By Nina Glick

Part IIKitchenHacks

By Nina Glick

Since so much time is spent in the kitchen, it pays to incorporate some shortcuts to make our lives easier. Whether time-saving or money-saving, these little kitchen tricks will make a big difference!

Want to have steak fries that look just like the ones you would get in a restaurant? Cut off one end of your potato and place in an apple slicer. Voilà—steak fries! Want to melt margarine in the microwave without it splattering all over? Place a paper wrapper over the measuring cup that you are melting it in. No splatter anymore.

Kids love colored sugar on their cookies? Easy to make yourself. Combine sugar with a few drops of food coloring. Allow to dry on a flat surface for 15-20 minutes, and you no longer have to be annoyed when you realize you are out of it! Did your cookies come out too hard, or did they go a bit stale? Put them in a bag with a slice of bread or challah. The bread will become stale and your cookies will soften. Need a better way to get juice out of a lemon? Place the whole lemon in the microwave for seven to 10 seconds. Remove and roll back and forth in the palm of your hand. Cut open and juice will come pouring out much more easily.

Do you need to rescue salty soup? We’ve all heard of putting in a potato, but did you know that you can put a quartered apple in the pot? Remove after 10 minutes and the salt will come with it!

Need to cut the slices of your cake in a more even manner? First cut a small circle in the middle of the cake, making a mini cake in the middle of the cake. Then cut slices surrounding the mini cake. Much easier to manage and have even slices. Then cut the mini cake in similar fashion.