YOURMOTHER WASRIGHT

Kitchen Hacks You Wish You Tried Sooner

BY 517 STAFF

Mom was right, but we were too busy judging. We’ve decided to make things right by sharing the kitchen hacks Mom told us about that our younger, more stubborn selves denied. Now, we live by these hacks and annoy our own offspring with them.

For example, why was there a piece of store-bought white bread in the Tupperware with your favorite cookies? Turns out Mom wasn’t being absent minded. This simple hack keeps cookies soft. The cookies absorb moisture from the bread.

Why did Mom always wrap the end of a banana with plastic wrap? It helps give bananas a longer shelf life by blocking ethylene gas release.

How about the old cooking spray on the cheese grater trick? We ignored it. Using a spray like Pam wasn’t meant to make cheese easier to grate — it’s meant for super-easy clean up.

The key to easy-to-peel hard-boiled eggs? Add vinegar to water when boiling the eggs. It helps the egg whites separate from the shell.

Longing for avocado toast, but your avocado isn’t ripe? Put the avocado in a bag with an apple or even a banana. The ethylene gas will trigger it to ripen a couple days sooner. Just make sure that banana doesn’t have the plastic wrap we mentioned earlier applied.

An ironing board, sans cover, as a cooling rack? You’re kidding, right, Mom? She wasn’t. If you have a tight kitchen space, an ironing board with parchment paper laid on top is a great way to cool a huge batch of chocolate chip cookies.

How did Mom always get a clean slice on her famous cherry cheesecake? Indeed, she was a magical unicorn, but her trick in this instance was simply dipping the knife blade in hot water, wiping it and cutting, and repeating the process every time.