Andrea’s 10 Tips and Tricks for the Kitchen

Sometimes you don’t know what you don’t know. Check out these great tips and tricks for daily kitchen know-how. 

  1. Did you know to keep potatoes from browning once peeled, just put them in a pot of cold water? If making mashed potatoes, it won’t make a difference, but if you are frying them just lay them out on a sheet and pat dry them with a paper towel. 
  2. When cracking an egg and one of those pesky little shells gets in the bowl, simply take half of your empty egg shell and scoop it out with that! It’s magic!
  3. To soften butter faster, cut into small chunks and place in a warm spot in your kitchen. Don’t fret! (Or one could simply use the microwave on a low power also.)
  4. Need to pour hot grease? Fold a sheet of foil and form into your kitchen sink drain. Pour the hot grease and let it completely cool. Then simply pull it up and throw it away!
  5. Use an ice cream scooper to evenly portion out muffin or cupcake batter! Plus, it makes it easy to transfer it into the muffin tins too. 
  6. Need room temperature eggs? Simply place them in a bowl and cover with warm water. Let them sit while you prep everything else for your recipe.
  7. If any of your pots are boiling over, quickly place a wooden spoon across the rim, that’ll settle the frothy bubbles and prevent more from over-boiling.
  8. Have random items in your cupboard that only have one cup of this and a cup of that? Use ball jars to store them. Make it look neater, and then you know what you have. (I’ll do a section just on this to give you lots of ideas using this method.) 
  9. When banana’s start turning the other way, peel them and slice them. Place in freezer bags and pull them out when ready to use in breads, ice cream, smoothies and more!
  10. Last, but not least, when using your toaster, shake it out in your sink after every use. Saves from bread crumbs building up on your counter or in your cupboards where it is stored. Pet peeve of mine? Maybe. 😉 

Author

Andrea McElroy

Andrea is a stellar country living cook with a robust social media following and lots of great recipes to share.