COOKING TIPS

Use muffin pans to make extra-large ice cubes for punch.

Rub your soup pot with a garlic clove for a tastier soup.

A cake, cupcakes, or muffins will be less likely to stick if you put the pan on a wet towel to cool immediately after removing it from the oven.

Ingredients for cakes should be at room temperature when you use them; ingredients for pastry dough should be ice cold.

Tenderize tough cuts of meat by rubbing both sides with vinegar and olive oil. Let stand (in refrigerator) two hours before cooking.

Use a cookie dropper to make uniform meatballs.

For juicier hamburgers, add a stiffly beaten egg white to each pound of hamburger. This works great with lower fat (90/10) ground meat.

No one knows why, but if you store a carton of cottage cheese upside down, it will keep indefinitely.

For a fluffier omelet, add a pinch of cornstarch to the beaten egg mixture.

When heating frozen mixed vegetables or other frozen vegetables that you might tend to want to add butter to, add a chicken bouillon cube or chicken soup base to the water for a rich, satisfying flavor, with few calories. Do not salt!

Add one tablespoon of corn syrup to brownie batter (box mix or scratch) for brownies that are extra fudgy.