Is that egg you’re about to eat fresh?

I eat eggs daily, so I buy them in bulk (5 dozen at a time).  I’ve often wondered how fresh/good the last few eggs are compared to the ones I eat when I first purchase the big flat.  The following is a hack that I definitely will be using going forward.  All you need is a small bowl of water and the egg(s) in question.

Place the uncracked egg in the bowl of water.  If it sinks to the bottom on its side, it’s fresh.  If it floats to the bottom in an upright position, they are still edible and perfect for hard boiling.  If it floats to the top, toss it—it’s no good.  If you’re like me, you just have to know why this is so.  Egg shells are porous.  The older they are, the more air has seeped inside, making the egg more buoyant.  Now you know!  You’re welcome!

Photo credit: WonderHowTo.com

How good is that avocado?

Avocados are expensive, and when I get one that looks good on the outside but ends up being bad on the inside, I am not a happy camper.  Short of having X-ray vision, what can you do to make sure that you’ve picked a delicious one?  It’s as easy as flicking off the stem/nub and taking a peak at what lies below it.  If you see the distinctive yellow-green color that is the hallmark of an avocado, ding-ding-ding… it’s a keeper!  If, on the other hand, you see brown, put that sucker right back.  It will have rotten patches inside.  YUCK!

Win the war when peeling a banana.

Have you ever gotten into a battle with a banana that simply did not want to be peeled?  The guaranteed way to win the war is to peel the banana from the bottom.  Who knew?!  I’ve been doing it wrong my entire life!  Watch how here.

Strawberries

Remove the stems with a straw and reduce waste.  Insert the straw at the bottom of the strawberry and push upward through the fruit and into the stem.  The straw will pop through the top of the berry and the core and stem will be gone leaving behind a beautiful whole berry.

Photo credit: New Nostalgia

 Limp celery lacking some crunch?

The crunch from a fresh piece of celery is… for lack of a better word… crunchy!  If your celery has found its way to the back of the produce drawer and turned into a limp pile of wilted sadness, it needs some CPR.  Cut about an inch from each end and place the celery in a glass or jar with about 2 inches of ice water.  They’ll go from limp to crispy fairly quickly.  This little trick works for cucumbers that have seen better days, too.