Tips, tips, tips, and more tips (cont'd part 4)

1. Apples add appeal to leftover oatmeal! Combine 4 cups water, 1 teaspoon salt and 2 tablespoons of butter in a large saucepan; bring to a full boil. Stir in 2 cups old fashioned oats, 1 cup of chopped, peeled apple, 1/2 cup raisons, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon  and 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg. Cook 5 minutes at medium heat, stirring occasionally. Cover; remove from heat. Let stand 2-3 minutes before serving.
2. Get every bit of cream soup out of the can with this easy trick: Make a slight puncture in the bottom of the can, then remove the top as usual. Run a knife around the inside of the can, turn upside down. The entire contents will come out at once.
3. Its easy to freeze pieces of rhubarb, carrots and other fruit in the amount you're likely to us most often. In quart containers or ziploc bags for instance.
4. Cut rhubarb into pieces with kitchen shears rather than a knife. It's much easier.
5. When making an apple pie, add the required amount of sugar to the apples immediately after slicing. It prevents the fruit from browning before baking.
6. Bread won't rise to the occasion? Set dough in a covered bowl on top of the electric heating pad, turned on low. From Yesenia, "Mama really likes this idea and uses it almost every week"
7. For best flavour, store tomatoes at room temperature. Do not refrigerate.
8. Try this variation on dried apples. Peel, core, halve two quarts of apples. Shred the apple coarsely onto a buttered baking sheet. Bake at 225 Degrees until dry. Remove from cookie sheet with a pancake turner. Break into pieces and store in an airtight container.
9. Store gingerbread, and other soft cookies in a tin with an apple slice to keep them from becoming hard.
10. This speedy, no fail peanut butter fudge is one of our favourite Christmas giveaways. Melt one cup peanut flavoured shortening, remove from heat. Add one cup of either, smooth or crunchy, peanut butter, 2 1/2  teaspoons vanilla, and 4 cups confectioners sugar. Mix well. Pour into an ungreased 8-inch square baking pan. Let cool. Cut into squares and wrap in cellophane.
11. To freeze corn, blanch ears, and then cool them. Place ear of corn on cone of angel food cake pan, and cut off kernel with knife. The cake pan will catch the kernels without making a mess on your kitchen counter.
12. If a recipe calls for buttermilk but you discover that you don't have any on hand. Add two teaspoons vinegar to each 1/2 cup off milk.
13. Take along a box of thumb tacks to your next picnic. When the wind blows, they're handy for tacking down a tablecloth, paper plates and other items.
14. Substitute brown sugar for granulated sugar for a rich caramel flavour in brownies.
15. Here's a tip for perfect hard cooked eggs every time with no dark ring around the yolk. Place eggs in saucepan and cover with cold water. Turn burner on and allow water to come to a full rolling boil. Turn off heat and place lid on pan. Let stand, covered, for 10 minutes for small or medium eggs. And 20 minutes for large or extra large eggs. Then pour off hot water, and run cold tap water over the eggs. Crack the shell as usual.
16. I have a number of cookbooks and it used to take me awhile to find my favourite recipes. So I got a recipe box and filing cards. I now write the name of the recipe, which cookbook it's in, and the page number.
17. Use the tip of your potato peeler to remove strawberry hulls.
18. Try this twist of grilled cheese sandwiches. Rather than buttering the outside of the bread, use mayonnaise (not salad dressing). It gives the sandwiches a different texture and makes it less greasy.
19. To remove peach peel easily, dip the peaches in boiling water for 30 seconds, then in ice cold water. The skins will slide right off.
20. You can strain fat out of meat broth by pouring it through a paper coffee filter.