Pass the Vinegar, Please

This information will interest you if you have any aspirations of being a vinegar connoisseur!  Or, even if you don't!

Roslyn, South Dakota is the home of the International Vinegar Museum and the International Vinegar Festival.  Ever heard of them before?  The "international" is because they are the only vinegar museum and festival in the world.

The Museum displays vinegar from all over the world and also shows products made from vinegar, including paper.  You can learn interesting facts about vinegar. For example, people have been making vinegar for thousands of years using whatever fermentable food product happened to be on hand.  This includes rice in the Orient, grapes in Greece, wheat in England (for the "malt vinegar" they put on fish and chips), and corn or apples in the US.

You can take a tour that includes vinegar taste testing.  You can even purchase unique products such as vinegar room deodorizer.

The International Vinegar Festival includes: the crowning of the Royal Quart (no, I didn't make a spelling error here!), arts and crafts, a parade, live entertainment, and a cooking show using vinegar.

I can't say I would plan a vacation to Roslyn, South Dakota.  But if I ever just happened to be there anyway, I most certainly would want to visit this museum and festival. It could be a conversation starter at the lunch table, too!

My Love Affair With Vinegar

Vinegar isn't said to be versatile just because both words start with "v!"

According to Webster, versatile is, adaptable to many uses or functions.

And that's vinegar!  Not only is vinegar non-toxic, environmentally friendly, budget friendly, and all natural. It gives you tasty meals.  And  it can also come to your rescue in the kitchen.

What about those nasty odors?  Vinegar may just have the answer for you!

(Photo from Dreamstime.com)

You can add a small amount of white vinegar to the water when cooking vegetables (such as cabbage) to remove the odor.  This works with fish, too.  Don't worry, you will not taste the vinegar.

Or, you can add 1/4 cup of white distilled vinegar to a cup of water.  Boil them in a separate kettle the same time you are cooking foods that tend to have an unpleasant smell when they are cooking.  The vinegar will absorb the odor.

And this idea is even easier.  You can simply place a small container of white vinegar next to your stove while cooking.  Again, the undesirable odor will be absorbed.

So--you didn't follow any of the above tips while cooking.  And now there's that awful odor.  Or, you burned the pot roast, again!

Put vinegar on a dish towel and wave it around the room.  (You probably don't want anyone seeing you do this!)  The odor will disappear.  And if you don't tell, your family will never know what you did to the roast!

You can wash your hands with white vinegar to remove food odors (onions, garlic)  from your hands.

If foods have left an odor on your cutting board, use a baking soda and vinegar mixture.  First, sprinkle the soda and then add undiluted vinegar.  They will bubble and foam.  After 10 minutes, wash.  The odor will be gone!

You may have containers that have stubborn odors.  Fill them with warm water and two tablespoons of white vinegar.  Let stand for several hours.  Rinse.  Then wash with dish detergent.  The odors should be gone.

So go right now and write vinegar on your store list!

Wait Until It Turns Funny Colors and Smells Bad!

(Photo by Amaviael, Dreamstime.com)

Remember when you added too much salt to the soup?  You couldn't stand to throw it out right away; that would have been wasteful.  So you shoved it to the back of the refrigerator.  And when it turned funny colors and smelled bad--then you felt OK about throwing it out!

So you already know that when you've mistakenly added too much salt or sugar to a recipe, you  cannot undo it and take it out. 

But one way to fix your problem is to add more of the ingredients in that particular recipe without adding more of the salt or sugar.

You will, of course, end up with a lot more food. You might like that. You could have leftovers, which would mean tomorrow's lunch or dinner is already planned. Or maybe this is a recipe that can be frozen for another time.

However, you may choose to not have so much extra food. You will need tips for fixing too salty or too sugary food. 

Too Salty

    If you mistakenly added too much salt to a recipe, add a small amount of white distilled vinegar.  

    You can also try adding a teaspoon of vinegar and a teaspoon of sugar to cut the salt.

    If you are cooking a very salty ham, try adding vinegar to it to eliminate some of the salty taste.

Too Sugary

    If you have mistakenly added too much sugar to a cooked meal, add a teaspoon of apple cider OR white distilled vinegar.  It will reduce the sweetness and save the meal!