Three Things I've Learned

[lillibet]

This strikes me as a good meme--if anyone feels like picking it up, I think it could be very interesting. The idea is to post three things that you've learned that might seem obvious in retrospect, but are clever and generally useful

Comments

[gilana]

- When browning meat, don't overcrowd the pan. It won't actually speed things up.

- No, really, preheat the oven.

- Add salt to your pasta water. It makes the end product taste much better. (In fact, I'm tempted to just say "add salt" in general, but that might be a bit much.)

[kalliejenn2]

yeah, the "preheat" thing occurred to me only recently - when my cookie-cutter cut sugar cookies melted into mushy blobs in an oven not properly preheated

[kalliejenn2]

a little bit of sour cream in the mashed makes them even lovelier!

[miss_chance]

-plastic disposible grocery bags make excellent packing material. We've been wrapping our xmas ornaments in them for years now, but also used them a lot in shipping... of course now we almost never have any, b/c of reusable bags, but still helpful.

-in Som. you don't have to put your paper-recycling in paper bags to put out. YOu can get some of those blue recycling waste-paper can from staples, then just put them out full of paper, w/o having to repackage.

-the most effective, satisfying, and empowering way to change one's interactions with someone is to change oneself.

[dpolicar]

- When making a roux-based sauce, it works better to gradually thin the roux with the liquid than to try to thicken the liquid with the roux.

- When learning or improving a skill, it's best to concentrate on one aspect at a time... let accuracy suffer when you're working on speed, and let speed suffer when you're working on accuracy.

- Fresh herbs go in last.

[trowa_barton]

Add milk for a fluffier omlette.