Facts about Food Friday – Make your own shaker jars
So it’s been a little while since the last FaF, but no matter. I’ll make it up to you with this genius fact:
Canning jars have the same size top as parmesan cheese shakers.
Why should you care? Because that means you can turn any old glass jar (not the wide-mouthed kind) into your own shaker bottle.
Not that you should be buying those cheap green jars of parmesan “cheese” anyway, but if you have any sitting in the back of your fridge, might as well put them to use. Think outside the standard box of shaker jars and consider storing your bread crumbs in them for an easy way to add a quick topping to a casserole.
Or store your cat’s favorite nutritional yeast and garlic power in one. Not that I’ve ever done this, of course. Just hypothetically speaking, if your cat is addicted to powdered yeast, this would make it really easy to shake on her food every morning…
Party tip – Serve ice in a colander & clean your rabbit hutch
Source – The Kitchn/Real Simple
I wish I would’ve seen this tip ages ago. You know how at summer barbecues, every drink is better with ice (whether it’s in the drink or the drink has been chilling in it)?
Well to keep it from eventually turning into a bowl of water with some floating frozen pieces, place the ice in a colander over a bowl instead. A commenter suggested going with a plastic one instead, because metal might attract and conduct heat.
For a cooler, it could be worth grabbing a piece of chicken wire…..no….rabbit hutch….stuff. Hold that thought.
*googles*
*asks a friend*
*calls mother* Why didn’t I start there? Duh.
Let’s try this again. It could be worth grabbing a piece of “14-gauge galvanized wire mesh (1″ x 1″ openings)” :P You have that just laying around, right? We always did….
Hi bunny!! That’s 14-gauge galvanized wire mesh, by the way. Oh yeah…
Anywho, if you have any “screen, mesh, wiring, fencing” that could create a makeshift shelf in the bottom of a cooler, it could work well for the same idea. If you go with something flimsier like chicken wire, double it over and make two smaller shelves in the bottom so it doesn’t cave in the middle. A couple inches tall should suffice.
But yeah, colanders…. Nice tip….
What does summer mean to you? – Neighbors, friends, family, strangers offloading garden abundance
Oh yeah! I haven’t had a garden since I was little, but it never fails that at some point in the season, there’s somebody who is desperate to get rid of dozens of tomatoes, zucchini, cucumbers, or whatever else they planted far too much of.
In this case, a friend of the family steadily supplied us with tomatoes all season long last year. Whatever we could pick, we could have, as they were already over run with picking their own and for family. And there was always tons left even after we walked away with bags’ full.
Aren’t they gorgeous? Yum.
And that giant above? His skin was a bit tough, but he peeled and sliced nicely into large steaks of tomato.
And in case you’re wondering how to use up a large amount of tomatoes in a short amount of time, turn ‘em into pasta sauce. I made my life easier by mass blanching, peeling, and slicing all in one go.
Tip: Stand at a low-sitting table or countertop (this works especially well if you’re short like I am, so you don’t strain your back leaning over). Place the cutting board on the edge and scoop the tomatoes and sauce directly off into a bowl or crockpot on the floor. Don’t worry, you can transfer it all to another dish after, if you’re squeamish about your floors being dirty.
Although if you’re squeamish, I wouldn’t recommend this anyway, because uh, you may get tomato juice between your toes. But it makes it so fast! Hehe.
See? It’s a mess, but from left to right, I had an entire baking sheet of blanched/peeled tomatoes, the cutting board I was using, the diced tomatoes were scooped forward toward myself and the tops pushed to the side. You can also see a crockpot I’d already filled, my laptop, various drinking options, a basket of produce, and the slotted spoon I used to dip out the tomatoes in the background.
I kept blanching continuously until I made it through them all, chopping and dicing during the minute they were in the water. I was through them in no time, but boy did it look a mess for a bit, ha.
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