Chicken: Whenever you have
chicken, put the neck, wing tips, gizzard and backs in a pot. Add a
little salt, a small onion, some celery tops and a few peppercorns,
barely cover with cold water and simmer for about an hour or until
chicken flesh is falling from bones. Strain into jar and place in
freezer. You will always have chicken stock on hand when it is
needed.
A perfectly ripe cantaloupe will
have a sweet, fresh fragrance. It should feel heavy for its size and
give slightly at both ends when gently pressed. If the cantaloupe is
soft, yellowing or feels wet at the stem end, pass it by. To ripen a
hard cantaloupe, store it in a warm place for several days, away
from sunlight. Once it is ripe, refrigerate and use within a week.
For a melon basket, use a nontoxic marker to draw zigzag pattern on
melon. Cut deeply into fruit along pattern, separate halves, seed,
and fill with fruit.
Rub a cut lemon or lime
half on your cutting board, and then wash in soapy water to get rid
of onion, garlic, or fish odors.