Posted on 03/24/2017 7:48:03 AM PDT by Jamestown1630
We’ve had requests for a thread on ‘kitchen problems’, so I thought we’d do it this week.
* I cleaned out my refrigerator a few days ago, and was reminded of something I used to do and must start to do again. No matter how careful you are, there are always drips and leaks, or mess from a forgotten, rotten vegetable, staining up your refrigerator – especially the little shelves on the door. A good idea is to cut craft paper – or a brown paper bag – to fit those spaces, and then just change the paper out a few times per year, when you do a complete cleaning of the fridge. The few minutes of work this takes will save you a lot more time later.
* I keep the cans that vegetables, tomato sauce, etc. come in – I rip off the labels, run them through the dishwasher, and use them to deal with the leftover fats and juices from cooking that I don’t want to put through the drain/garbage disposal (the dregs from a beef roast have seemed in my experience to be especially bad for the disposal system). I freeze these, and then they go easily into the trash the morning of trash pickup. If your neighborhood recycles, and you don’t want to dispose of the cans along with garbage, you can just pop the frozen stuff out.
* Sponges in the kitchen are great collectors of bacteria, but you can kill it by routinely microwaving your sponges in a MW-safe bowl or dish, for a couple of minutes. Make sure they contain no metal, and are WET when you do this; and be careful when you take them out, because they’ll be very hot.
* We never seem to have enough space in our freezer, and I’ve started taking prepared frozen foods out of the big boxes that they come in – the boxes take up much more space than the contents, and the contents are usually wrapped anyway. Cut out the part of the box that has the instructions and save it someplace convenient – you’ll only have to do this once for each item. If you have a vacuum packer (a great investment, by the way) use it to re-pack items that you will store long-term; otherwise, things can just be put into a plastic ‘baggie’ for protection.
* If you make a lot of soups, and your own stocks, another great space-saver is Helen Witty’s Chicken Extract – a way of reducing stock to where you can freeze a tablespoon in each section of an ice-cube tray, and then pop the cubes into a bag or container. Generally, you will reconstitute one of these cubes per cup of water, to make stock. You will appreciate the added space in the deep freeze, and the convenience of having the cubes of stock on hand. Here are the directions for this – it’s long and drawn-out process, but depending on your frequency of use, you only have to do it a couple or three times per year:
http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/1990-04-19/features/9001030683_1_chicken-broth-pot
* Save all the little plastic ‘twisty-ties’ from bread and other items, and keep them in the ‘everything-drawer’; you’ll always find a use for them.
* Invest in something like a Swiffer Wet Mop, or some other very easy to grab-and-use floor cleaning implement, and run it quickly over your kitchen floor EVERY NIGHT! This will save you a lot of work when you go to do your general kitchen cleaning (especially if you have a very ‘Exuberant’ cook in your family – like my hubby ;-)
* Finally: when you are cooking, clean everything *as you use it* - that way you don’t wind up with a depressing sinkful of stuff that has to be dealt with all at once, when you’re done. Cooking is much more pleasurable then.
-JT
Let us know how it works. I looked around on Amazon, and found some with even better reviews.
Work on oven racks.
As for enameled broiler pans I’ve given up on those and by these newfangled disposable aluminum ones which oddly enough, wash up very well.
I hadn’t thought of that! I used to make my own suet cakes, but it’s hard to get suet now.
I bought a steam-cleaning machine a few years ago - I thought it would be good for the glass on my oven door, which is a mess; and for cleaning the bathroom.
It hasn’t come out of its box, yet ;-)
Maybe you used boiling taters instead of russets. russets suck up salt, boilers are more impervious. Adding rice might help too.
Maybe you used boiling taters instead of russets. russets suck up salt, boilers are more impervious. Adding rice might help too.
Apple slices definitely work on brown sugar.
I have some wood counters. Just not right next to the sink. They work. They’re not even finished with very good finish, DH needs to re-do them. I love wood. One is from a huge old fir DH milled, or maybe both. They just wouldn’t work well right next to the sink where water gets on them all the time
To keep wood floors looking great....nothing beats a solution of white vinegar and water.
Just fine-spray the solution on stairs and floors
then pass a clean cloth over the spray.
Done.
Or just dampen a cloth w/ it.....then one lick over the area.
Done.
Learned that from Martha Stewart!
Have a family meeting on Forks. Explain to your babies forks are expensive. And tell them you will deduct the cost of the forks from their college tuition. And they will have to pay for them. LOL!
That’s an interesting idea for keeping mold off cheese. I’ll have to try that. We buy 1 lb logs of Tillamook, & my current process is to cut them into quarters, wrap in saran & freeze them. I take out 1 qtr to have available for current use. The only problem with this is it makes the cheese crumble when trying to grate or slice. But at least it doesn’t go bad before I use it.
That may be where I learned it!
I freeze some cheeses, too, especially when we stock up at Costco; I try to use that cheese for recipes, rather than straight eating.
I also try to leave cheese in it’s original wrapper after opening, and either wrap it in foil or put it in a baggie. I think there is something ‘in’ the original plastic that helps to keep it fresh.
I put in butcher block counters in one house. Do not use wood anywhere near water, aka the sink. I oiled and sealed it the counter regularly, but it still wanted to turn black.
Store all natural peanut butter, smooth or crunchy, upside down. Oil mixes in naturally, maybe one stir. It really works because I make oodles of PB & J sandwiches for my husband’s lunch.
Also, great tip for celery. A week ago I went to get some celery out of the fridge. It was not edible. I thought I had Pepperidge farm dressing, but I didn’t, so no dressing. Went w/ rice instead.
I wonder if putting it upside down would work for tahini, and at least make it a little easier to mix?
If you really need celery and you have some that’s limp, but not spoiled, cut a little slice off the bottom and put it in a glass of water for a few hours. Often it will crisp right up.
I got the idea for the vinegar in a paper towel on the web somewhere but I wouldn't do a whole block of expensive cheese you really like until you have a better idea if you like it. When I unsealed the ziplock bag, I got a good whiff of vinegar but had the cheese wrapped well and didn't affect the taste at all.
I looked up Tillamook, sounded a little familiar, guess it's a brand and is in Oregon. They have several products and two local stores carry some of it. Their orange and white cheddar looks really good. What flavor do you buy and freeze?
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