The Cooking Mom's Secrets and Tips

Butter pie pastry scraps and sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar, and 
bake like cookies.

To restore color and shine to an aluminum pan, boil some apple peels 
in it for a few minutes, then rinse and dry.

When slicing a hardboiled egg, try wetting the knife just before 
cutting.

When working with dough, don’t flour your hands; coat them with 
olive oil to prevent sticking.

Burnt food can be removed from a glass baking 
dish by spraying it with oven cleaner. Let it sit for 
30 minutes and wipe off.

For tender, juicy steaks try marinating them in red wine in the fridge for up to 24 hours.

When buying cabbage, look for heads that appear heavier than their size with crisp leaves.

Try using carrots instead of sugar to sweeten your sauces.

To clean leeks chop them first, then give them a bath in cold water and drain in a colander.

Mushrooms should be wiped off with a damp cloth and not washed under the faucet since they are like sponges and will absorb the water.

To avoid crying when cutting onions, cut the onions into two parts and place them in water for 15 minutes before chopping them.

When boiling noodles drain all the hot water and add cold water. This way all the noodles won’t stick together.