Open The Accessibility Toolbar

Little tricks up my sleeve and in the pantry, too

I’ve found the art of cooking to be much like the art of life itself: There are a lot of ups and downs, and you have to be tough to hang in there.

Let’s face it: One of the most daunting tasks of adult life is deciding what to eat three times a day, every single day, forever. Add in a few kids, grandkids, a spouse, or a live-in relative of any sort and there you are, up to your elbows in dinner ideas that no one wants and cereal that went stale because no one ever closes the box.

Don’t get me wrong. I love to cook. I even find a simple pleasure in the weekly meal planning and shopping. It’s a nice service to provide for the family, you know? But things get complicated and tiresome sometimes. Art imitating life, as I mentioned earlier.

It’s during these times that I find everyone should know about a few simple tricks in the kitchen. For instance, did you know you can scramble a perfect egg right in the microwave? All you need is a coffee mug and a bit of butter. Crack the egg into the cup, whisk it briskly with a fork, and drop just a smidge of butter into it. Now nuke it for 30 seconds and take a look at it. If it’s still runny, give it 10 more seconds.

The resulting little circle of egg will pop right out of the cup and onto your breakfast plate. You can break it up if you want the appearance of fluffy eggs, or you can put it right onto a hot English muffin. Salt and pepper it after it’s cooked. If you do it before, your egg will take on a greyish tint. No one wants to eat a grey egg.

Best of all, now you don’t have a skillet to wash. I find this awfully helpful on mornings when I am short on ambition as well as time. I taught all the kids to cook eggs this way, and they thought it was so much fun that, for a good long while, they would make themselves eggs every morning.

Another little trick I learned along the way is soda pop cake. Let’s say you need a cake, fast. An emergency birthday or forgotten holiday or just a late-night craving. I won’t judge you; cake is good and sometimes you just need a cake. If you happen to have a boxed cake mix on hand, and if you happen to have a can of soda pop (we call them all Cokes down here, no matter what brand or flavor) you can whip up a delicious, moist cake in no time.

That’s literally all you need — just the soda pop and the cake mix. Dump the one into the other and mix, pour into a pan, and bake. Now, naturally, some flavors go together better than others. I wouldn’t go putting a Major Melon Mountain Dew into a chocolate cake mix. But cream soda goes wonderfully with a white cake mix, Dr. Pepper pairs well with devil’s food, strawberry can go with strawberry, and so on.

I’ve heard that orange soda with angel food tastes just like a Creamsicle, but I haven’t gotten around to trying it yet. Let me know if you do, so I can plan according to how good this combo is.

Another little trick that comes in handy if you’re making a lot of sandwiches for lunchboxes or picnics or camping is to put your mayonnaise (or mustard, if you’re one of those people) in between the lettuce and the meat rather than on the bread itself. This will keep your sandwiches from getting soggy, and I personally think they taste better this way for some reason. I think it’s because the flavors and textures just mesh better than when made the traditional way.

If you’ve got a few little tricks up your sleeve like these, along with a few little shortcuts like minced garlic in a jar to save yourself some dicing time, you’ll find that you can whip up yet another meal without too much trouble. If all else fails, there’s nothing wrong with pizza (again).

After all, there are things to do and places to go and babies to snuggle and adventures to be found. We can’t be chained to the stove all the time or we’d miss it. Keep the tricks up your sleeve and the spaghetti flowing, I say. You’re doing a great job.


(EDITOR’S NOTE: Franki Ingram is a hometown Artesia girl who likes unicorns, classic rock and coffee. She has four kids ranging in age from 22-9 and dabbles in meal planning and budgeting.)