Thanksgiving is right around the corner… are you ready? I always enjoy cooking for a crowd, but it can be stressful – especially when you realize that you’re out of an ingredient half way through your recipe! Some of my past Thanksgiving cooking nightmares include: trying to make homemade pie crust at my aunt’s house without a rolling pin, and running out of cupcake liners after I’ve filled just seven. Ack!
After years of mini-heart attack inducing cooking mistakes, I’ve developed a pretty solid list of kitchen hacks that save me from an emergency trip to the store. Here are some of my favorites:
Tool Hacks
1. Coffee grinder for chopping nuts – If your recipe calls for finely chopped pecans and you only have halves, just toss them in a coffee grinder. You’ll have uniformly chopped nuts in seconds!
2. Wine bottle for rolling dough – No rolling pin, no problem! Just grab a bottle of wine and start rolling! Full bottles or empty both work, just avoid using one that’s half full or you’ll have a lot of sloshing!
3. Ziploc bag for piping frosting – When you find yourself fresh out of pastry bags (or if you never had any to begin with) have no fear! Just spoon the frosting into a Ziploc bag and seal it. Snip one of the corners off then squeeze the frosting through to pipe it onto your cupcakes or cake.
From: Our Mini Family
4. Water glass for cutting biscuit dough – Don’t have the right size biscuit or cookie cutter? Just use the rim of a glass to cut your dough. You can experiment with different glasses, mugs and bowls until you find the right size.
5. Parchment paper for lining cupcakes – Another cupcake hack! Check out this tutorial to use a square of parchment paper in place of a cupcake or muffin liner.
6. Ice cream scoop for removing squash seeds – This one isn’t so much a hack as it is a suggestion. Have you ever tried using an ice cream scoop to remove squash seeds? It’s the perfect size to get the job done quickly!
7. Apple cutter for slicing potatoes – Here’s a huge time saver – cut your peeled potatoes into strips in one quick swoop by using an apple cutter!
From: Grandma’s Briefs