6 Ways to Make the Most of Your Fruit

Perking Up Apples

If apples are dry or bland, slice them and put them in a dish, and then pour cold apple juice over them and refrigerate for 30 minutes. OK, so it’s kind of a cheat, but it will ensure picky eaters get their nutrients!

Don’t Let Apples Go to Waste

If you have a bunch of apples that are going to go bad soon, here’s how you can use them up quickly: Cut them into wedges or smaller chunks, dump them in a saucepan, and sauté them in butter over medium heat. When that’s finished, sprinkle a half sugar/half cinnamon mixture on top, and you’ve got a yummy treat that the kids will love. You can even use them as the start of a homemade apple pie!

Pitting Cherries

For a quick and easy way to pit cherries, use a pastry bag tip. Just set the tip on a cutting board with the jagged edge pointed up, then firmly press the cherry down on top of it. Be careful not to cut your fingers!

Chopping Dried Fruits

Raisins and other dried fruits won’t stick to your knife (or anything) if you first soak them in cold water for 10 minutes.

Strawberry Days

Hate the waste of lopping off strawberry stems with a knife but like to serve the delicious summer treats ready-to-eat? Try this: after washing, push the stems out from the bottom up using a plastic straw.

The Brown Bag Trick

Fruit normally gives off ethylene gas, which hastens ripening. Some fruits give off more gas than others and ripen faster. Other fruits are picked before they are ripe and need a bit of help. If an unripe fruit is placed in a brown paper bag, the ethylene gas it gives off does not dissipate into the air but is trapped and concentrated, causing the fruit to ripen faster. To get it to ripen even more quickly, add a ripe apple—one of those ethylene-rich fruits

For more great tips, make sure to sign up for our newsletter and follow us on Facebook!

Photo courtesy of Shutterstock.

Keep reading on Quick and Dirty Tips