Big List of Food Tips

Robin submitted a bunch of food tips so we put them together into one post. Feel free to add your food tips as well.

Keeping Cauliflower White

To keep cauliflower white while cooking, add a little milk to the water.

Cooking Corn

When boiling corn, add sugar to the water instead of salt. Salt will toughen the corn.

Ripening Tomatoes

To ripen tomatoes, put them in a brown bag in a dark pantry and they will ripen overnight.

Keeping Vitamin C in Veggies

Do not use soda to keep vegetables green. It destroys Vitamin C.

Cooking Cabbage

When cooking cabbage, place a small tin cup or can half full of vinegar on the stove near the cabbage. It will absorb all the odor from it.

Baking Potatoes

Potatoes soaked in salt water for 20 minutes before baking will bake more rapidly.

Crisp French Fries

Let raw potatoes stand in cold water for at least half an hour before frying to improve the crispness of french-fried potatoes.

Stuffed Green Pepper Tip

Use greased muffin tins as molds when baking stuffed green peppers.

Whitening Potatoes

A few drops of lemon juice in the water will whiten boiled potatoes.

Mushroom Buying Tips

Buy mushrooms before they "open." When stems and caps are attached snugly, mushrooms are truly fresh.

Washing Lettuce

Lettuce keeps better if you store in refrigerator without washing first so that the leaves are dry. Wash the day you are going to use.

Crisping Celery

To keep celery crisp, stand it up in a pitcher of cold, salted water and refrigerate.

Milk Scalding Tip

Rinse a pan of cold water before scalding milk to prevent sticking.

Creaming Butter and Sugar

When you are creaming butter and sugar together, it's a good idea to rinse the bowl in boiling water first. They'll cream faster.

Extinguishing a Fat Fire

To extinguish a fat fire, toss salt or baking soda on it.

Cutting Dates or Marshmallows

Use wet or buttered scissors to cut dates or marshmallows into small pieces.

By Robin