I bought a bag of cherries from the store the other day. I thought it would be a good snack for the kids during a little picnic. I went to the drawer for a combination tool that minces garlic and pits cherries. I can state firmly that this tool is horrible. The pitting portion of the tool is in between the handles making it very awkward to use. It also only managed to hit the pit about 25% of the time.

So, I proceeded to rummage through our kitchen drawers for a chopstick. I had seen tv shows where the chef had used a chopstick to remove the pits. I had tried this method in the past and it too left a lot to be desired. However, during my search I found a tool that worked very well. (Read the rest of this entry »)

Cooking, Tips

Tags: Cooking, diy, instant read thermometer, pitting cherries, tip

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OK. You think this is obvious right?

Actually, my mother showed me how to peel a banana just last year. Apparently Mark Summer told her how to peel a banana. So… what is the secret?

Peel it from the bottom instead of the stem end. Mark was kidding around with my mom as she struggled with a banana that wasn’t completely ripe. He told her to peel it like the monkeys.

It is actually a revelation if you haven’t tried it. My kids eat a ridiculous amount of bananas and most of the time, the bananas aren’t quite ripe. Peeling them from the bottom is very easy even when they are green. You also have a cool little handle when they are peeled this way.

Cooking, Tips

Tags: bananas, peeling, tip

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My dad and I were discussing how this little product is actually quite expensive. The vacuum itself isn’t really that expensive, I paid $7.00 for mine. They have been running $2.00 coupons in the paper and our local grocery store had the product on sale for $9.00. The problem isn’t the vacuum but the cost of the bags. I bought a box of gallon bags, 9 bags to be exact. This cost me an additional $3.29 or roughly $.37 per bag. Ouch! You better have some really great things to freeze.

I was attracted to the idea because I freeze a lot of the vegetables out of our garden. Unfortunately, I might as well just buy the vegetables from the grocery for that price. Well, I did have another idea. (Read the rest of this entry »)

Cooking, Family, Opinions, Tips

Tags: diy, freezer, garden, Opinion, Reynolds, tip, vacuum bag, vacuum sealer, Vegetables

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