Tips on Tuesday!

TIPS ON TUESDAY:  Welcome to another edition of Tips on Tuesday.  Periodically, I like to give some helpful hints or tips that cooks can use to make their life in the kitchen easier.


*  The smaller the item you are baking, the higher you can set the baking temperature.  Tiny
    cookies can be baked at a much higher temperature than say a cake.

*  Do not store your spices really close to or over the stove.  They will absorb the heat and
    become sticky and heavy.  Store your spices in a dark space like a drawer.

*  Bacon grease is a great substitute if you run out of oil.  Just be sure that what you use it in   
    can handle the taste.  You can strain it through a paper towel to get out all the little particles
    left behind.  In fact, I keep a jar full of bacon grease strained from every time I prepare
    bacon.

*  Want better, moister grilled cheese?  Spread a tiny bit of mayonnaise on each inside piece of
    the bread.  When you slap them together and add the cheese, it will be delicious.

*  For better results when baking with real butter, make sure it is at room temperature before
    incorporating it into your recipe.

*  Make your own stock.  Occasionally, I buy one of those pre-cooked whole chickens at
    Walmart.  They are wonderful for chicken salad because they are already seasoned.  Once I 
    have picked the entire chicken clean, I throw bones, skin and all into a deep pan with about  
    6  cups of water.  Boil for about 20 minutes.  Cool enough to handle and then strain through
    a piece of cheese cloth.  Pour into plastic containers with lids (like the ones you buy potato
    salad in, etc.) and freeze.  Next time you need chicken stock, just remove the lid and set it out
    long enough to start to thaw (or microwave it slightly).  Once it pulls away from the sides,
    dump it into your stock pot.

*  Read an entire recipes through at least once before you use it.  I have often found (and done
    this myself) that there may be a specific order to do things in, or something that needs to be
    done prior to completing the recipe.  Or there may be an ingredient that they didn't put in
    the list at the top.

*  If you are like me, sometimes I have a day when I just cook all day!  On those days, I try to
    prepare some things that can be eaten throughout the week since I take my lunch to work.  I
    fix potato soup or chili, or something that can be put into small containers and grabbed as I
    go out the door during the week.

*  Buy a cast-iron skillet.  I love my cast iron!  It can be used stove top or in the oven.  I love to
    make deep dish pizza in mine.

*  Add those French Fried onions to a salad.  You know the ones you buy in the can at the
    grocery store.  They make the salad crunchy and you don't have to peel and chop an onion!

Have fun!