Dear Reena: I have a lot of rust stains on my stainless-steel cutlery. Is there a way of removing them?
Linda
In commercial settings, it鈥檚 common to toss cutlery into a sink of plain old white vinegar, let it soak, then polish it with a cloth.
Or cut a potato in half and sprinkle it with powdered laundry detergent, rub onto spots, rinse and dry. Doing this gets rid of water and rust spots.
Bar Keepers Friend is another effective option. To make your own silver or stainless-steel cleaner: Place crumpled aluminum foil in a pan or plastic bucket.
Dissolve 1/4 cup washing soda in enough hot water to cover the cutlery.
Place cutlery on foil and let stand for five minutes, until the stains are gone. Rinse and polish dry.
Dear Reena: I cook a lot of Indian food and it tastes great. The problem is that after I cook curry, my house smells for several days.
How can I remove the smell in a hurry?
Opal
My favourite solution is to make your own air freshener using vinegar or water and 15聽drops of your favourite essential oils, such as the delightful combination of cinnamon, orange or grapefruit and peppermint.
Simmer the water/oils on the stove for 15 minutes following cooking.
Other than that, you can light聽fragrant candles such as soy blueberry or cinnamon. Always put soy candles in a container, as they will spread out when they melt (you can also light a few beeswax candles).
If you own a fragrance lamp, you can use it to kill smells such as cigarette smoke, cooking odours, pet odours and paint fumes.
Dear Reena: Whenever I bake blueberry cupcakes, the berries drop to the bottom of the cups and won鈥檛 distribute evenly in the cupcakes. Any ideas of how to avoid this?
Harper
Roll the berries in flour (or cornstarch) before adding them to cupcake batter. This trick works with nuts as well. When it comes to using frozen blueberries in a recipe, do not allow them to thaw first. Adding them while they鈥檙e still frozen will preserve the texture and prevent them from bleeding into the other ingredients and changing the colour of your baking.
Reader feedback
Re: Keeping brown sugar soft
To keep brown sugar from going hard, I store it in a quart jar with a tight lid. Works great.
Donna
More kitchen tips
鈥� To remove tomato skins, put tomatoes in boiling water for 45聽seconds. Plunge tomatoes into ice water and the peel will slide right off. Nathalia
鈥� I purchase mini fruit-flavoured yogurt cups for my children. The problem is that they hate eating yogurt. So, with the wrapper still sealed, I decided to push a popsicle stick into the centre of each yogurt cup. I then froze the mini yogurts. Now instead of offering the kids a yogurt, I remove the frozen yogurt from the cup and offer them a popsicle. Erin
Note: Every user assumes all risks of injury or damage resulting from the implementation of any suggestions in this column. Test all products on an inconspicuous area first. Ask a question or share a tip at reena.ca.
