15 Food & Cooking Tips

Ever go to bake chocolate chip cookies and find that the brown sugar is hard as a rock?  Or boil eggs for deviled eggs and accidentally tear them all up while trying to peel them?  Yep, I’ve been there, too.  And it’s so frustrating!  You end up wasting money or needing to buy extra ingredients or change your plans.  I spoke to some of my blogging buddies and they’ve had similar situations.  We’d like to share with you what we’ve learned from trial and error to save you some headaches.

Perfect Hard Boiled Eggs

Place 4-6 eggs in the bottom of a small saucepan.  Cover with cold water by 1-2 inches then add 1/2 tsp. baking soda (the baking soda will make your eggs super-easy to peel).  Bring to a boil over medium-high heat; cover and remove from heat.  Let sit, covered, for 10-12 minutes.  Run eggs under cold water until cool to the touch, then peel.  (I tap my eggs on the counter and then gently roll them back and forth with my hand to crack the shell all over.)

14 Additional Tips

1. To extend the shelf life of asparagus: cut 1/4″ off the bottom of the stalks when you bring them home from the grocery store, then place them in a juice glass with 1-2 inches of water (this can also sometimes revive asparagus that has gone limp).
2. Place a slice of bread in your brown sugar jar to keep it from hardening.
3. Too much salt in your soup?  Add a peeled potato which will help absorb the extra saltiness.
4. If the brown sugar has already hardened, Chrysa at Thrifty Jinxy says you can rescue it by placing a damp paper towel inside your brown sugar container (drape it over the side so it doesn’t actually touch the sugar).
5. Chrysa also says you can make your own pickles by placing cut-up cucumbers in the leftover juice from your purchased pickles (this one I need to try!).
6. Tammi at Tammilee Tips mashes and freezes bananas that are close to being overripe and uses them later in banana bread.
7. Ellen at Confessions of an Overworked Mom shares that to remove peels from peaches easily, make an X in the end then dunk in boiling water for 40-60 seconds.  Peel the skin off starting at the X.
8. Erica at This Flourishing Life says you can quickly peel garlic by cutting each clove in half; the peel will come right off.
9. And if you don’t want your hands to smell like garlic at all, Miriam at The WIC Project says you can put the cloves of garlic inside a bowl, use another upside-down bowl as a lid, and shake shake shake. It’ll peel all the cloves of garlic & your hands stay smell-free!
10. Laurel at Let’s Go On a Picnic shares that you can help keep rolls soft by warming them with a piece of damp paper towel in the microwave.
11. Keep cookies fresh by placing a slice of toast in the container, according to Lisa at Drugstore Divas.
12. Randa suggests wrapping your cardboard cake boards with foil or plastic wrap so they do not absorb the taste of the cardboard.
13. Randa also shares that if you don’t have buttermilk on hand, add 1 tablespoon of vinegar to 1 cup of milk and wait 5 minutes.
14. Ever need room temperature (softened) butter but don’t have time?  Erika at Musings From a Stay at Home Mom says to place your (non-foil) wrapped stick of butter in the microwave for 4 seconds; flip to the next side and repeat, continuing until you’ve done all four sides (16 seconds).

What is your best food or cooking tip?