Kitchen tips

In keeping with a fix-it theme (see book review), here are a few kitchen tips your mother may not have told you.

Use a meat baster to "squeeze" pancake batter onto the hot griddle and you'll have perfectly shaped pancakes every time.

To keep potatoes from budding, place an apple in the

Potatoes will take food stains off your fingers. Just slice and rub raw potato on the stains and rinse with water.

Run your hands under cold water before pressing Rice Krispies treats in the pan, and the marshmallow won't stick to your fingers.

When a cake recipe calls for flouring the baking pan, use a bit of the dry cake mix instead and there won't be any white mess on the outside of the cake.

Wrap celery in aluminum foil when putting it in the refrigerator and it will keep for weeks.

Don't throw out leftover wine; freeze into ice cubes for future use in casseroles and sauces.

Consider what you can do with Alka Seltzer:

Clean a vase. To remove a stain from the bottom of a glass vase or cruet, fill with water and drop in two Alka Seltzer tablets.

Unclog a drain. Clear the sink drain by dropping three Alka Seltzer tablets down the drain followed by a cup of white vinegar. Wait a few minutes then run the hot water.

Tips courtesy of Carl LoPresti, A. LoPresti & Sons, Cleveland, OH