Tips and Tricks Page 2

To soften rock hard brown sugar put a quarter wedge of apple in the container or in a plastic bag. The molasses in the sugar will soften in a few days.

To quickly soften hardened brown sugar put it in the microwave for just a few seconds. It will soften up but will harden again after it cools.

To keep cheese from getting moldy and to make it last longer take a white paper towel and soak in vinegar, squeeze out excess. Wrap cheese in towel and place in a zip lock or wrap tightly in plastic wrap.

To butter ears of cooked corn take a slice of soft bread and butter it, put it on thickly. Take the ear of corn, while still hot, and wrap in the bread, twirl it. Voila, you have a buttered ear of corn.

Use salt or baking soda to smother a grease fire. DO NOT USE WATER!.

Too much salt in your soup? Peel and cut up in chunks a potato, add to your soup and it will soak up the salt. The starch in the potato does the job.

Ants in the kitchen? Wipe counters, shelves, floors or wherever the little buggers were found with vinegar. A single ant (a scout) will leave a scent trail for the rest of the colony to follow and it just might lead to your kitchen. The vinegar will erase the scent and ants hate vinegar as well as cinnamon.

Buy 2 or 3 sets of measuring spoons. Remove from rings and store in a short heavy glass or large coffee mug. You won't have to stop and wash the spoons while cooking or baking.

Sprinkle lemon juice over cooked vegetables right before you serve them. It brings out the flavor.

Use a dough scraper (sometimes called a bench knife) to cut brownies. A plastic knife works great too!

Use Golden Delicious for salads that call for uncooked apples. They don't turn brown the way most apples do.