Handy Kitchen Tool

Dear housewives and other people in the kitchen which can and often does include men and children and the occasional parrot,

This is a handy housewife helper tool that I found at an estate sale.

It is perfect for saving bacon grease; just pour the hot grease in the top, it strains out the solids, and then stash the tin in the fridge.  It will be moderately clarified, and ready for use when you want it.  I don't know if you can find them for sale, but it sure is handy.

If you haven't seen Ralph Kramden's get-rich-quick scheme for selling the helpful housewife happy handy, you should avail yourself of the next opportunity; it has one of the classic improv scenes in old comedy!



Hopefully, your kitchen escapades turn out a little better than theirs did ...

Here's hoping!

Mrs H
twitter.com/_mrs_h

Oven-Baked Bacon

My cousin taught me the trick of freezing cooked bacon for quick breakfasts (and salad toppers, potato toppers, sandwiches, or whatever).  Since there are only two of us living here right now, we don't go through enough bacon to let it sit in the fridge, raw, until we use it all up.  So this method enables us to have bacon on hand for eating, and quick preparation, without spoiling.

Additionally, this is the method I use to cook bacon because it gives me hands-free in the kitchen, produced a finer bacon, and doesn't splatter me or my stove with grease.

1. Preheat oven to 375 - 400 F.  Lay the bacon on a foil-lined baking sheet with rims.  Bake for about 5 minutes, then rotate the pan.  Bake for another 5 to 10 minutes or until the bacon looks almost done.  Remove from the oven before it's completely cooked.  (If you are just going to eat the bacon, bake to completion and then skip steps 3 and 4.) 

2. Lay the bacon on a paper-towel lined plate to cool.  Pour the grease off into a jar or helpful housewife happy handy bacon grease saver tool like in the photo above.  Refrigerate or freeze grease for later use.

3. Once the bacon is cool, put into plastic bags or containers and freeze.

4. When you want a piece of bacon or two, throw it in the pan with your eggs or microwave under a paper towel for about one minute.