Sweet Kitchen Tip 13

Usually tips come to me out of necessity or because I forgot something and right there on the spot, I just use whatever is at hand.  Usually, it’s a hit or miss kind of thing.

For example did you know how clever flexible mats can be? No? well let me show you how clever and useful they can be:

I use it to cover the bottom of my vegetable bin in the refrigerator, so it makes cleaning it a breeze, as in simply lift out and wipe off.

Or how about moving that big, HEAVY food processor, which is sitting in the corner?  If you put the heavy appliance on top of the mat, when you want to use it, you grasp the edge of the mat to slide it forward from the hiding place in the back of your counter, see. right there all ready for you.

The best crafty way?

As a cake lifter!  Cut your cake, and slide your flexible mat between the layers and use it to gently ease the top layer off the bottom.  You can also use it when working pie dough and want pry the stubborn dough off your counter.

Sweet Kitchen Tips 12

The holidays are coming up and any help in organizing yourself during the chaos is helpful. And most of us bake up a storm of cookies, cakes and breads. So by being a bit “ahead of the game” it will not feel like a mad rush. By doing this simple step, you can save some major time during a baking marathon.

Measure out and label the ingredients for each recipe ahead of time, storing the dry ingredients in zipper-lock bags on the counter and wet ingredients in plastic containers in the refrigerator. When it’s time to bake, everything is ready to be mixed.

And since the first holiday that is up its thanksgiving, then its turkey time!

You want to turn that turkey around in the oven? But know that your oven mitts will get dirty in the process… but, I got a tip for you.  Slip a clean plastic product bags over your oven mitts.  The plastic will keep the mitts from getting greasy, and there no chance of burning your hands.

And if you are ready to move that bird from the roasting rack to your carving board without it becoming a precarious maneuver, all you need is two long-handled wooden spoons.  Insert the bowl ends of the spoons into either the end of the bird’s cavity so that the handles stick out.  Graps the handles, really choking up on them so your hands are right next to the turkey, and lift the bird off the rack to your board.

Sweet Kitchen Tips 11

And since I got myself on the road to pie making here is a couple of tricks that I found make things much easier.  Trial and error folks, the best teacher.

The first thing I learn was that sometimes even the most planned mixing can leave your dough too dry and crumbly (refer to the empanada post and you know will know what I’m talking about) when you start to roll it out.  But, the cardinal rule to pie making - DON’T OVERWORK THE DOUGH, meaning, the less you mix the better it will be.  So what to do? 

Get yourself a spray bottle full of ice water, and use it to sprint the dough when you need a bit more to make it soft.  This method distributes just the right amount making it unlikely you will add to much.

and if you are rolling along …

and your dough often sticks to the counter, adding more flour is not the best solution, since it can actually make the dough tough.  Instead, slide a pastry scraper under the dough every 30 seconds or so.  This way the dough never has a chance to stick, and it won’t tear when you need to move it.  If you don’t have a pastry scraper, you can use a metal ruler, which works just as well.

or you can go the route sandwich route…

Roll out the dough between sheets of parchment or plastic wrap paper.  And if your sandwiched package starts to roll away from you in the counter, place a nonstick silicone mat underneath to hold it in place and give you an additional smooth, stable rolling surface.