It's the Pits

I love avocados!

I usually slice around the skin of the avocado, twist it apart, then use my Pampered Chef avocado tool to gently dig out the pit.  The tool is also good for gently slicing the avocado while it's in its skin, and its slight curve is helpful in scooping out the good stuff.  But, in the end, it's an avocado tool and I haven't found any other uses for it.  And now I no longer need it.  My life is changed forever.  (Seriously, friends--why does anyone say that??  My life was changed forever when I surrendered it to Jesus Christ.  But I'm exercising a little sarcasm here, in honor of all those who share kitchen tips and "hacks" that.change our lives forever.)

Nonetheless (love using that word), I'm super excited to have learned this little trick, and even more excited to share it with you.  Although, you probably already know how to do this.  I'm always the last to know.

I excitedly shared this trick with my friend Becki a few days ago.  Turns out she's been doing this for forever, and even has funny stories about the pit falling onto the floor and rolling away.  I thought it was a new, amazing trick--am I the only one who didn't know how to remove an avocado pit??

I'm a picture gal, so I took a few to share.  Once you slice around the avocado and twist it open, you have to remove the pit.  Hold the pitted avocado half in one hand, then take your chef's knife with your other hand and whack it (not too hard, now) into the pit. 

I had to set the avocado down with the knife still in the pit so I could take a picture...

Twist gently, and the pit comes right out!

Voilà!  Beautiful, non-mangled avocado halves.  And one less (silly) kitchen tool for me.


Back to life,
Christine

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Sealing Bags for Freezer Storage

Often when I cook or bake, I like to double a recipe and freeze the extra for future use.  Figure the time savings with me:

From start to finish, My Very Best Chocolate Cake takes over an hour to reach the final "cooling on the racks" stage.  But, if I add about 15 minutes--if that--of extra time to measure double amounts and grease/flour extra pans, the result is two sets of cakes!  One set will get used right away, and one set will get frozen.  Five or six months later, when I have a hankering for cake, or there's a food event (potluck or some such event) coming up, I can pull out those cakes, whip up a frosting or filling, and I'm quickly set to bring a dessert!  So here's my formula:

Doubling a recipe = Saving time!

Now on to the freezing part.  It's important to keep as much air as possible out of your freezer package, since oxygen promotes freezer burn or at least diminished taste.  I don't have a vacuum sealer, so what do I do?

First, for, say, the cakes I mentioned above, I wrap them in plastic wrap.  I do the cakes two ways (around one side, then turn 90 degrees and wrap that way) because they're not quite narrow enough for the plastic wrap to cover from edge to edge.  And that also gives them some extra protection.

The cakes also fit nicely in gallon-sized freezer bags, so each one goes into a separate bag (can't fit two in one, unfortunately).  Then, I seal the bags.  Yes, there's more; keep reading.  ;)

I open the seal in the center of the bag (easier to seal again once this step is done), and insert a straw into the bag.  Then I seal the bag around the straw as much as possible.  All that's left is lung power!

Suck out as much air as possible.  This may take several inhales; usually two or three will do the trick.  Once you've gotten as much air out as you think you can, use your lips to pull the straw out while using your fingers to quickly seal the bag up completely.

Of course, vacuum sealing is probably much easier, but without that handy machine, this has worked for me very well!

Above are my three sealed cakes, ready for the freezer.  Oh, and in case you were wondering, the "common" name for My Very Best Chocolate Cake is...

Chocolate Cake To The Max

Just in case you were wondering what those letters meant.  ;)


Back to life,
Christine

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