, easy glaze for Bundt cakes and cream puffs. Just put it in a small glass or plastic bowl and microwave it for about 15 to 30 seconds on HIGH. You can pour it over the top of your baked treat with no trouble.

Try making confectioners' sugar frosting with peanut butter instead of regular butter. It is healthy, flavorful and colorful.

To make a smooth-looking frosting, first frost cake with a thin layer of icing. When this "base" coat sets, apply a second final coat. It goes on easily and looks superb.

To color and flavor confectioners' sugar frosting, add a bit of unsweetened powdered drink mix. Orange and lemon are especially tasty. Mix in until you get the desired color and flavor. The results are delicious!

When using a white frosting, different flavors of gelatin powder may be sprinkled on top to produce different and unusual flavors and designs.

Use a new watercolor brush to write a message on plain confectioners' sugar icing. Dip the brush in food coloring and write the message.

For a nice decoration on white frosting, shave colored gumdrops very thin and stick on. They will curl like little roses.

A good topping for gingerbread, coffeecake, etc. can be made by using the syrup from canned fruit and adding 1 tablespoon butter and 1 tablespoon lemon juice to 2 cups fruit syrup. Heat until bubbly, then thicken with 2 tablespoons flour.

Gingerbread
Use coffee instead of water in the batter.

Meringue
To prevent it from weeping, add 1/4 teaspoon cornstarch to each tablespoon of sugar before adding to egg whites.

Meringue will not shrink if you spread it on the pie so that it touches the crust on each side and bake it in a moderate oven. Turn off the oven and open the door a crack when the meringue has finished browning and let the pie cool slowly in the oven. This will keep the meringue from cracking and "weeping."

For the highest meringue, add a pinch of baking powder to room-temperature egg whites before beating.

To prevent "weepy" meringues, add 1/4 teaspoon cornstarch to each tablespoon of sugar before adding to egg whites.

To remove meringue shells from the baking paper, lightly moisten the underside of the paper with cool water. Slide a spatula carefully under the meringue and it should lift off easily and in one piece.

Pastry Bags
A plastic sandwich bag makes a good pastry bag. Spoon frosting into the bag, then snip off one corner of the bag to create the size opening needed. Poke a tiny hole in one corner for an extra thin writing tip.

Pies
If you don't have a pie bird, insert tubular macaroni into cuts in the top layer of pastry on fruit pies to prevent the filling from overflowing. This also works for lattice tops.

For topping winter pies, such as pumpkin or apple, try using rum flavor for the whipped cream instead of vanilla extract.

Put a layer of miniature marshmallows in the bottom of a pumpkin pie, then add the filling. The marshmallows will rise to the top, and you will have a nice topping.

Before freezing fruit for pies, store it in a sealed, airtight plastic bag and place the bag in a pie tin. The fruit will freeze in the shape of the tin, so that when you're ready to add it to your crust, it will fit perfectly without gaps.

Before you refrigerate cream- or meringue-topped pie, insert four wooden picks around pie's edge; cover with plastic wrap. Wooden picks stop wrap from marring the pie's surface.

To prevent the bottom crust from becoming soggy, sprinkle it with unseasoned dry bread crumbs before adding the filling.

Never put hot or even warm filling into a raw piecrust. Bake the shell for 5 to 10 minutes or until lightly browned. This is a bakery trick.

Brush frozen pies with melted butter before baking. The butter eliminates the dryness that freezing causes.

For a flakier piecrust, use cake flour — 7/8 cup of cake flour instead of one cup of regular.

Brushing the top of your pie crust with white vinegar a few minutes before it is done baking will give your pastry a nice sheen.

Piecrust edge won't burn if you cut the center out of a foil pie plate and turn it upside down over the pie as it bakes. Remove during the last 5 minutes of baking.

Fold the top crust over the lower crust before crimping to keep the juices in the pie while baking.

Brush the unbaked bottom crust of a fruit pie with well-beaten egg white before filling. This prevents soggy pie bottoms.

Brush the bottom crust with lightly beaten egg white. The coating will help prevent the absorption of liquids from the pie.

When baking fruit pies, put a thin layer of fine cookie crumbs over the bottom crust. This will prevent a soggy crust. Try using crumbs from ginger cookies with making an apple pie.

To prevent a soggy crust, sprinkle the bottom crust with a combination of equal parts of sugar and flour before adding the filling.

To prevent a soggy crust when making cream pies, spread a layer of finely ground nuts on the bottom.

For a richer pastry, substitute light cream or sour cream for the water called for on a package of pie crust mix.

If juice from your pie runs over in the oven, shake some salt on it, which causes the juice to burn to a crisp so it can be removed.

When baking custard-type pies, bake at a high temperature for about 10 minutes to prevent a soggy crust, then finish baking at a low temperature.

Give your pies a unique look by using pinking shears to cut the dough. Make a pinked lattice crust.

To keep the top crust attached to the shell of a two-crust pie, moisten the edge of the shell with beaten egg yolk or milk before pressing the edges together.

For extremely flaky pie pastry, measure the flour and fat into the bowl and chill at least an hour before you begin mixing.

Brush frozen pies with melted butter before baking. This eliminates the dryness that freezing causes.

When making cream pies, keep them firm for cutting by mixing in a one-half package unflavored gelatin.

When working with piecrust dough, spray the counter with nonstick vegetable spray and then flour it. The dough will come right off.

To thicken juices of fresh fruit fillings, use one tablespoon of quick-cooking tapioca for each tablespoon of all-purpose flour the recipe calls for. Juices will be clear, and it adds a great texture to the pie.

Yeast Dough
To get yeast dough to rise faster, turn the dishwasher dial to "dry" for a minute to warm the inside, then put the dough inside the dishwasher.

When kneading, keep a couple small plastic bags within reach. Then if the phone rings or someone is at the door, slip your hands into the bags.

If dough won't rise, place bowl on rack over a bowl of hot water OR set on a heating pad covered with a clean towel OR place in an oven that has a pilot light.

When yeast dough has risen sufficiently, an indentation will remain when you press two fingertips about 1/2 inch into the dough.

[Jeanieb]

DAIRY
Butter
Use prune purée in place of butter in brownies, cakes, cookies and muffins. Use half the amount of prune purée in place of the butter called for in the recipe. Process 1 1/3 cups (8 ounces) of pitted prunes with 6 tablespoons of hot water in a food processor until smooth. Prunes contain vitamin A, iron, potassium and fiber.

To dot a casserole or pie with butter, use a coarse grater to shred cold butter over the dish.

To cream cold butter more easily, put it in the microwave on low to medium power for 10 to 15 seconds.

Fill a measuring cup half full of water and add enough butter to make a cup. Pour off the water and you will have exactly 1/2 cup of butter and no messy cup to wash.

If a recipe calls for unsalted butter and you have only salted butter, remember that each 8 ounces of salted butter contains about 3/4 teaspoon of salt. Reduce the salt you add to your recipe by that amount.

Place softened butter or margarine in a pastry bag fitted with a large rosette tip, then pipe butter roses onto a baking sheet and refrigerate until firm. These exquisite butter roses can be served right away or frozen and stored in a plastic bag for future use.

To soften ice cold or frozen butter quickly, grate it coarse and leave it briefly at room temperature. It will be just right for creaming in just a few minutes.

To make pretty butter rosettes, soften the butter or margarine. Place it in a pastry bag fitted with a large rosette tube; pipe roses onto a small cookie sheet and refrigerate until firm.

To soften butter more quickly, rinse electric mixer beaters under very hot water, then dry them thoroughly before proceeding.

When creaming butter with an electric mixer, rinse the beaters under hot water, then dry them thoroughly. This softens the butter more quickly.

Rinse the pan in cold water before scalding milk, and it will be much easier to clean.

Add a bit of sugar, without stirring, to milk to prevent it from scorching.

Cheese
If cheese dries out, grate it, melt it in a white sauce, and use it on top of vegetables, etc.

Prevent molds from growing on cheese. Store the cheese in the refrigerator in an airtight container in which you have put a folded-up paper towel that has been saturated with white vinegar. The vinegar provides an acidic atmosphere that the molds don't like.

Use cottage cheese as a substitute for more expensive ricotta cheese. Cottage cheese can be used in lasagne very successfully.

Use a potato peeler to slice cheese into strips for salads.

To keep fresh and mold-free, wrap cheese in a cloth that's been dipped in lightly salted vinegar and wrung out, then add a layer of plastic wrap.

Put cheese in a small plastic bag with a couple cubes of sugar and keep the bag sealed. The cheese won't grow mold.

Microwave-melted cheese makes a delicious topping for vegetables, fish, leftovers, and apple pie. Top cooked food with sliced or grated cheese. Cook on HIGH until melted. Watch carefully as the cheese softens in just seconds. For 4 ounces, cook on HIGH for 20 to 30 seconds. For 8 ounces, cook on HIGH for 30 to 45 seconds. Let stand for 3 minutes.

Brush a little oil on your grater before using and cheese will wash right off.

Use a potato peeler to slice cheese into strips for salads and garnishes.

Roquefort or blue cheese will crumble perfectly for salads if kept in the freezer.

Soften cream cheese by dropping the entire foil-wrapped package briefly into hot water.

Cottage cheese will keep twice as long if you keep the container upside down in your refrigerator.

Pour melted paraffin on the cut end of cheeses to keep them from molding or drying out.

To prevent mold, store cheese in a tightly covered container with some sugar cubes.

Store cottage cheese upside down in the refrigerator. It will remain fresher longer.

Brush a little oil on the grater before grating, and cheese will wash off the grater easily.

Cream
Stop cream from curdling when poured over fruits and berries by adding a pinch of baking soda to the cream first.

Egg Whites
Do not beat egg whites for cakes or meringue until ready to use. If allowed to stand, some of the white will return to liquid.

Beat egg whites in a copper bowl. It will result in more volume, because the copper stabilizes the whites.

Less fresh egg whites whip higher and hold the air better than new egg whites.

Keep separated egg whites in a loosely covered container in the freezer as this will allow some of the fluid to evaporate and they will become stiffer when beaten.

Freeze extra egg whites in ice cube trays and store in airtight plastic bags until you need them.

To stabilize beaten egg whites (for soufflés, for example), add about 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar for each two egg whites.

For greater volume when beating egg whites, start with eggs at room temperature. If you forget to take the eggs out of the refrigerator ahead of time, let them stand in a bowl of warm water a short while before using.

Egg whites can be kept up to 1 year. Add them to a plastic container as you collect them for use in meringues, angel food cake...1 cup equals 7 or 8 egg whites. You can also re-freeze defrosted egg whites.

Egg Yolks
When you have saved a lot of egg yolks from previous recipes, use them in place of whole eggs for baking or thickening. Just add 2 yolks for every whole egg.

To make deviled eggs with no mess, put eggs yolks from hard boiled eggs into a plastic sandwich bag. Put in remaining deviled egg ingredients and close bag and mix. When finished, cut a small tip off corner of bag and squeeze into egg white. When finished, throw bag away. You won't have a messy bowl to clean

To keep egg yolks fresh for several days, cover them with cold water and store in the refrigerator.

Freeze egg yolks by stirring in 1/2 teaspoon of honey to every 6 yolks. Freeze in a small container. The yolks can be thawed and used as you would fresh yolks and they will not be sticky.

When adding egg yolks to a hot mixture, always warm the yolks a bit with some of the hot mixture before pouring them in. If you just add the cold egg yolk to the hot mixture, you will "scramble" the egg and cause the dish to curdle.

[Jeanieb]

Eggs
When taking deviled eggs to a picnic, fill them when you get there. Put the hardboiled egg whites in a container and put the filling in a small zip-type bag. When you arrive, snip one of the ends of the bag and squeeze the filling into the egg whites and garnish. No messed-up filling!

If you are baking a cake and are an egg short, blend in a couple tablespoons of mayonnaise.

If you should drop an egg, clean up the mess easily by covering it with a light layer of salt and letting it rest for 15 to 20 minutes. The mess will wipe up beautifully.

Eggs will separate most successfully when they are cold.

To peel hard boiled eggs easier and quicker, just after steaming or boiling, crack shell and set in cold water immediately. This will allow cold water to permeate between shell and membrane, allowing the shell to be removed quite easily.

Add a few drops of food color to eggs when hard boiling so that they can be easily detected in the refrigerator.

When cooking eggs for a crowd, use the basket of your deep fat fryer to hold the eggs while you lower them into the water. After they are cooked, lift the basket of hardcooked eggs from the water, hold the basket under cold running, water, then cool and peel.

Poached eggs will have fewer "strings" if you swirl the water in the pan before slipping the egg in.

A small funnel is handy for separating egg whites from yolks. Open the egg over the funnel and the white will run through and the yolk will remain.

Fry them or poach them inside a ring made by removing the top and bottom of a tuna can. Spray the ring with nonstick cooking spray first.

For fluffier omelets, add a pinch of cornstarch before beating.

Keep yolks centered in eggs by stirring the water while cooking hardboiled eggs.

Slice a tiny piece of the white from the bottom of deviled eggs before placing them on a serving platter. This will keep them from wobbling on the plate.

To make quick-diced eggs, take your potato masher and go to work on a boiled egg.

A great trick for peeling eggs the easy way! When they are finished boiling, turn off the heat and just let them sit in the pan with the lid on for about five minutes. Steam will build up under the shell and they will just fall away.

You can center the yolks of hardcooked eggs by stirring gently for 1 minute when the water begins to simmer.

For baking, it's best to use medium to large eggs. Extra large eggs may cause cakes to fall when cooled.

Fresh eggs are rough and chalky in appearance. Old eggs are smooth and shiny.

To determine whether an egg is hardboiled, spin it. If it spins round and round, it is hardboiled. If it wobbles and will not spin, it is raw.

Pierce the end of an egg with a pin, and it will not break when placed in boiling water.

A few drops of vinegar will keep poached eggs from running all over the pan.

Avoid beating eggs directly into any hot mixture — they'll curdle. Either cool the mixture first or add small amounts of the hot mixture to the eggs, beating well between additions. Then slowly stir the egg mixture into the hot mixture.

To keep poached eggs intact, add enough cider vinegar so that you can just notice the change of water color. Bring the water to a gentle boil and crack each egg into a small flat dish. Gently slide the egg into the boiling water. With a spoon immediately push the egg white toward the yolk. When the egg is firm, remove with a slotted spoon and put into a bowl with cold water.

Eggs can be poached well in advance, kept in a container of cool water and simply warmed for 30 seconds in simmering water before serving.

Eggs beat up fluffier when not too cold. They should be at cool room temperature for best results.

For smoother scrambled eggs, use a cool buttered pan and cook eggs very slowly. When about done, stir in 1 tablespoon of evaporated milk or cream per serving.

If you drop an egg on the floor, generously sprinkle salt over it and let it stand for 5 to 10 minutes. You can then sweep the dried egg into a dustpan.

Boil cracked eggs in aluminum foil twisted at both ends.

To remove shells from hardboiled eggs quickly and smoothly, drain the hot water from the cooked eggs and vigorously shake the pan so that the shells crack from colliding with the sides of the pan. Dump the eggs into a bowl of ice water and cool completely. The shells will slip right off.

To peel an egg easily, crack the shell all over. Insert a small wet spoon just between the shell membrane and the egg, then turn with the egg. Keep the spoon wet while you go.

A tablespoon of vinegar add to water while poaching eggs lets whites set without spreading.

If an eggshell cracks when you boil the egg, toss a teaspoon of salt or vinegar into the water. It will keep the white from seeping out.

When they are stuck to the carton, just wet the box and the eggs can be easily removed without cracking the shells.

Beaten egg whites will be more stable if you add 1 teaspoon cream of tartar to each cup of egg whites (7 or 8 eggs).

To separate white from yolks, open the egg over a small funnel. The white will run through and the yolk will remain.

To oven-bake, wrap eggs individual in foil. Place on rack of a cold oven. Set at 350ºF and bake for 20 minutes for soft-cooked, 30 minutes for hardcooked. Immerse eggs in cold water for several minutes. The shells will come off easily.

If you add sugar too soon when beating egg white, or add too much at a time, the mixture won't thicken. Whip in a little sugar toward the end of beating — when whites stand in soft peaks. Add sugar a little at a time, whipping constantly.

Hardboil eggs and marinate them for 3 days in pickle juice.

Stray pieces of eggshell can be picked out easily by scooping them out with an empty shell half.

Sprinkle a pinch of flour into hot fat to prevent frying eggs from popping.

To test for freshness, put the egg in a bowl of cold water. If it sinks, it's fresh. If it's fairly fresh, it will bob up on one end. If it's stale, it will float.

A hardcooked egg will spin like a top. An uncooked egg will not spin.

If an egg sticks to the carton, wet the carton and the egg will slip out easily.

By adding white vinegar to the water, you can boil cracked eggs without having the white run out of the shell.

When separating yolks from whites, and a speck of egg yolk falls into the white, lift it out with an empty eggshell half.

Crack eggs into a small funnel. The yolk stays unbroken in the funnel while the white runs into the bowl below.

To store unbroken egg yolks for up to 4 days, cover them with cold water and refrigerate them inside a jar.

Omelets
Use leftover shrimp, tomatoes, green vegetables, red meat, and cheese in omelets or scrambled eggs.

For a more tender omelet, add a small amount of water instead of milk or cream.

For fluffier omelets, add a pinch of cornstarch before beating.

For a tender omelet, use a small amount of water instead of milk or cream. The water will retard the coagulation of the egg yolk where milk or cream tends to harden them.

Sour Cream
Make fake sour cream, with fewer calories, by running cottage cheese through the blender, then flavor it with chives, extracts, etc.

Yogurt
When using yogurt in a heated sauce, first whisk 2 teaspoons flour into each cup of yogurt to keep it from separating.

Make your own flavored yogurt by buying it plain, then adding crushed, drained fruit.

Add any flavor dry gelatin powder to plain yogurt to flavor it.

Whipped Cream
Whipped cream made ahead of time will not separate if you add a 1/4 teaspoon of dissolved unflavored gelatine per each cup of cream.

For low-cal "whipped cream," whip an egg white until it's stiff, then whip in a ripe banana, one slice at a time. Add a dash of vanilla extract for a truly thick and delicious topping.

Whipping Cream
Chill the bowl in the freezer before whipping cream.

Leftover whipped cream will retain its lightness, height and texture a day or more (refrigerated) if when whipping you add 1 teaspoon light corn syrup to each 1/2 pint cream. This adds almost no perceptible sweetness.

A pinch of salt added to the cream before whipping strengthens the fat cells and makes them more elastic. This helps the cream stiffen much more quickly

[Jeanieb]

HERBS AND SPICES
The general ratio to substitute fresh herbs for dried is 3 to 1. That is, use 3 times as much fresh herbs as dried herbs that recipes might call for.

NEVER store spices above the stove. It's very hot and can be humid.

Red spices will maintain flavor and retain color longer if they are stored in the refrigerator.

Store spices in a cool place, away from any direct source of heat. The heat will destroy their flavor.

Arrange spices in alphabetical order and eliminate the problem of hunting through all of them to find the right one.

When using fresh herbs instead of dried, use three times the recommended amount.

Before adding dried herbs, rub them between your palms or fingertips to release their flavor.

"Chop" fresh herbs by placing them in a glass measuring cup and snipping with scissors.

Fresh herbs will keep a week or more in the refrigerator if you store them upright in a jar with water in the bottom; cover jar.

If you are bunch-drying small herbs, such as thyme or oregano, you'll find that their very short stems fall out of the string as they shrivel. Tie the small herbs together in the MIDDLE of the bunch. They'll dry without falling.

Crush dried herbs gently with a mortar and pestle to enhance their flavor. Slightly bruising fresh herbs will increase their effectiveness.

Since many recipes call for both salt and pepper, keep a large shaker filled with a mixture of both — 3/4 salt and 1/4 pepper is a good combination.

Basil
To enjoy "fresh" basil during the winter, whirl 2 cups of fresh, loosely-packed leaves with 1 1/2 cups water in a blender. Pour into ice-cube trays and freeze. Add cubes as needed to hot soups, stews, and sauces.

Bouquet Garni
If none is available, add one or two tablespoons of B & B liqueur. The alcohol burns off during cooking, and the combination of more than 20 spices in this liqueur adds wonderful flavor.

Use a tea ball to hold the herbs. It can be hung over the side of the pan and just as easily be removed.

Make one by putting the herbs in a coffee filter and securing it with a string or twist tie from which the paper has been removed.

Ginger
To store fresh ginger, cut the root into small pieces and put into a small jar. Add a little dry sherry, cover the jar and store it in the refrigerator.

To store fresh ginger, slice it and wrap in aluminum foil. Freeze it for up to two weeks.

Salt
To prevent salt from clogging in the shaker, keep 5 to 10 grains of rice inside the shaker.

If you have over-salted a dish, try to save it by adding a teaspoon each of vinegar and sugar to the dish and simmer for a short while. This may save the dish.

Slices of raw potato will absorb extra salt. For a stew or soup, you can try adding thick slices of potato. The potato will attract and hold some of the excess salt and can be removed before serving the dish.

[Jeanieb]

VEGETABLES
To keep boiled vegetables bright-colored, add a few drops of olive oil to the water.

To keep vegetables from discoloring after they are peeled, cut the pieces into a bowl of salted water (about 1 tablespoon to a quart of water). This works well with potatoes and other produce.

To wash greens, fill sink with water. Cut off and discard stem ends. Add trimmed greens to water, gently submerging them once or twice. Let stand in water a few minutes. With your hands, lift out washed greens; do not disturb sand that has accumulated on bottom. Place washed greens in a large colander to drain. Before cooking, rinse drained greens under running water two or three times.

Use leftover vegetables to make into patties. Mash vegetables together, add parsley, butter and your favorite seasonings, then fry.

To restore fresh flavor to frozen vegetables, pour boiling water over them, rinsing away all traces of the frozen water.

Cook vegetables in the bottom of a double boiler while you make the cream sauce for them in the upper pan. This saves fuel and energy.

Onions, broccoli and Brussels sprouts will cook faster if you make an X-shaped cut at the base of the vegetable.

By lining the crisper section of your refrigerator with newspaper and wrapping vegetables with it, moisture will be absorbed and your vegetables will stay fresh longer.

Lettuce and celery will keep longer if stored in the refrigerator in paper bags instead of cellophane. Don't remove the outside leaves until ready to use.

To prepare frozen vegetables for a casserole, cook them right in the box. Remove outer wrapping first, then pierce box with a fork. Place in the microwave and cook, following microwave directions on package. Let stand a few minutes. Gently squeeze package to get rid of excess steam before opening.

If fresh vegetables are wilted or blemished, pick off the brown edges. Sprinkle with cool water, wrap in a towel, and refrigerate for an hour or so.

Cook in vegetable, beef, or chicken broth for a nice flavor.

Put vegetables in water after the water boils — not before — to be sure to preserve the vegetables' vitamins.

Line the bottom of the vegetable compartment with paper toweling. This absorbs the excess moisture and keeps all vegetables and fruits fresher for a longer period of time.

Use nylon net to scrub vegetables at the kitchen sink. It cleans them without rubbing off the skin, where the good nutrients are.

Artichokes
Don't cook them in aluminum or iron pots as they will turn the pots gray.

To store, don't wash them when you get them home. Just drizzle with a few drops of water, then seal in airtight plastic bags. Refrigerate for up to two weeks.

Before cooking, let them stand for 1 hour in a large pot of cold water to which you've added 1 tablespoon vinegar for every quart of water. This helps prevent discoloration, and the flesh will be more succulent after cooking.

To prevent discoloring, stand artichokes in cold water with a tablespoon of vinegar for an hour before cooking.

Asparagus
To make thick asparagus stalks tender, peel the lower parts up to the tender part with a potato peeler.

Tie fresh asparagus with string before cooking. This way you can remove the spears easily, without breaking them, after they're cooked.

Open a can of asparagus from the bottom so you can pull out the spears without breaking the tips.

If you bend an asparagus stalk, it will snap at the point where it becomes tender.

If you peel stalks with a vegetable peeler before you snap them, you'll have less waste and more of the asparagus spear to eat.

If asparagus becomes wilted, stand it vertically in a pan or jar in about 2 inches of ice water. Cover with a plastic bag and fasten to the jar with a rubber band. Put in the refrigerator for 1 to 2 hours before cooking.

Bean Sprouts
Keep them white and crisp by storing them in a bowl of water in the refrigerator.

Beans
Do not add salt when cooking dried beans. The salt toughens beans and prolongs cooking.

Beets
To prevent the beets from bleeding while cooking, do not cut the stems of beets too close. Leave about one to two inches of stem and keep the root intact. Put about 2 tablespoons of vinegar in the cooking water, and peel the beets after they are cooked.

Instead of boiling beets, bake them like potatoes. They have a lovely flavor.

To keep the color in your beets when boiling them, add a little lemon juice.

Bell Peppers
To keep stuffed green peppers from collapsing, bake them in greased muffin tins.

To peel peppers, put them under a preheated broiler for just a few minutes. Then drop them immediately into a paper bag. Close the bag tightly. The steam from the hot peppers will loosen the skins so they can be slipped off.

Green peppers don't last long in the refrigerator. A good way to get them to last as long as possible is to wash them and hollow out their insides. Then cut them into whatever sizes you want. Dry them with paper toweling before putting them into a dry plastic bag, then freeze them. When you need green peppers, you'll have them still fresh.

Broccoli
Stems can be cooked in the same length of time as the florets if you make "X" incisions from top to bottom through stems.

Cabbage
To keep red cabbage red, cook the cabbage uncovered and add a little lemon juice, vinegar or 1/4 cup wine to the water.

Insert wooden picks through cabbage wedges to hold leaves together while cooking.

To absorb odors while cooking, place a small cup of vinegar on the stove.

To soften cabbage leaves before making stuffed cabbage rolls, remove the core from a large head of cabbage and place it in a pan of hot water. Heat the water to not-quite-boiling. Remove the cabbage and carefully peel off the outer leaves that have softened. Put the head back in the water, bring the water back to a simmer and repeat until you have enough cabbage leaves.

Carrots
To make perfect carrot curls, use a vegetable peeler to cut long strips of carrot. Roll them up, and fit each strip into an ice cube tray compartment. Fill the tray with cold water, and store it in the refrigerator until ready to use, then drain.

Do not store unwrapped carrots in the same storage container as ripe fresh apples. The apples give off ethylene gas that causes a "ripening" process in all fruits and some vegetables. This can result in the carrots acquiring a bitter taste.

Be sure to remove carrot tops before storing them in the refrigerator. The tops drain the carrots of moisture and cause them to become dry and limp.

Cauliflower
To keep it bright white, add a little milk during boiling.

To keep it snowy white, soak for 30 minutes in cold salt water before cooking it.

Cauliflower will stay white if you cook it with a strip of lemon peel.

Place a piece of stale bread on top of cooking cauliflower, and the house will stay odor-free.

Cauliflower cooked in an aluminum pot will darken. Use a different kind of pot and add a little sugar, lemon peel or vinegar to the cooking water to keep cauliflower white.

[Jeanieb]

more vegetable hints
Celery
To make celery curls, cut the stalk into 3- or 4-inch pieces. Slice each piece into narrow strips leaving the end uncut to hold them together. Place them in ice water for 30 minutes until they curl.

To give stew great color and flavor, add a few teaspoons of soy sauce.

Store in the refrigerator in paper bags instead of plastic ones. It will keep longer.

Celery will crisp up fast if you place it in a pan of cold water and add a few raw sliced potatoes.

Strip the leaves from celery, wash them and dehydrate them on a cookie sheet in a slow oven. The dried leaves are then crumbled and stored in airtight jars. These flakes make a nutritious addition to soups, stews, and broths of all kinds.

Celery leaves should be dried and saved for soup, stew or salad dressing. Rub the dried leaves through a sieve to powder them.

Cucumbers
Put attractive scalloped edges on cucumber slices, by running the tines of a fork lengthwise over the peeled or unpeeled cucumber, then slice.

Eggplant
Drop eggplant into salted water as you peel it to remove any bitterness. Dry it with a paper towel before cooking.

The fewer seeds in an eggplant, the less bitter it tastes. Check the bottom (the end opposite the stem). There will be a grayish "scar" about the size of a dime. If the "scar" is oval or oblong, the eggplant will be loaded with seeds. If the "scar" is round, it will have far fewer seeds.

Garlic
Chop garlic in a small amount of salt to keep pieces from sticking to the knife or chopping board.

Before chopping garlic, sprinkle the cloves with salt. The salt will pick up the juice that would otherwise be left on the chopping board.

Garlic peel will slip off easily if you place the clove on a cutting board, and press down on it hard with the flat edge of a wide-blade knife. The skin will almost fall off by itself.

Garlic cloves can be kept in the freezer. When ready to use, peel and chop before thawing.

Garlic cloves will never dry out if you store them in a bottle of cooking oil. After the garlic is used up, you can use the garlic-flavored oil for salad dressing or stir-fry.

Green Beans
Sauté green beans in a small amount of oil before you add liquid to them. The flavor is improved enormously, and you'll cut down cooking time.

Potatoes
Before microwaving potatoes, wrap each potato in a paper towel instead of simply placing a towel on the oven floor. Moisture is absorbed from all around the potato, so the skin will be crisper.

Lettuce
It will keep longer if you store it in the refrigerator in a paper bag instead of plastic.

Perk up soggy lettuce by adding lemon juice to a bowl of ice cold water, and soak the lettuce for 1 hour in the refrigerator.

Soggy lettuce can be fixed by dousing it quickly into hot, then ice water with a little apple cider vinegar added.

Lettuce will crisp up fast if you place it in a pan of cold water and add a few raw sliced potatoes.

A fresh head of lettuce won't brown as quickly if you remove the care before storing. Just hit the core sharply against the counter top and twist it out.

Lettuce will not "rust" as quickly if you place a paper towel or napkin in the storage container.

Mushrooms
Never store mushrooms in a plastic bag because they quickly become slick and unpleasant. They keep best either in a brown paper bag (with the top folded down) because the brown paper absorbs the moisture that the mushrooms produce.

You can tell if mushrooms are fresh because their caps are completely closed, with no gills showing.

To keep mushrooms white while you sauté them, either add a half teaspoon of lemon juice to each half cup of melted butter or, if you are sautéing whole caps, sauté the tops of the caps first and fill the cap with lemon juice while the top is sautéing.

Onions
Slice while partially frozen, and there will be no tears.

If you have many onions to peel, cover them with very hot water a few minutes and the skins will slip off easily.

Peel and quarter onions. Place one layer deep in a pan and freeze. Quickly pack in bags or containers while frozen. Use as needed, chopping onions while frozen, with a sharp knife.

To get the onion smell off your hands, rub a stainless steel spoon over your hands or rub your hands on a stainless steel sink. It works every time!

If an onion seems too strong to use raw on a sandwich or in a salad, place the slices in a bowl of water to which you have added about 1 teaspoon of sugar per cup of water. Let the slices soak for about one hour.

Rub your hands with parsley after cutting up onion, and the onion smell will disappear.

When cooking onions and garlic together, always cook onions first then add the garlic. The flavor of each will be kept separate and the garlic will not become bitter.

Fix a stockpile of chopped onions for your freezer. Peel off the skin and cut the onions into sections. Place in a blender filled with cold water. Grate for two or three seconds, then drain in a colander or between paper towels. Spread the chopped onions on a cookie sheet and freeze them quickly. Put the chilled onions into freezer bags and store in the freezer to use as needed.

After an onion has been cut in half, rub the leftover side with butter, and it will stay fresh longer.

Store them, wrapped individually in foil, to keep them from becoming soft or sprouting.

Parsley
Store fresh parsley by rinsing it and shaking off the excess water. Wrap it in several thicknesses of damp paper towels. Store the wrapped parsley in a sealed plastic bag in the refrigerator.

Freeze parsley by rolling the sprigs into a tight ball, then wrapping in foil. Freeze. Unwrap when needed and shave off the quantity you require. Re-wrap the remainder and return to the freezer. It will retain its flavor and freshness.

Keep parsley fresh in your refrigerator by putting the bunch in a plastic bag with a quarter of an apple.

Keep parsley fresh and crisp by storing in a wide-mouth jar with a tight lid. Parsley may also be frozen.

To keep parsley fresh for up to two weeks, trim 1/2 inch from the bottom of the stems and place the entire bunch in a covered jar that contains enough water to keep the stems wet. Every few days, cut off another 1/2 inch or so because the stems will tend to seal and stop taking up water if you don't.

[Jeanieb]

SAUCES, GRAVIES AND SYRUPS
To prepare satiny smooth sauces, including gravies, use a wire whisk. Stir often and don't forget the corners. Stir vigorously, if necessary, to remove lumps as the sauce or gravy cooks.

Gravy
To give gravy great color and flavor, add a few teaspoons of soy sauce.

Freeze leftover gravy in an ice cube tray. Wrap solid frozen gravy cubes in freezer wrap. Then, when you need some gravy, reheat a cube or two.

Put some flour into a custard cup and place beside meat in the oven. When the meat is done the flour will be nice and brown, ready to make a rich, brown gravy.

If gravy is burned, add a teaspoon of peanut butter to hide the burnt flavor.

If it is quite greasy, add a small amount of baking soda.

Never add cornstarch to hot liquid because it will lump. Dilute cornstarch in twice as much cold liquid and stir until smooth. Then stir the cornstarch mixture into the hot mixture.

For no-lump gravy, use flour that has been browned. Brown flour by putting a little in a heatproof dish when you're using the oven and leave it there until the flour has turned a nice brown color.

When gravy is too salty, put in a few pieces of toasted bread for two or three minutes. The bread will absorb much of the salt.

Use 2 or 3 tablespoons of coffee to give gravy a rich brown color. The gravy won't taste like coffee.

To give gravy a nice color, brown the flour well before adding the liquid. This also helps prevent lumpy gravy.

To make gravy smooth, keep a jar with a mixture of equal parts of flour and cornstarch. Put 3 or 4 tablespoons of this mixture in another jar and add some water. Shake, and in a few minutes you will have a smooth paste for gravy.

Sauce
For instant white sauce, blend a cup each of softened butter and flour and spread it evenly in an ice cub tray. Freeze, then cut into 16 cubes and store in a plastic bag until you want to make a sauce. Then heat 1 cup milk and 1 cube, stirring until the cube is melted and the liquid is warm.

To keep cream sauces from separating, shake the pan in a back and forth motion, and add just a tiny bit more cream at the very end. This will keep your sauce from having an oily texture. This method works better than the continual motion of a wire whisk.

To prepare white sauce at the right consistency, remember 1-2-3. For each cup of milk use 1 tablespoon of flour for a thin sauce, 2 tablespoons of flour for a medium sauce and 3 tablespoons of flour for a thick sauce. Use 2 tablespoons of butter or margarine for any thickness.

When a sauce curdles, remove pan from heat and plunge into a pan of cold water to stop the cooking process. Beat sauce vigorously, or pour it into a blender and blend until smooth.

Syrup
To serve piping hot pancake syrup, remove the syrup cap, place the bottle in a microwave, and heat on HIGH for 1 1/2 to 2 minutes.

Make fruit syrup by adding 2 cups sugar to 1/2 cup of any kind fruit juice and cooking until it boils.

If syrup crystallizes, set the bottle in a pan of cold water. Heat gently and crystals will disappear.

A pinch of salt added to boiling syrup prevents crystallization.