Homemaker Tips

It's been a while since we've had this type of thread, but I do love hearing everyone's best tips for coping with everyday homemaker duties--from cleaning to cooking to gardening. I am inspired by my latest brown sugar coping discovery and will start the thread with what I have learned.

BROWN SUGAR

Unless you've recently opened that bag of brown sugar, you will probably have lumpy or even a solid brick of brown sugar. I live in an arid climate, so I might suffer more than most. None of the tips I've read work very well--put an apple or a piece of bread in the sugar container, microwave it, etc. The following procedure, however, works very well:

Microwave the brown sugar until it's soft enough to measure; spray or sprinkle water all over the surface of the measured sugar. Leave it for a few minutes and return to find a liquidy, perfectly smooth, pre-measured portion of brown sugar. If not, you didn't add enough water. Stir it well and add to your recipe. Perfect for batters or sweet potato casseroles or such. Won't work for applications where you want it crumbly, like in toppings, but great for all other purposes. I hate lumpy brown sugar, so I love this discovery, and I love sharing it with you.

~ pen