The Frugal Gourmet: how to use, re-use, recycle and recondition your ktchen staples...

[Nightshade]

Not having had nearly enough coffee to be able to brain properly yet, the only one I can think of right now is if your brown sugar has hardened, put a slice of bread (I hear an apple slice works too) in with it and by the next day it will be as good as new.

[femmennoir]

Originally Posted by Nightshade

Not having had nearly enough coffee to be able to brain properly yet, the only one I can think of right now is if your brown sugar has hardened, put a slice of bread (I hear an apple slice works too) in with it and by the next day it will be as good as new.

An apple slice does work well too, and gives a lovely aroma to the sugar! And my mother always kept vanilla beans in the crystallized sugar bin, where it left its pungent aroma, so all the sugar had a vanilla flavour....

Elle*

[Bit]

I love vanilla sugar!

A friend gave me homemade vanilla for the holidays... really cheap vodka and some vanilla beans--no corn syrup!

Y'all might already know this one, but if you buy a rotisserie chicken from the grocery store, you can use it twice--save the bones, skin, and liquid, put them in a pot with 2 to 4 cups of water, and boil them thoroughly (most rotisserie chickens around here don't seem like they're done all the way to the bone when you buy them, so they do need boiled). Let it cool for a while, then strain the broth into a clean peanut butter jar or a bowl. Refrigerate for several hours, skim off the hardened fat, and voila! Fat free chicken broth! If you like, you can throw in onions, carrots, celery and spices while you're cooking it, but I've found that most of the seasoned chickens don't need it.

Elle, I'm curious; what do you add to the mother of vinegar to make more?

[lipstixgal]

Originally Posted by Bit

I love vanilla sugar!

A friend gave me homemade vanilla for the holidays... really cheap vodka and some vanilla beans--no corn syrup!

Y'all might already know this one, but if you buy a rotisserie chicken from the grocery store, you can use it twice--save the bones, skin, and liquid, put them in a pot with 2 to 4 cups of water, and boil them thoroughly (most rotisserie chickens around here don't seem like they're done all the way to the bone when you buy them, so they do need boiled). Let it cool for a while, then strain the broth into a clean peanut butter jar or a bowl. Refrigerate for several hours, skim off the hardened fat, and voila! Fat free chicken broth! If you like, you can throw in onions, carrots, celery and spices while you're cooking it, but I've found that most of the seasoned chickens don't need it.

Elle, I'm curious; what do you add to the mother of vinegar to make more?

Yes that is a good question what do you add to the mother of the vinegar to make more...

[femmennoir]

Originally Posted by Bit

Elle, I'm curious; what do you add to the mother of vinegar to make more?

The mother of vinegar looks like a strange gooey textured circle (since usually it is made inside a bottle), a little like gelatin, pliable. When you filter your vinegar, you can take it out, rinse it, and put it in a clean bottle with some of the vinegar, then you keep adding little wine leftovers, also unfiltered apple cider works well. You can mix white and red wines, and apple cider, or you can decide to make white wine vinegar, or red wine vinegar, or apple cider vinegar. Just keep adding, and let the bottle rest. It works best if it is corked with a real cork, which lets in some air. When you have a quantity, filter it, pour in a clean bottle, and start using, recycling the mother again. You can flavour your vinegar with fresh tarragon sprigs, or fresh or frozen raspberries or strawberries. Enjoy! (They make great gifts!). If you drink wine or apple cider, you will never need to buy vinegar again.
The word vinegar comes from the French words "vin aigre" which mean soured wine.

Elle*