Ten Kitchen Tricks on Tuesday

1. Juicing a Lemon/Lime. Put the lemon in the microwave for 30 seconds. You'll get more juice out of it if it's heated up a bit.



2. Grating Cheese. Put the cheese and the grater in the freezer for 10 minutes before grating. This prevents the cheese from sticking to the grater.



3. Measuring sticky stuff. Before putting peanut butter, honey, corn syrup or molasses into a measuring cup/spoon, spray it with cooking spray. The contents of the measuring cup all slide right out.



4. Hard brown sugar. Instead of throwing it away, put a piece of bread in the bag. The sugar will absorb the dampness in the bread, and soften.



5. Calcium deposits in teapot. When you see calcium deposits floating in your teapot, pour in vinegar, bring to a boil, let it cool and soak. After a few hours, pour out and rinse.



6. Peeling peaches/nectarines/plums. Cut an X in the fruit then put them in boiling water for about 45 seconds (maybe a few seconds longer for firmer fruit). Then remove and put them in ice water. The skin peels right off. It's quick and easy!



7. Measuring herbs. If the recipe calls for fresh herbs, and all you have is dried, use half the amount it calls for. Contrarily, if you have fresh herbs, and the recipe calls for dried, use twice as much.



8. Separating coffee filters. Instead of fumbling with the coffee filters to get one separated out to make your early morning cup of joe, gently blow air onto them. It's silly, but they separate really easily that way.



9. Peeling garlic. Microwave garlic cloves for 15 seconds, and the peel slips right off.



10. Hard cheese. To prevent cheese from getting hard and crusty at the ends, rub a little bit of butter the exposed end.



Let's hear it! What are your kitchen tips?