Oops! Quick Kitchen Fixes, Part 1

We all make mistakes in the kitchen. Some more than others *cough cough*. I have an entire book devoted to those “oops!” moments when I’ve added too much salt or have run out of sugar and the guests are here for tea. Here are a few handy-dandy tips for hearth and home that you may find useful:

• Added too much salt to the stew or soup? Add a cut raw potato to the pot. Once the potato is cooked, throw it out. If the recipe is still too salty (gee, how much salt did you add, anyway?!), add another potato.
• Is your salt in your salt shaker a little sticky? We get this whenever the humidity rises. Add 7-8 grains of uncooked rice in your salt shaker to absorb the moisture. Works wonders!
• Someone in the family get car sickness while traveling? Pack some ginger root candy, and/or some ginger tea. Ginger helps soothe the stomach. It’s not exactly rocket-science medical travel advice, and it may not help some serious cases of motion sickness… but it’s worth a try!
• Speaking of humidity– if your potato chips lose their freshness, place them on a cookie sheet and under your over broiler for a few minutes. Don’t let them brown! They will taste burnt, and I don’t have a Quick Fix for that.
• Is your brown sugar rock hard? If you need some sugar fast, grate it with a hand grate. If you can wait, place a slice or two of soft bread in the brown sugar package for a few hours. And if you want to make your own homemade and more nutritious brown sugar, check out my recipe! Easy!