Fun Facts: 12 most useful items for the cook

1. Aluminum Foil: Bake a perfect piecrust, soften brown sugar, create special shaped pie pans.

2. Apples: Ripen green tomatoes, fluff up hardened brown sugar, absorb excess salt in soups!

3. Baking Soda: Remove fish smells, reduce the acidity of coffee, reduce the gas-producing properties of beans, replace yeast, make fluffy omelets.

4. Coffee Filters: Cover food in microwave, filter cork crumbs from wine, make an ice pop, hold a taco!  

5. Ice Cube Trays: Freeze eggs, pesto, chopped veggies and herbs, even leftover wine!

6. Lemons: Prevent potatoes from turning brown or rice from sticking, keep guacamole green, make soggy lettuce crisp, freshen cutting boards.

7. Paper Towels: Microwave bacon, clean corn, strain broth, prevent soggy bread and rusty pots.

8. Rubber Bands: secure lids for travel, anchor a cutting board, get a better grip on twist off lids and glasses.

9. Salt: Prevent grease from splattering, shell hard-boiled eggs, revive wrinkled apples, test eggs for freshness which will help poach perfectly, prevent mold on cheese, keep milk fresh! (huhhh!)

10. Plastic Bags: Cover a cookbook, crush crackers, use as mixing bowl or salad spinner, ripen fruit.

11. Sandwich and Freezer Bags: keep cheese fresh in refrigerator, dispose of cooking oil, color cookie dough, soften marshmallows, grease pans.

12. Toothpicks: Mark steaks for doneness, retrieve garlic cloves from a marinade, microwave potatoes faster, fry sausage better. 

Extraordinary Uses For Ordinary Things from The Reader's Digest Association, Inc.