When carving meat, cut across the grain. If cut with the grain, long meat fibers give a stringy texture to the slice. Steaks are the exception.
Gravy made with cornstarch as a thickening agent instead of flour can be reheated many times without causing the grease to separate.
Place a piece or two of dry bread under the broiler pan. It soaks up the fat drippings and reduces smoke and fire.
Instant potatoes make a great thickening for stews and gravies – will not clump.
If cookies go stale and get hard, place a piece of bread in with the cookies in an airtight container overnight.
If brown sugar gets hard, place a piece of bread in with the brown sugar in an airtight container overnight.
Add a little instant coffee powder when making gravy to give it a rich brown color and deeper flavor.
Soaking chicken in salt water before flouring to fry seals the juices in and keeps out the grease.
Before opening a package of bacon, roll it into a long tube. This loosens the slices, keeping them from sticking together.
Before frying chicken, squeeze lemon juice on it to enhance the flavor and make the meat clearer.
To eliminate the odor when boiling seafood, add celery leaves to the water.
For fresh caught flavor, thaw frozen fish in milk. Drain well before cooking.
Put pieces of bread in the water when cooking cauliflower or brussels sprouts to avoid an unpleasant odor in your kitchen.
To store mushrooms, place unwashed in a paper bag that is left open to allow mushrooms to breath. Mushrooms become soggy in plastic bags. Clean mushrooms just before cooking with a damp towel.
If hands are dirty from working in the garden, use a sprinkle of sugar along with soap to help clean hands.