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.