To find out if an egg is fresh, immerse it in a pan of cool salted water. If it rises to the surface, it is stale, but if it sinks, it is fresh.

Spin the egg. If it wobbles it is raw--if it spins easily, it's hard-boiled.

Add a few drops of vinegar to the water when poaching an egg to keep it from running all over the pan.

A couple of drops of vinegar will also keep cracked eggs from running out of the shell when boiling them.

Add one tablespoon of water per egg-white to increase the quantity of beaten egg-white when making meringue.

Quickly rinse hot hard-boiled eggs in cold water, and the shells will be easier to remove.

Cover egg yolks with cold water and keep in the refrigerator to keep them fresh for several days

To open screw-top water/juice bottles a rubber glove or bottle gripper will give you the power you need to get the lid off.   You can also carefully wind a rubber band snugly around the lid and try.

If you've added too much salt to a recipe, there are several solutions, 1) add a little sugar. 2) in soups or stews, a raw potato slice added to the mixture will absorb the salt, and 3) a second batch can be made, omitting the salt, and added to the first batch. Combine the two mixtures and freeze half for later.

 

Place fabric softener sheets in dresser drawers and your clothes will smell freshly washed for weeks to come.  You can also do this with towels and linens.

 

Flexible vacuum- To get something out of a heat register or under the fridge, add an empty paper towel roll or empty gift wrap roll to your vacuum.  It can be bent or flattened to get in narrow openings.

 

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.

 

Add garlic immediately to a recipe if you want a light taste of garlic and at the end of the recipe if you want a stronger taste of garlic.

 

 

Store your open chunks of cheese in aluminum foil.  It will stay fresh much longer and not mold.

 

 

Take your bananas apart when you get home from the store.  If you leave them connected at the stem, they ripen faster.

 

Do you or your kids get blood stains on your clothes?  Don't worry!  Just pour a little hydrogen peroxide on a cloth and proceed to wipe off every drop of blood.  Works every time!

 

Easy deviled eggs.

Put cooked egg yolks in a zip lock bag.  Seal and mash till they are all broken up.  Add remainder of ingredients, reseal and keep mashing it up mixing thoroughly.  Cut the tip of the baggy and squeeze the mixture into the egg.  Just throw the bag away when done for easy clean up.

 

Peppers with 3 bumps on the bottom are sweeter and better for eating.  Peppers with 4 bumps are firmer and better for cooking.

 

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.  Also, if you are going to use butter, spread it on before you microwave.

 

Newspaper weeds away:

Start putting in your plants, work the nutrients into your soil.  Put wet newspapers in layers around the plants, overlapping as you go.  Cover with mulch and forget about the weeds.  Weeds will get through some gardening plastic but they will not get through wet newspaper.

 

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!

 

 

Use vertical strokes when washing windows outside and horizontal strokes for inside windows.  This way you can tell which side has the streaks.  Straight vinegar will get outside windows really clean.  Don't wash windows on a sunny day.  They will dry too quickly and will probably streak.