Reviving food
Dry vanilla beans: Place dry vanilla beans in a sealed container with a
slice of fresh bread for two days.
Hard almond paste: Place a fresh slice of bread in a sealed plastic bag
with the almond paste overnight.
Hard brown sugar: Place about a cup of the hard brown sugar in a glass
pie plate, cover with a small piece of waxed paper and top with a slice of fresh
bread. Loosely cover with plastic wrap and microwave on high until softened
(about 30 seconds).
Rescuing crystallized honey: Heat the jar of honey with the lid removed
on high in microwave for 10-second increments, stirring between each increment, until crystals have dissolved.
Reviving slightly burned cookies: Grate the burned bottoms gently with a
microplane food grater.
Saving overripe fruit for bread: Instead of discarding it, freeze overripe
fruit in a zipper bag; add fruit to the bag until enough is accumulated to make
bread. Thaw at room temperature until softened.
Separating bacon slices stuck together in a shrink-wrap package: Roll
the package lengthwise into a cylinder and then flatten it out.
Stale bread: Individual slices can be revived by steam: Place slice on a
splatter screen and hold over a pan of simmering water for a minute or two.
A full loaf can be revived by putting it in a paper bag, sealing, dampening
the outside of the bag with water and placing it on a baking sheet in a 350°F
oven for 5 minutes.
Stale chips or crackers: Place 2 cups of chips or crackers in a Pyrex pie
plate, microwave on high for 1 minute, then place while hot on double thickness of paper towels until chips or crackers reach room temperature. A
