Sherri's Helpful Hints

More Kitchen Hints:

Stock from Leftovers - add the leftovers from roast chicken to your crockpot along with carrots, onion, celery, and herbs and let cook on low overnight. In the morning, let it cool, strain and discard solids, and season, and you will have flavorful chicken stock to use in other recipes.

Pastry mix - Save precious time by mixing your pastry to the "breadcrumb" stage i.e. rubbing in the flour and fat and then put this mixture into a freezer container. It is a good idea to make quite a large amount. When you want to make pastry, take out enough of the dry mixture for your requirements and add the water in the usual way. This mixture can also be used to make crumble by just adding sugar.

Chicken and dumplings (Southern style) - take a packet of flour tortillas, floured on both sides and cut in strips. Put them in with your chicken and broth and let them cook (just like the old fashioned kind). Add a can of cream of chicken soup for extra richness and a dash of yellow food coloring for that "extra rich look" and there you have it - Chicken and Dumplings Southern style!

Burritos are wonderful and so easy. Purchase large tortillas, take any kind of meat you like and cook it until it is tender, then grind (mince) it up. You could also use leftover meat which has been ground/minced. Brown meat, mixing in any variety of seasonings. Cumin is a mainstay in this type of food. When the meat is all finished (and I usually add a little broth or water and cook it down), add in refried beans. Warm the tortilla, either in the microwave or on a skillet. Place a dollup of meat mixture to one edge of the tortilla, add sour cream, grated cheese, salsa, whatever topping you want and roll away. mmmm !!!!!!

To make "4 for 1$ mac and cheese kits" more enjoyable. Add a little more margarine and either shredded cheddar cheese or cheese loaf (velveeta) until melted, then add the cheese powder. Omit the salt and the milk and mix well. This makes a more flavorful and deeply colored side dish with a cheesier taste.

Use condensed soup as a quick and easy sauce. e.g. cut some leftover chicken into cubes and mix with either condensed chicken or mushroom soup and serve on a bed of rice or egg noodles. "Chicken à la King" in minutes.

To make mince go further add some breadcrumbs or carrots into the recipe.

Add Worcestershire sauce to baked beans or scrambled egg to give them that extra zing.

To make a few sausages go a very long way; make "Toad in the Hole" by cutting the sausages into small pieces and using a bun tin to make individual portions. Add chopped onion for an extra twist.

What is "Toad in the Hole"? It is a batter made with flour, egg and milk, which is poured over sausages and baked in the oven.

Fold some orange liqueur and orange rind into whipped cream to add that special "something". Particularly nice with fresh fruit salad.

Pipe whipped double cream into rosettes onto a tray. Open freeze, then pack carefully. These can be used as decorations for deserts, cakes etc. Allow 30 minutes at room temperature to defrost.

For something a little different, stir a little natural yogurt into fresh cream. This can be used on both sweet and savory dishes.

After washing and drying, freeze fresh sprigs of herbs, which can either be used whole or crushed while frozen - no need to chop.

If you are browning meat (or anything else in oil) and it sticks to the pan when you try to turn it. Take the pan off the burner and allow it to sit for a minute or two. The moisture in the food will loosen it from the pan and you can then turn it easily. Unless it is burnt to a crisp, this will work every time.

When baking cookies it is less taxing to use an air-flow sheet. If you do not have one, it is quite simple to improvise. Take two cookie sheets and place four coins on the bottom sheet. This will cause the top sheet to sit slightly above the other creating an "air chamber".

To make small icing bags, take a zip style freezer bag and place your frosting inside. Close the zip and snip a small hole in one corner of the bag. It is essential to use freezer quality bags and the sandwich variety is not strong enough and will burst when you squeeze the icing out.


Different Types of Teas

From the Camellia Sinensis and Assamica trees, leaves and buds are picked and follow a lengthy production process to produce a variety of tea types called White, Green, Oolong, and Black.

White tea is produced from buds that are well hydrated. During the production process, white tea is not fermented, which results in a very delicate flavor and pale appearance. This variety of tea is common in China.

Young leaves are picked for Green tea, and the fermentation process is minimal. This results in a fresh and slightly "grassy" flavor when the tea has been steeped, and a light to dark green appearance. You will find China and Japan to be the main producers of Green tea.

Oolong is common in Taiwan and southern China. Leaves and buds from the camellia sinensis plant are picked and fermented partially, resulting in a dark brown appearance after steeping.

Finally, the most common type of tea in the West is Black. The name comes from the appearance of the steeped tea. Because the leaves undergo a lengthy fermentation process, the steeped tea looks black, hence the name. India is the main producer of Black tea, but you will also find it in other countries such as Kenya and Turkey.