Kitchen and cooking tips

When a recipe calls for minced garlic, start chopping the garlic into small tiny pieces. Once they get small enough add a little pinch of kosher salt to the garlic and continue to chop and then mash with the back of your knife. Instant minced garlic.

To make the ultimate crispy crust but tender inside on a baked potato, rub the outside in olive oil then sprinkle with kosher salt, iodized salt or garlic salt for flavor. For added flavor you can add seasoning salt too! Then wrap in aluminum foil, poke holes in the top w/a fork and place in a 375-degree oven for 1 hour.

Instead of using that ‘ole store-bought whipped cream, try making your own. In a mixer w/a whipped attachment add about 1 cup of whipped cream. Add ½ cup of granulated sugar and 1 tsp. of vanilla. Mix until stiff peaks form which means that the whipped cream holds its shape when the whisk attachment is pulled out. Voila! In a little less than 5 minutes you have homemade whipped cream.

When squeezing a lemon, first roll the lemon around on your work surface with your hands to start releasing some of the juices or you can place it in the microwave for about 30 seconds. Then cut the lemon in half and squeeze cut side up so the seeds don’t get into what you’re doing. You can also stick a fork in the lemon to help squeeze without getting all the seeds everywhere.