Keep your celery fresh longer
Remove the plastic wrap when you get your celery home, and wrap it tightly with a large piece of aluminum foil. It will last two to three times longer than in the plastic bag. Psst! Here are some tips for keeping your lettuce fresh, too.
Polish your silverware
Line a pan with foil, fill it with cold water and mix in 2 teaspoons of salt. Soak your silverware in this solution for five minutes, then remove, rinse and wipe with a soft cloth or paper towel. Get our step-by-step guide here.
Soften brown sugar
A baker’s worst nightmare: You go to measure brown sugar for your favorite chocolate chip cookie only to find the sugar is hard as a rock. To restore your sugar, break off a chunk and wrap it tightly in aluminum foil. Pop in the oven at 300ºF for five minutes and you’ll have soft sugar again.
Ditch that metal grill brush
We all have that dingy grill brush hanging in the garage. Besides being grimy, these brushes can also be dangerous—bristles can come loose, stick to the grate and find their way into your food. Forget the brush and crumple up a wad of foil instead. Take this ball and scrub both sides of your grate for a squeaky clean grill.
Make a disposable grill pan
Speaking of grills, for stick-free fish and chicken (like these tasty recipes), spray a piece of foil with vegetable or olive oil spray. Poke a few holes in it, lay it across the grill, then add your food. When dinner is over, you can crumple and toss!
Sharpen your scissors
Dull scissors got you down? Sharpen them easily by folding a sheet of foil in half a few times. Cut this into ribbons with your scissors to sharpen them.
Preserve your steel wool
Steel wool, while handy, can be frustrating. More often than not you find that your pad has turned into a rusty mess before you get your use out of it. Next time, wrap the pad in foil and toss in the freezer. This will keep the pad rust-free until you need it next.
Keep garden pests at bay
Have you ever had problems with cutworms, slugs or other garden varmints destroying your plants? Lay circles of aluminum foil underneath and gently snug up to the plants’ stems. A spring bonus: The reflected sunlight will warm your plants after cool nights.
Flashlight quick fix
Is your flashlight or other battery-operated device working sporadically? It might be that the battery compartment spring has, like many of us, lost its springiness. Fold up a small bit of foil and place between the battery and the spring to tighten the connection.
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Sue Evans