Sapient Conglomeration: Old Dog and New Kitchen Tricks

I saw just a few minute of a show on television this morning and could not believe the couple of simple kitchen tricks I learned. A couple that everyone could use occasionally if not weekly. Check these out -

How to boil an egg, the right way - I thought I knew but I have never done it this way -

Add your eggs to a pan, pour water to just a little above the top of the eggs and turn on the heat.

Bring the water to a nice rolling boil. Then this next part is a surprise to me.

Add the lid and take off the heat. Really? You don't continue to boil on the fire? You let it stand with the lid on it for 15 to 20 minutes. Then -

add the eggs to ice water. Allow to cool. The peeling should be pretty easy at that point.

Who hasn't bought avocados, when they are still not ripe, and need them to be ripe, SOON! It is sort of watching the boiling pot. You know, the watched pot is slow to boil. And the unripe avocado will not ripen if you need it soon. Well - here is a way to get them to ripen in two days or less. It is sort of like the paper bag that we have all known about for ever, but with a twist.

Take your avocado and place it in a paper bag, but this time, add a banana.

In just a day or two, you have a ripe avocado, but the banana isn't always so great.

By the way - do you know how to check for how ripe the avocado is? Press gently on the belly button end of the fruit. That would be the end where the stem was attached. If it is firm but not hard, it is a ready to use avocado. You can also remove the little hard piece that is there and check for the color. If that part is really dark, the fruit may be bad inside. If it is too pale, it may not be ripe. Better to buy too soon then the rotten stuff.

Best for last again. This is important because every person who spends time in the kitchen encounters this issue. The dreaded onion eyes.

There's a few rules that I always follow and pass along to anyone who will listen, when it comes to cutting onions. First, get someone else to do it if you can. Second, you can buy frozen onions that are already chopped. Third, don't listen to the first two. Suck it up and find a way that works for you. I think that NOT cutting in the area of the root, until the very end, helps. Seems to for me. I also have heard that chewing gum while cutting can help but I have never tried that one, because I just don't have a huge problem with the onion eye. Here's a few things that I saw on the kitchen show this morning.

Before you begin to cut your onion, put it in the freezer for about 10 to 15 minutes. Not longer because you don't want the frozen onion. I keep my onions in my refrigerator all the time and I think that helps too.

Make sure you use a super sharp knife. If the blade is dull it will tear the edges and even a little bit of a rough edge will produce more onion fumes.

Now this is the one that I have never heard. Light a simple candle near your cutting area. The flame of the candle will draw the scent of the onion away from you. I may try that next time just to see if it works. For sure a couple of the grand kids will try this. They will try anything.