|
|
Post by bixaorellana on Mar 22, 2009 16:43:42 GMT
We need a place to share hints. Here is one I found last night, but which I've not tried. It was submitted by a person who's been cooking at home & professionally for over 30 years.
Potato Flour:
When you find your potato salad has become watery, simply sprinkle potato flour over the top and mix through.
[she wrote:] "Tightened up the salad rather nicely and added a very subtle depth to the flavor". She added that her regular uses for potato flour were in a chicken breading blend and in potato bread.
|
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Mar 22, 2009 16:59:06 GMT
That's an excellent suggestion -- so many such salads get ugly water at the bottom the next day.
|
|
|
|
Post by auntieannie on Mar 22, 2009 17:07:52 GMT
if you (lightly) burn yourself, say whilst taking something of the oven, put some french-style mustard on the burnt bit - as long as the skin is still on. it will moisturise the skin and help with healing. Alternatively, lavender ESSENTIAL oil (NOT oil, definitely) is magic on such burns.
|
|
|
|
Post by bazfaz on Mar 23, 2009 21:43:19 GMT
We have an aloe vera plant in a pot that is meant to be a magical cure for burns. Alas, I always hop around and forget to use it.
|
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Mar 23, 2009 21:55:45 GMT
I burned one of my hands really badly with hot oil one day last year (the oil spashed at me in a completely unexpected way). I plunged it within 2 minutes into a bowl of ice cubes, and it felt fine there, except for feeling too cold. But every time I took it out, the pain of the burn was quite intense, so I kept it in the bowl for at least an hour. And then I kept it in a bowl of ice water with ice cubes all though the evening -- all because it still burned whenever I would take it out. I even went to bed with a bowl of ice next to the bed. After perhaps 4 hours, my hand felt all right when I took it out. And the next morning, I did not feel a thing anymore.
It was two weeks before the skin finally began to peel from my hand, but I am fully convinced that ice and water is the best emergency treatment for a severe burn.
|
|
|
|
Post by bixaorellana on Mar 24, 2009 3:23:59 GMT
That is really good to know! There are few things more distractingly painful than a burn. It sounds like the ice water short circuited the pain message from the nerves, hydrated the skin, then gave it all time to heal gradually & correctly.
|
|
|
|
Post by bixaorellana on Mar 24, 2009 3:26:36 GMT
This is a tiny tip, but I think everyone will like it. Lately I've gotten in the habit of toasting some sesame seeds when I'm in the final stage of making a salad. I throw them on when I dress it, and it really gives a nice bit of depth to even the plainest salad.
|
|
|
|
Post by auntieannie on Mar 25, 2009 19:17:05 GMT
oooh! bixa! my mom does that with sunflower seeds...when she can be bothered!  |
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Mar 25, 2009 19:20:22 GMT
That's what I was thinking: "Are you making a salad or toasting things?" I don't think I could be bothered.
|
|
|
|
Post by bixaorellana on Mar 25, 2009 21:44:10 GMT
 Do you some how imagine that I'm toasting the sesame seeds two by two in one of these:  ? No, I put one of these:  on the fire, toss on a half-handful of seeds & cover them. Less than sixty seconds later they're toasted. Too many steps? Too many moving parts? Too much to remember?
|
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Mar 25, 2009 21:56:34 GMT
Too much work. My electric vitro-ceramic surface takes too long to heat up.
|
|
LouisXIV
member
Offline
L'estat c'est moi.
|
Post by LouisXIV on Apr 1, 2009 12:27:24 GMT
After preparing fresh garlic a good way to get the smell off your hands is to rub you hands on stainless steel.
|
|
|
|
Post by bixaorellana on Jul 5, 2009 4:37:25 GMT
Isn't there some French phrase on the order of "response of the second landing" to indicate something you should have said that occurred to you too late?
In that spirit, it came to me today that they way to have toasted sesame seeds when ones electric vitro-ceramic surface heats too slowly to provide said seeds on the spur of the moment is to toast a whole bunch of them at one time & keep them in a jar.
And on the subject of seeds, beans, grains, etc. ~~ it's a good idea to put them in the freezer when you bring them home from the store. A few hours should be enough to kill any weevil or moth eggs that might be lurking within the packaging.
|
|
|
|
Post by mockchoc on Jul 11, 2009 6:38:20 GMT
I need to do that bixa, yesterday I found weevils in a packet of rice.
|
|
|
|
Post by bixaorellana on Apr 7, 2010 18:49:37 GMT
I may be mocked for this simple trick. This tip now seems so obvious to me, I don't know how I didn't figure it out eons ago. However, since I've never seen this idea promoted in writing nor anyone doing it, I'll bravely risk the ridicule.
I finally figured out how to make fool-proof fried eggs! I will not use teflon, relying on cast iron, but I know people who use aluminum omelet pans, enameled skillets, etc. & they all equally get the occasional ugly surprise of the fried egg which sticks, generally messing up the nice yolk.
Here is what you do:
Proceed with whatever is your usual method, but have a slightly larger skillet or a sturdy lid heating on the stove as well. As soon as you've cracked the eggs into the pan, cover it with the hot lid. You can then either turn the heat off for lightly set eggs, or leave it on a minute or two for more cooked ones.
It's the very slight amount of steam generated by the lid which keeps the bottom of the egg from sticking to the pan, and the heat in the lid which gently cooks the top.
The eggs will be "blindfolded", which is the only drawback for people liking to see the sunny gold of the yolks. However, that is compensated for by the yolks being guaranteed to stay where they belong, inside the circle nature created for them.
|
|
