This picture isn't quite as delectable as some of the other images I regularly post in this space. However, it's such a great idea that when I saw it, I thought to myself, "That's just the sort of thing I have to share with the world of Slashfood readers."
From Biggie of Lunch in a Box, her image shows how she uses plastic water bottles to store frozen veggies like corn, peas and chopped onions. It makes it really easy to pour out a small amount, which is perfect for those times when you are pulling together meals for one. This not only works well for the prepacked frozen veggies that you buy, also for the veggies you freeze yourself. I imagine that the wider mouth bottles would work really well for frozen berries (great for when you make smoothies).
How many times have you gone home with a bag of delicious cheeses only to discover a week later that they've all gone bad?
There seems to be a lot of confusion regarding how we should store cheese. While some people argue that plastic wrap (Saran, Reynolds, etc) suffocates cheese and distorts its flavor, others believe it keeps cheese fresh by containing its moisture. Cheese mongers highly discourage plastic wrap and promote wax paper, and sometimes aluminum foil. Similarly, in the 'NY Times,' Florence Fabricant wrote an article encouraging people to purchase cheese paper "with a sheer wax coating on the outer layer and a breathable film inside," from a company called Formaticum.
All of these methods (plastic wrap, foil, wax paper, and cheese paper) are excellent ways to store cheese. However, universally applying one of these tactics to all types of cheeses would be a haphazard plan of action. So, how do you know which type of wrap is right for which type of cheese? The good news is that you can determine the most appropriate wrapping and storing techniques based on just two characteristics of the cheese, mainly its texture and moisture. Here's our quick and dirty guide to the best storage materials for different types of cheeses.
This might be something that everyone else and their mothers (and likely, grandmothers) already knows, but since there has been all of about three occasions in my entire lifetime that I've ever worn pantyhose, I didn't know that you can use them to store onions.
Apparently, onions will stay fresh for six months if you store them in this way:
Take a pair of new pantyhose (they say you can use washed used pantyhose, but that sounds kind of gross to me -- even if they're washed, they still had someone's feet in them!)
Place the onions into the feet.
Tie a knot in the pantyhose between the onions.
Repeat this process. I have never seen it, but I am guessing it looks like a big old chain of onions.
Hang the onions in a cool, dry, and dark place
Cut an onion off the hose from the bottom each time you need an onion.
Neat! Now the only question is, would it be sexier to use fishnets?!?!
The refrigerator in my apartment is a very bare-boned model. The shelves are bare wire racks, which means that if something leaks on the top shelf, it very quickly saturates the entire fridge. There isn't a cheese drawer (I have an old clear plastic shoe box on the bottom shelf that corrals the cold cuts and cheeses) and the space on the door is slim. The one thing I do have is two crisper drawers and I use them as much as possible, often stuffing them beyond a comfortable capacity. This does sometimes mean that I lose a green pepper or a head of broccoli, only to find it again when it is soft and brown.
Over at the Unclutterer, Erin has a similar problem with her crisper drawers and began to wonder if the crisper drawer was the best place to store her fruits and veggies. She has put together a list of produce and the storage recommendations for each item. It's a helpful resource and one that may save you a lot of money and pain, as it will teach you how to keep your apples crisp (keep in bags punched with holes on the shelf for good air circulation) and your corn fresh (keep in husk if you're going to use it immediately, otherwise remove the husk and silk, vacuum seal and freeze). She also says that bananas can go in the fridge to slow down their ripening, that onions should go someplace cool, dry and ventilated (not the refrigerator) and that potatoes can be stored in the crisper drawers, but should be given a day to warm up to room temperature before you use them.
Last night I had some people over for dinner. Despite the fact that I got a late start on the main dishes, everything turned out perfectly and a good time was had by all. The only slightly-embarrassing moment in the entire evening came when, before I could stop him, my friend's husband opened my freezer in pursuit of ice for his drink (I had forgotten to put any out).
The door open, he stood and gaped for a moment and said, " Who eats all this food?" I quickly tried to explain that I like to keep a fairly stocked freezer so that I can pull meals together easily. I also tend to have three or four varieties of nuts, some summer fruit and homemade chicken broth stashed away as well. He shrugged and said, "Often when you open our freezer, all you see in there is a bottle of Skyy Vodka."
The picture above is my very own freezer, complete with half a bag of Trader Joe's string beans, a pound of chicken legs from Whole Foods and more frozen chicken broth than you can shake a stick at. In return, I want to know, what do the rest of you have in your freezer? Please share the mundane the quirks as inquiring minds want to know (and be assured that they aren't all that strange).
Generally, to keep foods fresh longer, we wrap them up and place them in the refrigerator. Sometimes, we don't give much thought to how things should actually be stored or whether we're doing it properly. As a result, you are more likely to get food poisoning at home than when eating out at a restaurant where health codes are strictly enforced. Some of the biggest food safety violations have to do with the refrigerator, the catch-all of food storage. Here are a few tips to keep you, and your family, a little safer.
The refrigerator should be kept at, or below, 40°F. Keep in mind that the temperature can rise when the door is opened frequently and if the fridge is overcrowded and air cannot circulate.
Store raw meat that you won't be eating right away in the freezer, not the refrigerator. Defrost it in the fridge.
Milk is good for about 10 days past its "sell-by" date, although if it is left out to warm up, it can go bad before that time. It is better to keep it in the main part of the refrigerator than on the door.
Fruits and vegetables can be stored at the same temperature they are stored in the store, though cut produce should be refrigerated and eaten within a few days.
Hard cheeses can be stored, wrapped, for several weeks. If mold develops, the affected area and about 1/2-inch around it should be removed; the rest is safe to eat. Do not eat soft cheeses or dairy products, including cream cheese and yogurt, that have molded.
Fresh eggs will last at least 3 or 4 weeks in the fridge, but hard-cooked eggs will only last one week. You can always check your eggs for freshness if in doubt. Eggs blend better with other ingredients in recipes for baked goods and get more volume when beaten if they are held at room temperature for 20 or 30 minutes before using.
David Gu has designed the Cooking Audio Player, which is sort of misnomer since it doesn't cook anything, but is a storage container for garlic, onions, lemons, ginger, etc. However, it is audio, since it plays digital music that is streamed from any PC, home media centers, and portable media players set up with wireless transmission technology. It may seem somewhat frivolous, but let us turn to our hero and mentor Alton Brown, who pooh-poohs kitchen unitaskers. Storage and music? That's definitely a multi-tasker in my book.
There is a reason that Rubbermaid containers and Tupperware come in all different sizes. If you have a lot of stuff, you use a big container. If you have a little bit, you use a smaller one. But as many different sizes that there are, they only come in a few shapes - round and rectangular.
Well, now you can have plastic containers in different shapes that have been made to perfectly fit certain foods. Have to store hot dogs? The Hot Dog Keeper is shaped to exactly hold a 10-packs of frankfurters. Want to keep your bread from going stale? The Bread keeper is shaped exactly like a loaf of bread. And you certainly don't want to store anything but bologna in the Bologna Keeper. And don't think you can throw any old cheese into that big rectangular container. That's a Velveeta Keeper.
How many times have you gone home with a bag of delicious cheeses only to discover a week later that they've all gone bad?
Generally, to keep foods fresh longer, we wrap them up and place them in the refrigerator. Sometimes, we don't give much thought to how things should actually be stored or whether we're doing it properly. As a result, you are more likely to get food poisoning at home than when eating out at a restaurant where health codes are strictly enforced. Some of the biggest food safety violations have to do with the refrigerator, the catch-all of food storage. Here are a few 
Or rather, sing to your supper?
There is a reason that Rubbermaid containers and Tupperware come in all different sizes. If you have a lot of stuff, you use a big container. If you have a little bit, you use a smaller one. But as many different sizes that there are, they only come in a few shapes - round and rectangular.
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