New uses for gadgets

Some new uses for familiar gadgets are listed in the April issue of Real Simple magazine. Included:

• Egg slicer. Original purpose: Chef’s salad expediter. New use: Mushroom slicer. Reward: No cutting board to clean.
• Orange peel. Original purpose: Nature’s disposable packaging. New use: Brown-sugar life saver. Prevent sugar from getting hard by keeping a 3-inch-long piece of orange peel in the box always. Reward: Lump-free gingerbread.
• Salt. Original purpose: Unlocking flavor. New use: Sopping up a spilled egg. Heap a handful of salt on the mess, leave for 2 minutes or so, then wipe up. Reward: The egg sticks to one paper towel instead of sliding off five or six.
• Sandwich bags. Original purpose: Keeping BLTs fresh. New use: Pastry mitt. Slip your hand into a bag when you’re spreading pastry dough in a pie plate. It will prevent the dough from sticking to your fingers, and heat from your hand won’t oversoften the mixture. Reward: A perfect crust in the pan and none under your nails.

It’s applesauce with kick

To jazz up the flavor, color and nutritional content of plain applesauce, make it blue or pink. For each cup of applesauce, puree it with a scant 2 tablespoons fresh or frozen blueberries or strawberries plus sugar, if desired, to taste. The idea comes from “The Kid-Friendly Food Allergy Cookbook” by Leslie Hammond and Lynne Marie Rominger.

In a bind? Try using dental floss to tie meat

When you’re out of kitchen twine and need something to tie meat, poultry or a bouquet garni, use unflavored, unwaxed dental floss.

The kitchen tip comes from the March and April 2004 issue of Cook’s Illustrated.