New Uses for Everyday Things: Bread

Studio 5 Contributor, Kathleen Alder shares some innovative ways for using that extra piece of bread.

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1. Keep cookies soft and chewy by putting a couple of slices of fresh bread in the container.

2. Salvage scorched rice by placing a slice of bread on top of the rice, replacing the lid and letting it sit for several minutes. The scorched taste will disappear.

3. Soak up grease from your cooked hamburger or meat by putting a slice of bread in the pan and pressing down to soak up the grease. Just throw it away when the grease is all soaked up.

4. Prevent a grease flare up when broiling meat by putting a few pieces of bread in the broiler pan to soak up dripping fat. This not only eliminates smoking fat, but it also reduces the chance that the fat will catch fire.

5. Soften up your marshmallows by putting them in a zippered bag with a couple of slices of bread for 24 to 48 hours and your marshmallows will be as good as new.

6. Use bread as an erasure. Cut off the crusts and roll up in a compact ball:

a. Clean walls and wallpaper by rubbing a rolled up slice of white bread over the dirty spot. It will pick up the dirt without harming your delicate walls or paper.

b. Clean your suede jackets with a piece of stale white bread by rubbing the suede gently with the bread, and use a second piece of bread when the first one gets dirty.

c. Use it to erase pencil marks from papers.

7. Pick up broken glass fragments off the floor or counter by pressing a piece of soft bread (a hamburger bun works really well) on top of them. Carefully throw the bread away so that you don’t get cut.

8. Prevent shedding of tears when cutting onions by holding a piece of bread in your hand with the onion. When you slice the onion, cover the onion up with the bread and it will absorb the strong odors and keep you from crying.

9. Make easy toppings for casseroles and pies by using your stale bread. Put crusts or leftover bread into a blender or food processor, add season salt or other spices for casseroles; or cinnamon and sugar for a delicious pie topping. Top your uncooked dish with the crumbs and drizzle a little butter over the top. Bake as instructed on your recipe.

10. Make the most of the crusts by turning the crust side in and no one will notice that it is the crust.