HELPFUL HOUSEHOLD HINTS & TIPS WITH FRUIT

BAKING APPLES:  To keep the skins from cracking when you bake apples, pare a 1-inch band around each apple's center.

RIPENING AVOCADOS:  An avocado will ripen faster if placed in a paper bag with a piece of banana peel.

MORE JUICE:  You will get almost twice the amount of juice out of a lemon or lime if you drop it into hot water for a few minutes before you squeeze it.  Heating the fruit breaks down the inner membranes so that they release more juice.  Or instead of heating the fruit, try rolling it on a hard surface to break down those membranes.

FOR A FEW DROPS AT A TIME:  If you want just a few drops of lemon juice, poke a hole in one end of the fruit with a toothpick, and then store the lemon in a plastic bag in the refrigerator for future use.

FREEZING THE SURPLUS:  Got a surplus of watermelon?  Scoop the pulp from the rind, removing the seeds as you go.  Then run the pulp through a food mill, process in a blender, or mash it with a potato masher.  Freeze the smooth pulp in ice-cube trays and you've got naturally sweet fruit pops.

KEEP FRUIT LOOKING FRESH:  After paring and slicing fruit, dip it in lemon, orange or pineapple juice to keep it from browning.

QUICK TIPS WITH VEGETABLES

COOKING OUT THE GAS IN BEANS:  These little tricks may not get all the gas out of your beans, but they'll cut it down:  (1) Throw away the water you've soaked the beans in (2) Cook the beans in fresh water for 15 minutes,then drain and start again with fresh boiling water.

STORING BEANS AND GRAINS:  To kill any insects or eggs that might be present in stored dried grains and beans, spread the grains in a thin layer on a baking sheet and heat them for 60 minutes in a 140-160 degree oven.  Or freeze at 0 degrees for four days.

Prevention is the best way to deal with pests.  Store beans and grains in the freezer or in tightly sealed glass jars (pressure -seal rubber gaskets are ideal), where insects cannot get inside.

HULLING SOYBEANS:  To hull soybean sprouts or other large-seeded sprouts, just swish them in water.  The hulls will float to the top and can be poured off.  Add more water, swish, and pour off again.

NATURAL SWEETENING FOR TOMATO SAUCE:  If the tomato sauce you're using isn't sweet enough, don't add sugar.  Instead, grate in some carrots--they work wonders.

PERKING UP DROOPY STALKS:  If your celery has wilted, let it stand in cold water for a few minutes, shake it to remove excess water, then store it in an airtight plastic bag in the refrigerator for three or four days.  Unless it was really far gone, you'll find it recrisped.

DE-SILKING CORN:  To remove silk from corn, run a damp paper napkin or towel lengthwise down the ear.  The silk will cling to the paper.

CHILE RELIEF:  Capsaicin--the powerful compound that gives chile peppers their fire--is located mainly on the light-colored ribs inside the peppers.  To keep from irritating your skin, be sure to wear latex or plastic gloves when handling chiles.  If your hads do come in contact with the peppers, soothe them by soaking them in vegetable oil, rather than water.

KEEPING LETTUCE LONGER:  Moisten a clean kitchen towel, then wrap it around a head of lettuce.  Then place the wrapped lettuce in an open plastic bag and store it in the refrigerator.  The lettuce will keep well for up to two weeks.  (Don't seal the bag--allow air to circulate) OR..

Remove any badly bruised outer leaves and close the lettuce in a clean plastic bag with a wire twist.  the natural moisture in the lettuce will keep it fresh, as long as the bag has no holes in it and is sealed tight.

PEEL WITH NO MORE TEARS:  To cut onions without shedding a tear, wear goggles or a scuba mask.  Either shields the eyes from the irritating mist that's released from onion tissues.  OR...

Chill the onions.  Cold slows down the movement of highly volatile molecules so that not as much of the onion's tear gas billows into the cook's face.  OR...

If you've got nimble fingers and keen eyesight, cut the onion under running water.  No one seems quite sure why the running water method works, but there's speculation that the water dilutes the irritants.

EASY PEELING:  To peel tomatoes, plunge them briefly into boiling water, then into cold water.  The skins will crack and slip off.  You can peel peaches and plums the same way.

BETTER SLICING:  To ensure that tomato slices stay firm and intact, slice them lengthwise rather than crosswise.  Lengthwise slicing prevents you from cutting through the ovary walls of the tomato and releasing the pulp and juice.

EASIER TOMATO SAUCE:  There is no good reason to peel tomatoes for spaghetti sauce.  Whirl them in a blender or food processor before cooking them; the little bits of skin will cook down and you won't notice them at all in the final sauce.

RIPENING GREEN TOMATOES:  To speed the ripening of mature green tomatoes, store them with apples in a confined space, such as a plastic bag or a picnic chest.  Tomatoes release ethylene gas as they ripen and so do apples, and the extra "charge" from the apples will speed the tomatoes along.

EAT THE RADISH LEAVES:  Use the leaves of fresh radishes to add extra zing to your cooking.  They're not nearly as hot as the radish roots, just mildly peppery.  Clean and chop the leaves, then add them to your stir-fried vegetables.