I've put together a list of fun food facts that I hope you will find some use for:1. Did you know that the pre-shredded cheese in the supermarket is coated with potato starch or powdered cellulose to keep it from clumping up? No wonder freshly shredded cheese tastes better (and melts better).
2. If you have a problem with meatballs crumbling when you brown them, chill them in the fridge for half an hour before you fry them.
3. Keep a small box of powdered milk in your pantry. It is always good to bake with in a pinch. If a cake or cookie recipe calls for cream, you can use the powdered milk (using only half of the water) and it will work.
4. Do you have toddlers at home? Freeze leftovers in ice cube trays then pop them out and store the cubes in a freezer Ziploc type bag. The smaller size microwave quickly and they make a great no-fuss lunch for your little ones.
5. Does a recipe call for just a few drops of lemon juice? Poke a lemon with a fork and squeeze out what you need, then seal the fork holes with a little butter and put back in the fridge.
6. Cottage cheese and sour cream last longer if you store the containers upside down (I put mine on a dish just in case there is something wrong with the container seal).
7. If you live in a "non-corn growing state" like I do, fresh corn on the cob can be less than primo at times. A spoon of sugar in the boiling water will give your corn a great fresh taste. This works great for fresh broccoli too.
8. When making a recipe that has blueberries, raisins, chocolate chips, etc. in it, coat them with flour before you fold them into the batter. It will keep them from sinking to the bottom of your cake.
9. If you are caramelizing sugar for a recipe, make sure you use a bright/light colored pan so you can keep an eye on the color of the sugar.
10. To keep bananas from turning brown, wrap them in a dark plastic trash bag and keep them in the vegetable crisper of your fridge. They will stay bright yellow for several days.
