Secrets from the Kitchen

Today I made ratatouille in the crock pot. It’s cooking up now, and filling my home with a lovely garlicky aroma.

Mmmm, garlic.

Which brings me to my reason for posting today. Garlic. (Yup, garlic!)

For the first 30 years of my life, I peeled garlic the only way I knew how…the tedious, sticky, now-I-smell-like-garlic way. You know, I cut the garlic ends off and then picked away at the skin of the garlic until it was sticking to my hands and mostly off of the garlic clove.

But about a year ago, something marvelous happened. I saw Gaida De Laurentiis (on the Food Network) peel garlic. The easy way.

Can you believe it? There’s actually an easy way!

Here’s how she did it:

How to Peel Garlic
1. Cut the woody end of the garlic clove off first.
2. Then lay the garlic clove flat on a cutting board,
3. Lay a knife flat side down on top of the garlic clove
4. Push down on the flat side of the knife to smush the garlic clove briefly
5. The skin will now come off easily.

If you’ve never peeled garlic this way, trust me, it will change your life. It’s revolutionized my cooking. (Or at least made me a little quicker at the chopping stage of cooking, but, hey, I’ll take it!)

And it makes me happy to have little tricks to make things easier when I’m cooking. Like today, I actually used my garlic press. Another trick! A minute of chopping saved by a handy cute gadget!

Another little happiness boost!


What little time-saving tricks for work or home do you just love? (C’mon, it’s fun to share your expertise!)