Kitchen Hints

Too salty: Add cut raw potatoes to soups or vegetables and then discard once they have cooked and absorbed the salt.

A teaspoon each of cider vinegar and sugar added to salty soup or vegetables will also remedy the salty situation.

If you've over-sweetened a dish, add salt.

A teaspoon of cider vinegar will take care of too-sweet main dishes or vegetables.

Pale gravy may be browned by adding a bit of instant coffee straight from the jar.  No bitter taste, either.

Ice cubes will eliminate the fat from soup and stew.  Just drop a few into the pot and stir; the fat will cling to the cubes; discard the cubes before they melt.  Or, wrap ice cubes in paper towel or cheesecloth and skim over the
top.

A slice of soft bread placed in the package of hardened brown sugar will soften it again in a couple of hours.

A little salt placed in a frying pan will prevent splattering.

Meat loaf will not stick if you place a slice of bacon on the
bottom of the pan.

Vinegar brought to a boil in a new frying pan will prevent foods from sticking.

When scalding milk, first rinse the pan in cold water to prevent sticking.

A lump of butter or a few teaspoons of cooking oil added to water when boiling rice, noodles, macaroni, or spaghetti will prevent boiling over.

A few drops of lemon juice added to simmering rice will keep the grains separate.

A dampened paper towel or terry cloth brushed downward on a cob of corn will remove every strand of corn silk.

To determine if an egg is fresh, immerse it in a pan of cool,
salted water. If it sinks, it is fresh; it it rises to the surface,
throw it away.

Fresh eggs' shells are rough and chalky; old eggs are smooth and shiny.

To determine if an egg is hard-boiled, spin it.  If it spins,
it is hard-boiled.  If it wobbles, it is raw.

Egg shells can be easily removed from hard-boiled eggs if they are boiled in salty water and quickly rinsed in cold water.

No "curly" bacon for breakfast when you dip it into cold water before frying.

Keep bacon slices from sticking together; roll the package into a tube shape and secure with rubber bands.