This is really just a random assortment of favourite tips that I thought might come in handy if you’re having trouble getting jelly to turn out, or being driven mad by the garlic smell ingrained in your chopping board.
• Remove cooking smells from your hands with vinegar.
• If you have stainless steel taps, or a stainless steel spoon, you can rub your hands over them to get rid of smells like fish, garlic or onions.
• Use lemon juice to get the smell of garlic out of your chopping board.
• Cut apple is supposed to absorb strong cooking smells. Put a piece in the pan when you’re frying fish, or keep an apple cut in half near the cooker.
• To get rid of the smell of burnt food, boil a small pan of water with lemon wedges, cloves or cinnamon in it.
To stop onions making you cry when you peel them, here are some suggestions:
• Put the onion in the freezer for half an hour first.
• Put it in the microwave for a few seconds first.
• Chop it near cold running water.
• Chop it near to the extractor fan of your cooker.
• Hold a couple of wooden matchsticks between your teeth while cutting the onion.
• Chew on a piece of bread.
• Suck on a spoon.
• Cut the root end off last.
• If you burn yourself preparing hot chillis, apply olive oil to heal the burn.
• If you eat chillis that are far too hot, the reason is because of the oil in them. Since oil and water don’t mix, drinking water is of limited use. You want to absorb the oil. So it’s better to eat a piece of bread.
• Stop jellies and cold moulds sticking by putting water in the mould and tipping out, without drying it off, before you put the jelly in.
• If you want to make ice in a hurry, fill the tray with warm water. It freezes faster than cold water.
• If your brown sugar goes hard in the jar, put a slice of apple in with it to soften it up again.