Five Food Hacks

To cook potatoes evenly, drop in cool water, not hot. Hot water will make the outsides mushy and not cook the insides evenly. Allowing to water to warm up with the potatoes cooks the outside and inside evenly. Potatoes are more dense than veggies.

Heat the pan before cooking veggies. Preheating the pan and using a bit of olive oil keeps the veggies from sticking and helps them evenly brown without making them mushy.

Meat should never be tossed into a cold pan, in the oven or on the stovetop.

Slicing onions vertically is to slice along with the fibers of the onion. When you slice with the fibers, the onion pieces hold up a bit better as they cook. If you do not want them to retain the shape, cut along the side like circles or dice them and they will be more mushy.

Cakes should be light and airy and one way to help is to alternately mix in dry and wet ingredients. It is bubbles, unpopped and whole, that give an open crumb in cakes. When you are beating sugar into softened butter or when you are beating eggs into a froth, you are making bubbles. Adding dry ingredients keeps the bubbles from popping and makes for a light, airy cake. Dump and stir is better for more dense things, like brownies.

After Party Beer Tip

After the crowd leaves and you are left with a few dozen almost empty beer cans, pour the remaining drops from each can into a container and use it every now and then to fertilize your house plants. They love the sugars.  More is better for outdoor veggie gardens.