Chef Tip: Pot Boiling Over? Place a Wooden Spoon on It.

If you are like me, you are easily distracted in the kitchen, and not terribly patient. I've spent many a 5-minute interval waiting for that pot to boil. As soon as I turn my back to accomplish an actual task, the contents of the pot are all over the stove. 

A simple solution is a wooden spoon. Place it over the top of your pot, and it absorbs and bursts the bubbles enough to keep the liquid in the pot where it belongs. This actually works.

Your 5 minute intervals are no longer lost in wasted waiting. You're welcome.

Chef Tip: How to Peel Ginger

People new to ginger are sometimes intimidated by it.  The truth is, peeling it is easier than it looks.  Some say that if you are steeping the ginger, and it is a young root, you don't have to peel it at all, because you strain the skin right out of the tea or dish.  We prefer peeling.   The young root with a thin skin is what you find in most grocery stores.

Wash it well, then take a spoon, (yes a spoon) and scrap the skin away. You can even get most of the knobby bits. 

Use a knife to cut the tough little knobs.  A knife cuts to deeply into the flesh and wastes the ginger, whiile a spoon gently and easily scrapes off just the skin.  Then grate, cut, mince, or throw it in the blender or processor - whatever suits your recipe.

Try this Ginger Tea with Lime.  It's a great cold and flu buster, Buster.