Today I share with you 24 tips from grandmothers kitchen to make your from scratch recipes and old fashioned baking better than ever.
The best advice, baking hacks and recipes come from our grandparents. We all have fond memories of sitting together around the table sharing food and stories somewhere in our childhood.
It will be thirty years since my great grandmother passed away. I only knew her my first year of life but stories of her pop into my life every now and then.
When she passed away, a cookbook, “Chevie’s Kitchen” was dedicated in her memory. That cookbook rests in my kitchen cupboard and is often referenced.
Great Grannie “Chevy” spent her final 16 years cooking up a storm her local sunshine club as the kitchen director. She was hardworking and well loved. My Grannie is spending her time cooking for large groups too.
The woman in my life, my mother and grandmothers taught be everything I know about making food for my family. I grew up sitting at our kitchen table eating sweets my mom made and reading through her recipe cards.
Today I share with you the 24 kitchen tips that line the pages of my great grandmothers cookbook, may these tips bring sunshine into your kitchen in her memory.
TIPS FROM GRANDMOTHERS KITCHEN
COOKING MEAT HACKS
When frying chicken, add a few drips of yellow food color to hot shortening for a beautiful golden crust.
To tenderize meat that is tough, marinate overnight in 1/2 c. vinegar and 1c beef broth.
To boil shellfish, shrimp, clams, lobster or crabs, use tbsp salt to 1 qt. water.
VEGETABLE TIPS
To keep a salad fresh, if made ahead of time, line the bowl with a paper towel wrung out of cold water, then lay another one on top and cover with plastic.
Corn on the cob will stay fresh in hot water for hours if you start with cold water and, for every 4 ears of corn, add 2 tbsp. each sugar and vinegar. Bring water to boil, add corn. Cook 6 minutes, then remove corn as desired. The corn left simmering will stay fresh indefinitely.
When cooking cabbage, Brussels sprouts, broccoli, the odor will be eliminated if you put a crust of bread in pot before putting in the lid and will have no effect on vegetables.
When peeling onions, try cutting them in half lengthwise, then peeling, to save the tears
Wash, scrape and dice carrots and store in a closed plastic bags in refrigerator crisper. They keep well and retain their flavour and are ever so handy.
Potatoes partially boiled in their skins, then wrapped in foil to bake or barbecue will cook much faster and taste the same.
Frozen bread grated makes a quick and easy bread crumbs “work quickly before the bread thaws”. One slice of bread will yield about 1/2 soft bread crumbs. This is a handy guide for topping vegetables and casseroles.
Fresh tomatoes keep longer stored with stem down.
BAKING TIPS FROM GRANDMOTHERS KITCHEN
Put a slice of fresh bread into your brown sugar container. It will soften to hard lumps and keep it that way.
To keep milk without a fridge, stand the jug or bottle in a bowl of cold water. Cover it with a cloth and let the ends of cloth dangle in the water. The evaporation of the water keeps the milk fresh.
Try cooking vegetables with 1 tsp. sugar and add salt to serve. Turnips, especially, will not be bitter.
When cooking rhubarb, add a little salt. Neutralizes the acid and cuts down on amount of sugar required.
A sprinkle of salt added to overcooked coffee takes away the bitter taste.
Short of unsweetened chocolate? Replace with Fry’s cocoa – use 2 level tbsp. butter for each 1 oz. square of chocolate in your recipe.
Substitute honey for sugar, using 1 c. honey plus 1/4 tsp. baking soda and reduce liquid by 1/4 cup.
When frosting a cake, to prevent crumbs going into the frosting, seal with a mixture of icing sugar and water, applied with pastry brush. Let set till dry, then frost.
When cooking pancakes, grease the griddle for first one, then try rubbing a raw potato over hot griddle instead of greasing it. The cakes will brown nicely and there will be no smoke.
A pinch of salt will keep milk fresh longer. Will also make cream and egg whites whip more rapidly.
When making sandwiches, cut bread lengthwise. This saves about 2/3 of the waste, especially when sandwiches are cute in fancy shapes.
When making fruit pies, sprinkle sugar under the fruit instead of on top. The juice will bubble up through the fruit instead of out over the top of pie.
To keep pie crust from going soggy in fruit pies, butter your pie plate before putting crust on. Will be golden flaky.
OLD FASHIONED DESSERT RECIPES
OLD FASHIONED FATHERS CAKE- APPLE CAKE
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