Mom Cooking Tip 40

Before hard-boiling an egg, make a tiny hole in the large end with a needle, pushing it in about 1/4 inch, just far enough to pierce the membrane inside the shell. There’s also a gadget available to do this job for you. It’s called an egg pricker. When the egg is cooked, it will be easier to peel.

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Mom Money-Saving Tip 38

A good place to shop is your pantry. Check to see what canned or boxed foods you have overlooked or have gotten pushed to the back and forgotten.

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Chocolate Again…and Forever

I just can’t keep away from chocolate.  It’s never far from my thoughts, possibly because various forms of it are stashed all over my kitchen.  Hiding in one cabinet is a bag of chocolate discs I melt to make candy.  Also there is a box of Dark Chocolate Sea Salt Caramels made by the Girl Scouts and a bag of Dark Chocolate Acai and Blueberry Flavor balls.  No more Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups left over from Halloween, alas.

Another cupboard contains two 17.6-oz. bars of Trader Joe’s 72% Dark Chocolate Bars imported from Belgium, a 3.5-oz. bar of Godiva 50% Cacao Dark Chocolate Sea Salt, a 3.5-oz. cardboard tube of Droste Chocolate Pastilles, five boxes of Bakers 4-oz. 100% Unsweetened Baking Bars, a 72-oz. bag of Nestle’s Chocolate Chips, an 8-oz. can of Baking Cocoa and a 4-oz. bottle of Pure Chocolate Extract.

On my kitchen bookshelves are 14 chocolate cookbooks, including “Chocolate on the Brain”, which I wrote with my son Kevin.  I guess we weren’t exaggerating with the title.

Mom Cooking Tip 39

When grating lemon peel, stop when you get to the white part under the yellow skin. It’s bitter.

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Mom Money-Saving Tip 37

Make sure you actually get the sale prices advertised. Occasionally grocery stores don’t align their scanners with their promotions.

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The ICK Factor

Roast Chicken

Many recipes have what I call “The ICK Factor.”  For some, it’s cutting onions, which can make you cry.  For others, it’s washing the dirt off fresh spinach, leeks or beets.

Cracking eggs and getting raw egg white on your fingers is icky.  So is cutting away fat from a raw pork chop.

Mom Cooking Tip 38

Whenever you bake potatoes, bake a few extra. Cut them into 1/2-inch cubes and add them to stuffed tortillas or salads. Or fry them with a cut-up onion and serve as a side dish.

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