Memories of Versova and Handy Tip #1

I don't remember how I found this site but stumble upon it I did...It's so odd. The pictures are my memories but the pictures are not mine. Strange. But then again not so strange. Every sixth person in the world is an Indian! Here is the web site I am so enthralled by: The Bombay Travels Scrapbook

Kudos to Ramona and Noel for their beautiful web site capturing the very essence of Bombay. And, Pune. Amazing but Pune University is also etched in my memories!! As are Chitale Bandhu!!

Some Handy Tips
That Your Mother Did Not Tell You

Handy Tip #1: Optimizing a can of Tomato Paste
Ever needed to use just a couple of spoonfuls of that super thick tomato paste? Like from the small Contadina Tomato Paste cans? Then stored the can as is in the 'figelator', forgotten about it and discovered it only on the next garbage day when it is looking so sorry that you don't even want to touch it again?

For those few spoonfuls, you end up throwing away almost all of the can of tomato paste??

I know I used to. Most of my friends did, too. No more!

All you have to do now is use the quantity you need and then spoon the rest of the paste onto a plate in large blobs about an inch in diameter, if you can get them to be round! Put the plate in the freezer till you are done cooking whatever you needed the tomato paste for. Make it a habit to do this as soon as possible otherwise the can will end up in the refrigerator with an ad-hoc lid. The blobs will be frozen by the time you are done cooking. Save them in freezer bags and use one or more blobs as and when you need them. You will waste less tomato paste. You will also buy fewer cans of tomato paste as one tomato can will go much farther than it did before.

This is America, who cares? I do. Wasting food is criminal. I cringe when I go to Denny's on Tuesdays and the waitress tells me I can order whatever I want for my daughter; after all, it's 'Kids Eat Free on Tuesdays' and I won't have to worry about having spent hard-earned $$ on food she did not want to eat. I wonder how many people order stuff their kids don't really want or need. I wonder how much of it goes from the kitchen to the table to the trash-can. I wonder how many starving children it would have fed.

If you still remember what this post was about, I will be adding more Handy Tips as I go along.

Handy Tip#2: Making Your Herbs Last Longer

3 comments:

Beyond Curries said...

That's a neat idea.

Unknown said...

I do the same except placing in blobs...but this is a great tip.

www.spicyaffair.blogspot.com

anna in spain said...

I put the remaining paste in a plastic freezer bag. The one we buy has such high acidity (if that's the word I want) that it doesn't freeze rock-hard and you can cut a chunk off with a sharp knife.