Cooking & Cleaning tips from the old girls

• When using a dryer, put a dry tea towel in with your wet clothes to dry them quicker. For some strange reason it works!!
• Always cook your mushrooms in browned butter. Heat the frying pan, add your butter and some salt and let it brown slightly.
  
• Oops I’ve spilt something!! When you accidentally spill something on your clothes or a friends couch use ice cold water on the stain straight away! Instant stain remover.
• When cooking with garlic (or onion), your fingers can carry the lingering garlic/onion smell for hours – solution put a stainless steel knife under running water (probably the one you are using) and run your fingers up and down each side of the knife. This magically removes any smells! 
• Jump onto YouTube and teach yourself some new knife skills!! It might seem stupid but it will improve your food presentation and speed up the cooking process. You will be a faster and better cook after do this!
• Did you know if it is grown under the ground i.e. Potatoes you put them in cold water and bring them to the boil but if it is grown above the ground always put it in boiling water.
• Don’t spend money on expensive knives! Do yourself a favour and go to your nearest Asian Grocer and buy these Kiwi Knives nothing will cut your food like these knives, you can sharpen them and they cost about $8.
• The easiest way to peel garlic is to use a knife with a blade similar to those in the picture above.  Give the garlic a smash – the outer casing on the close of garlic will come away and then you can chop or slice it suit.
• When adding lemon juice to food for flavour always add it at the end. ie cook the fish and squeeze the lemon over the fish just before removing from the pan. If you add it while cooking it will become bitter.
• Peel ginger with the tip or side of a teaspoon – sooo easy.
• Put your washing on before you go to bed it will be ready to hang out before you go to work/uni etc and then dry when you arrive home.  Don’t forget to separate your clothes Whites, Darks and Light Colours don’t wash well in one single wash you need to separate them into three different washes. If you wash whites with any other colours they will go grey over time.