Tips, Measurements and Equivalents

With the weather cooling off, at least for some of us, it's time to start baking again. Last week I baked muffins for the kids, and I stocked up on some ingredients to bake cookies this weekend. Today I have a few baking tips to share.

Oven temperatures in newer recipes are very clear, but if you collect old cookbooks you'll find they often use "moderate oven" or "hot oven". Use the following when running across this type of thing.

Slow Oven: 250-300 degrees F.

Moderate Oven: 350-375 degrees F.

Hot Oven: 400 degrees F.

Very Hot Oven: 450-500 degrees F.

The following tips are from All About Home Baking published in 1933. I love this cookbook because of the baking tips. Quotes from the book are in italics.

Cutting in shortening can be tricky. If it's not done correctly your biscuits or scones will be heavy like a rock. The tip below is a great explanation of this method.

Cut shortening into flour quickly and lightly , being careful not to press down and mash the fat (butter etc.) . The cutting is continued until the shortening is separated into tiny particles and the mixture resembles course corn meal. The pastry blender is a convenient little tool for cutting in shortening. Two knives may be used instead.

(Pastry blenders are very inexpensive now, and can be found in most gadget sections of stores like Walmart or Target.)

Muffins are simple to make, but if they aren't done correctly they can turn out tough, dry or they may have "tunnels". The following tip will help:

Turn wet ingredients all at once into dry ones. Stir as briskly as possible without splashing mixture out of mixing bowl. Stop stirring in about 25 seconds, or just as soon as the flour is MOISTENED. The batter should look lumpy--do not attempt to beat it smooth. Overstirring results in muffins with sharp peaks or knobs on the outside and long holes or tunnels inside.

Measuring ingredients is very important in any type of baking. Below are a few tips to make sure your measuring is accurate.

-Flour should be sifted BEFORE it's measured, and spoon gently into the measuring cup afterwards, then leveled off with a knife. The sifting changes the volume of the flour.

-Baking powder should be measured very exact. Dip the spoon into the container of baking powder and carefully use a knife to level it off.

-Shortening should be packed into the measuring cup as tightly as possible, then leveled off with a knife.

On OFL we have old fashioned cake recipes:

http://oldfashionedliving.com/cakes2.html

~Brenda

Old Fashioned Cooking Tips

I've been baking a lot lately, partly to save money, and partly for the joy of it. Last week I made two types of cookies, brownies and lemon bread. Winter is such a good time to try new bread and cookie recipes. Later in the week I'll share a few I've tried.

Today I have cooking tips from the Home Comfort Cook Book, published in 1948. Can we ever really have too may kitchen or cooking tips?

To keep a bowl steady when mixing, place it on a wet, folded cloth.

If the top of a cake is sprinkled with flour as soon as it is taken from the oven, icing will spread more easily and not be so likely to run off.

To cut boiled eggs more easily, dip the knife in water beforehand.

Dip fish into scalding water for a minute to scale more easily.

A teaspoon of vinegar added to the water in which white fish is boiled improves flavor and makes flesh firmer.

Juices of spiced and pickled fruits are good for basting meats, especially ham or tongue.

Save liquids from pickles to use for pickled beets, slaw or for moistening meat or fish sandwich fillings.

Use damp scissors to cut marshmallows, dates and figs easily.

To bake potatoes faster, quickly boil in water 10 minutes first, then put in a hot oven.

For crisp, edible skins, scrub well, dry and rub with bacon fat before putting in oven.

To make rice white and fluffy, add 1 tsp. lemon juice or vinegar to each quart of water while cooking.

To prevent brown sugar from hardening place it in tightly closed container. If already hard, soften it by placing in a slow oven . Or place in closed fruit jar with slice of soft bread.

Mary Emma gives us tips for keeping our own cooking journal:

http://oldfashionedliving.com/kitchen46.html

~Brenda

Cooking & Kitchen Tips: Another Hodge Podge

There are so many great cooking and kitchen tips out there it's really hard to decide what to post about each week! This week, i've decided to feature a bunch of great ideas shared by the forum members of our friends at FamilyCorner.com.

• When you chop onion for a recipe, use half the onion and chop the rest and freeze it for another day. The frozen onion is fine if you intend to cook with it~ it just has a little more moisture than usual at the start. Throw in the pan frozen.
  


• To keep cucumbers fresh longer, wrap them in plain old newspaper.
  


• The pointed end of a beer can opener is the perfect tool for deveining shrimp.
  


• Easy homemade slushies: Pour prepared kool-aid into a clean milk jug and put lid on tight. Put in freezer. Every 30 to 45 minutes, give it a shake. 
  


• Cutting Pineapple: Cut off top, now the sides and bottom. Now slice crossways (not length ways). Use an apple corer and put it right in the middle of the pinapple slice over the core and push. You have nice little triangles of pineapple without the core
  


• Sometimes I use a toothpick to dip round candies such as truffles and peanut butter balls into melted chocolate. Other times I use a meat fork that has the tines curved up a little.
  


• When freezing casseroles that contain pasta, don't cook the pasta completely before assembling the casserole. It will finish cooking when you heat the casserole later.
  


• If you run out of sour cream for tacos, add some cream cheese to the taco meat.
  


• Break each egg individually into a separate container. If you happen to have a bad egg, you've only lost one - not the whole dish.
  

Kitchen TIp Tuesday: Hodge Podge of Tips

Today I have a variety of great tips that have lasted over the years. No particular theme today, just a hodge podge of great ideas!

Handy Clothespins: Forget the laundry, try using clothespins (the spring type) in the kitchen. they work great in place of twist ties for holding bread bags and chip bags closed. Pretty much any bag that needs closing, such as cereal or even frozen vegetables. Try gluing a magnet to the back of a clothespin and hang your shopping list on the fridge. Here's some fun decorated clothespin magnets you can make!

Easy Freezer Storage: Place a zipper freezer bag inside a coffee can or large mouth jar and fold the zipper edge back over the lip of the can or jar. Fill the bag with sauce, gravy or other food, this also keeps the zipper edge clean. Now, lay the bag flat in the freezer by placing on a cookie sheet, a flat pizza box, or anything else you have and let it freeze. Once frozen, this can be stood up and stacked in the freezer for better storage room.

Salad Shaker: If you're like me you don't like your salad drowning in too much dressing. Place your salad into a gallon zipper bag and add the amount of dressing that you prefer. Zip the bag shut leaving air in the bag. Shake the bag until your salad in evenly covered. This can also be done in a plastic storage container with a tight fitting lid.

Homemade Pasta Sauce: All you need for a basic pasta sauce is a 7.5 oz can of tomato sauce and a 6 oz can of tomato paste. This will serve 3-4 people. Make your batches as large as you want simply multiplying the ingredients by the number of batches you want. Combine the two ingredients and add 3 tomato paste cans of water (or 18 oz water). Add whatever seasonings you like such as basil, salt, and pepper. Play around to find your favorite, suggested herbs are oregano, basil, and marjoram. Onion and garlic are a common ingredient, and a teaspoon of sugar helps tone down the acidic nature of the tomatoes. Bring to a boil, simmer and separate into portions right for your family. Store in the freezer in zipper storage bags (use the flatten method above!) and thaw when ready to use.

Value Packs: Sometimes the value packs of meat at the grocery store can be a great deal. When you come across them, bring them home and immediately break them into meal sized portions. Freeze so they are ready to use when you are.

Lumpy Gravy: If you gravy has lumps, toss it in the blender for a few spins until smooth!

Homemade Pastry Bag: Fill a plastic zipper sandwich bag and squeeze out excess air. Push everything to one corner, twist the empty end of the bag and snip off the bottom corner of the bag with scissors. Voila - instant pastry bag!

Zest it First - Before peeling an orange or slicing a lemon or lime, zest off the rind first and place in a zipper storage bag. Pop the zest in the freezer to use the next time you need zest!

No Peel Mashed Potatoes: Instead of peeling the potatoes first, cook the potatoes in the microwave skin on, then cut in half and scoop out the pulp. Save the skins for a tasty appetizer. Slice skins into strips, spray with cooking spray or brush with olive oil, then sprinkle with salt and pepper and place under the broiler for a few minutes until crispy. You can also add shredded cheddar and bacon bits!

Do you have any great kitchen tips? We'd love to hear from you. To share, click on "Post a Comment" at the bottom of this post!

Hodge Podge Day

In character, in manners, in style, in all things, the supreme excellence is simplicity. ~Henry Longsworth Longfellow

Today I have tips sent in by our talented and wise readers!

I made the Black-Eyed Pea Soup recipe for New Year's Day, adding boiled chicken pieces to the cooked soup. Wonderful! I doubled the recipe, and took some to my mom, brother, my children, and their spouses. Everyone loved it! Thank you for helping me start 2009 in such a delicious way. ~Linda Lee

POPPING BACON GREASE
When I was in Germany I learned that if you add just a pinch of flour to your bacon that while it is cooking it will not pop hot grease. Remember--just a LITTLE PINCH! Too much flour will cause the bacon to taste like flour. ~Lindy

A SOFT HAND REMEDY
I found this in a book called Grandma's Remedies: Put 1/2 teaspoon sugar in the palm of your hand and cover the sugar with baby oil and rub in for 3 or 4 minutes. Rinse your hands with warm soapy water. Don't forget to take your rings off before you do this. It does work and your hands are nice and soft afterwards. ~Thanks again, francorrine

POLISHING SILVER
If you have a small job, the best silver polish is white tooth paste. Dab some on your finger, and rub into the tarnish. For bigger pieces, use baking soda and a clean, damp sponge. Make a paste of baking soda and water. Scoop the paste onto the sponge, and rub the paste into the silver. Rinse with hot water and polish dry with a soft, clean cloth. For badly tarnished silver, leave the baking soda paste on the silver for an hour or so, before cleaning off with the help of the sponge and hot water. ~Jeanieb

On OFL we have tips for storage organization:
http://www.oldfashionedliving.com/storage3.html

"Wow, I Never Knew That!"

Oh, it must be October
The leaves of red bright gold and brown,
To Mother Earth come tumbling down,
The breezy nights the ghostly sights,
The eerie spooky far off sounds
Are signs that it's October.
The pumpkins yellow, big and round
Are carried by costumed clumsy clowns
It's Halloween - let's celebrate.
~Pearl N. Sorrels

I love older cookbooks and magazines for these types of tips. Some are ones we just need to be reminded of, and others make us think "Wow, that's neat!".

Spiced Lemonade: Add a small cheesecloth bag or a tea ball with cinnamon and cloves to the lemonade. Stir till it flavors the lemonade and remove.

Boiling over pasta? Grease the inside of the pan you will be cooking macaroni or pasta in--but just the top three to four inches around the top and inside. This will keep it from boiling over!

Double Duty: Use a wire corn popper for roasting hot dogs or marshmallows over a fire. You can roast more at a time this way.

Better Flavor: When making cherry desserts from canned cherry pie filling add a few drops of almond extract to the filling to give it a fresher taste.

Soggy Pies? Sprinkle a teaspoon of fine tapioca over the lower crust before adding fruit.

Salty Soup? Peel and slice a raw potato into the soup. Boil five minutes and remove the potato. Serve the soup.

Buggy Vegetables? If you have trouble removing the tiny insects from vegetable such as broccoli, add a little vinegar to cold water and rinse with this first.

Cauliflower Odor: Some people, including my son, hate the smell of cooking cauliflower. Try cooking in half water and half milk instead of just water. The liquid can be used in soups if you wish.

~Brenda