One evening during my parents’ recent visit they wanted a salad, so they bought a Fresh Express salad kit. When my mom was ready to make it, she asked for a bowl and tongs.
“You don’t need any of that stuff,” I told her. “Just use the bag!”
She and my dad looked at me uncomprehendingly, so I told them to gather ’round for a demonstration. I opened the bag of lettuce, fished out the croutons and dressing, and dumped the contents of those packages into the main bag. I then secured the top and gave everything a good shake for about 30 seconds.
You should have seen their faces. I don’t use the term dumbfounded lightly, but that about describes it.
“I never thought of doing it that way!” my mom said. “You’re a genius!”
I’ve always suspected as much.
(Not really, but I appreciated the compliment.)
This – and blogger Deb Carey’s admission that she loves kiwi fruit but hates peeling the skin – got me to thinking. I assumed that most kiwi eaters simply slice the fruit in half with a knife and scoop out the flesh with a spoon, much as I’d taken it for granted that all salad kit connoisseurs do in-bag prep. Apparently not! Could it be, I wondered, that I am missing out on some efficient, time-saving kitchen shortcuts, too? So, I googled cooking hacks. There were a lot of basic tips I already knew, but a few stood out:
- Microwave your corn for 30 seconds to a minute on high heat to make shucking a breeze. Corn on the cob is delicious, but removing the husks (and especially the silk, which clings to the cob like an insecure lover) is a total pain. I’ll be trying this for sure!
- Lower eggs to room temperature in a bowl of warm water for a few minutes. Just last week I was making a recipe that called for room temperature eggs but hadn’t planned ahead, so I used them cold, straight out of the fridge. The meal turned out fine, but: duh!
- Hull a strawberry by inserting a drinking straw into the tip of the berry and pushing it through to the other end. Seems a lot easier (and less messy) than trying to pull the stem out with your fingers. And it won’t look like you just walked away from a bloody crime scene without washing your hands like a bumbling murder novice.
- Slice herbs with a pizza cutter. Bunch them up and push the wheel back and forth in all directions until you’ve reached your desired consistency. Heck yeah! Less risk of chopping a finger off that way too.
My favorite cooking hack is one I’ve blogged about before. I love meatballs, but perfecting the seasoning is hit-and-miss. Half the time, they’d come out too bland. Nowadays, I make a tiny test meatball first, maybe the size of a quarter. I fry it up and taste it, then adjust the seasonings as needed. This also works well for meatloaf.
It’s (about to be) a jungle out there
I hope I get my John Deere back from the shop soon, because my grass is about to go wild. We had a lot of rain over the past few days (2″+); both Tuesday and Wednesday were in-office days, so my windshield wipers got quite the workout driving to and from Madison, and then to and from Madison again. Good news for all the farmers and their freshly planted corn, at least. Corn that is going to be a cinch to husk this summer!
If not, well, let’s hope Neighbor Brian is in the mood for more chili verde.
It’s also been cold. Didn’t get out of the 40s for two days straight. We almost hit 90° a week ago, so this felt especially jarring. I briefly contemplated building a fire in the wood stove on Tuesday, but that just felt wrong so late into May.
The (long – yay!) weekend’s looking pretty nice though. Sunny and 60s. Tara’s going to get all her plants in the ground to officially kick off gardening season, so Tomato Countdown 2025 will officially commence.
Other than that, I am 99% sure I’ll be lighting a grill at some point, and 100% certain I’ll be drinking a Bloody Mary.
What’s your favorite cooking hack? Got any exciting Memorial Day plans?
Mark My Words 
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