Discussion Replies

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   Penny (9/21/09)

   Great idea Trish! I always learn new things from other cooks!

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   naoko (9/21/09)

   I think that's a great idea, I would love to learn some New Tips too...

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   sugarpies (9/21/09)

   Very nice idea. I just did a blog post on traditional cooking tips!

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      tonyb (9/21/09)

      @sugarpies, what's a traditional cooking tip?
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      tonyb (9/21/09)

      I need all the tips I can get
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      Theresa111 (9/21/09)

      Don't let Tony fool you, he has a live-in chef who treats him like a king, dontcha Tony? Or at least two chefs who are close relatives.
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      tonyb (9/22/09)

      @Theresa111, no live in chef, though Im surrounded by great cooks
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      Anniepooh (9/22/09)

      Do you want a live-in chef? I know a few who are up for it
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      trishag (9/22/09)

      Im sure he would
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      Theresa111 (9/22/09)

      Who wouldn't want someone to cook for them. I wish my husband cooks. he just has that blank expression he wears when I ask him to do anything in my kitchen. Like ... "Why are you asking me , you know I am lost in the kitchen, I can make microwave popcorn and a bowl of cereal."
      
      See, my Daddy, Grandmother and eldest Sister were incredible cooks. Not chefs, mind you but honest to goodness real home cooks. Except for the few vegetables I didn't care for, everything was perfect.
      
      I hit the lotto & I will have a live-in chef ... I'll do desserts.
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      tonyb (9/22/09)

      @Theresa111 very true. Who wouldn't?
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   Theresa111 (9/21/09)

   Cooking tips are always so useful. This is a good idea, plus everyone would be able to add their ideas, too. A real community project.

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   Anniepooh (9/21/09)

   I think it's a great idea!

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   amybyrd21 (9/22/09)

   Expanding Frosting
   When you buy a container of cake frosting from the store, whip it with your mixer
   for a few minutes. You can double it in size. You get to frost more cake/cupcakes
   with the same amount. You also eat less sugar and calories per serving.
   Reheating refrigerated bread
   To warm biscuits, pancakes, or muffins that were refrigerated, place them in
   a microwave with a cup of water. The increased moisture will keep the food
   moist and help it reheat faster.
   Newspaper weeds away
   Start putting in your plants, work the nutrients in your soil. Wet newspapers,
   put layers around the plants overlapping as you go cover with mulch and for-
   get about weeds. Weeds will get through some gardening plastic they will not
   get through wet newspapers.
   
   
   Broken Glass
   Use a wet cotton ball or Q-tip to pick up the small shards of glass you can't see easily.
   
   Easy Deviled Eggs
   Put cooked egg yolks in a zip lock bag. Seal, mash till they are all broken up. Add remainder of ingredients, reseal, keep mashing
   it up mixing thoroughly, cut the tip of the baggy, squeeze mixture into egg. Just throw bag away when done easy clean up.
   
   Peel a banana from the bottom and you won't have to
   pick the little "stringy things" off of it. That's how the primates do it.
   
   
   Take your bananas apart when you get home from the store.
   If you leave them connected at the stem, they ripen faster.
   
   
   Store your opened chunks of cheese in aluminum foil.
   It will stay fresh much longer and not mold!
   
   Peppers with 3 bumps on the bottom are sweeter and better for eating.
   Peppers with 4 bumps on the bottom are firmer and better for cooking.
   
   Add a teaspoon of water when frying ground beef.
   It will help pull the grease away from the meat while cooking.
   To really make scrambled eggs or omelets rich add a couple of
   spoonfuls of sour cream, cream cheese, or heavy cream in and then beat them up
   
   
   
   Add garlic immediately to a recipe if you want a light taste
   of garlic and at the end of the recipe if your want a stronger taste of garlic.
   
   Leftover snickers bars from Halloween make a delicious dessert. Simply
   chop them up with the food chopper. Peel, core and slice a few apples. Place them
   in a baking dish and sprinkle the chopped candy bars over the apples. Bake at 350
   for 15 minutes!!! Serve alone or with vanilla ice cream. Yummm!
   Reheat Pizza
   Heat up leftover pizza in a nonstick skillet on top of the stove, set heat to med-low
   and heat till warm. This keeps the crust crispy. No soggy micro pizza.. I saw this on
   the cooking channel and it really works.

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      Theresa111 (9/22/09)

      NIce to know about the expanding frosting. I can easily see where it would go farther and be less heavy. Great news.
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   tonyb (9/22/09)

   Perhaps it could be part of the discussions. Instead of Restaurants have a Cooking Tips category and the most recent tips show up on the home page?

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   sugarpies (9/22/09)

   Tony, I'd define those as the wisdom handed down from generation to generation that often gets lost in our world of disposables and food waste.
   
   So, here are 10 great traditional cooking tips.
   
   1. Corn Syrup or honey can be substituted for 1/2 amount of sugar in a recipe if you reduce the liquid measurements by 1/4.
   2. Reduce the odor of cabbage, cauliflower, greens, etc. when cooking by adding a bit of vinegar to the cooking water.
   3. Add 1 tablespoon of salt to water to keep egg white from seeping out of a cracked shell when boiling eggs.
   4. To peel a coconut: drain the milk, place coconut in oven until hot to the touch, remove and tap all over with a hammer and especially at the ends. Give it one hard knock and shell will crack. Lift off shell, peel brown skin and cool so you can grate or slice the meat.
   5. When measuring molasses, grease the measuring cup to prevent the molasses from sticking.
   6. To make nut meats come out of shells whole, soak overnight in salt water before cracking.
   7. Adding a pinch of salt to sugar when making icings will help prevent graininess.
   8. To make potatoes light and fluffy add a pinch of baking soda and use hot milk and butter.
   9. To sour sweet milk, add 1 tablespoon of vinegar or lemon juice to each cup and let stand for a few minutes. (Lots of old recipes call for "Sour Milk.")
   10. Sugar that has hardened can be softened by placing in a warm oven for 10 to 15 minutes.

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   Theresa111 (9/22/09)

   I just read a most excellent post on about knives from our newest blog member, Sarah Seller's Blog, "My Knife and Me."
   sarahsellers.wordpress.com/2009/09/21/my-knife-and-me/

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    stayfitbug (9/23/09)

    For sure... and these to the mix of it
    
    bit.ly/rIvdo

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       Theresa111 (9/23/09)

       Hey glad to see you made it over from BC. Welcome!