12 kitchen tips my

Mother taught me (as well as some of my own!)

Once upon a time, there was a housewife. Everyday she went shopping, bought meat from the butcher, vegetables from the greengrocer, and bread from the baker. Today, she probably has a job, but she is still expected to provide daily meals and look after the family. Being French, my mother was very practical and a great cook. What I learned from her can be applied to make today’s jobs easier.

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1. Don’t go shopping with a planned menu. Just see what is in season. 

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2. Make friends with your butcher, not only for the quality of his meat and his cooking recipes, but he will also sharpen your knives.

3. Always put a damp cloth under a bowl or a dish to stop moving when mixing ingredients or carving.

4. If you struggle to unscrew a lid, put on rubber gloves and try again. It works!

5. Soap or candle wax rubbed along the edges of tight fitting kitchen drawers (or any other drawers) will make them run smoothly.

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Photo by Grant Sainsbury

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6. Store tins upside down, or turn them upside down before opening. The content will then come out easily.

7. To warm plates quickly, sprinkle each one with a few drops of water and heat them in the microwave for 30 seconds. Make sure no plates have metallic decorations.

8. To stop liquid overflowing when boiling, put a wooden spoon across the top of pan. Don’t ask me why it works, but it does.

9. To clean your oven after use, place a bowl of boiling water in it. Once the water has cooled down it will be easy to wipe out the grease marks.

10. If you spill red wine on a table cloth, immediately pour soda water over the stain and it will absorb the marks. Wash normally.

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11. For candle wax drippings, gently scrape the hard bits, place some brown paper over the remaining marks and apply a hot iron over the paper until the paper has absorbed the wax.

12. Guests arrive unexpectedly and there is no time to open a bottle of red wine and bring it to room temperature, take off the metal ring around the neck, keep the cork on, and put the bottle in the microwave for 15 seconds. Et Voila!

I can hear the experts screaming in horror!

In my next post I will give you some of Mother’s cooking tips