A Handful of Kitchen Tips

Too much salt in the soup:  Soup too salty?  Throw a cut-up potato in.  The potato will act like a sponge and soak up the salt.  Throw the potato away before serving.  Soup still too salty?  Sometimes a little lemon juice or vinegar will counter the salt.

Substitute for rum:  Recipe call for rum?  Need a substitute?  Pineapple juice makes a great substitute for rum.

Slow cooking turkey:  Can you safely slow cook a turkey in the oven overnight?  Probably not.  It's not safe to cook meats below 325 degrees F.

Under-ripe fruit:  Place hard fruit in a brown paper bag and close the bag.  The gas given off by the fruit will hasten the ripening process.  In a day or two, the fruit should be ripe.  Conversely, never place ripe fruit in a closed container for storage—it will ripen too quickly.

Cooking in a paper grocery bag:  We have a book that proposes cooking foods over a campfire in a paper bag.   Don't do it.  These bags are not made for cooking and may not be sanitary.  Glue and ink used on the bag are not approved for contact with food and may give off fumes when heated or leach into the food.   Often, grocery bags are made from recycled paper and may contain traces of lead which is toxic.

Making peanut butter last:  Peanut butter will keep its quality longer when stored in the refrigerator rather than at room temperature.

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