Some people are gifted when it comes to cooking. They never need a recipe, and simply follow their gut when it comes to making culinary masterpieces. However, it could always be better with that one perfect tip- something that many cooks don't learn until later in life.
u/WaffleStomperGirl asked: What is a cooking tip you wish you had learned much younger?
Simple, but important.
Adding salt and pepper to food during the cooking process, adds much deeper flavor than adding it afterwards on your dish.
A richer flavor.
If your cooking tastes like it's "missing something" no matter how well you have pepper and salted it, chances are that you are missing acidity.
Try to give it a little vinegar, tomatoes, etc. and see how it tastes.
Interesting.
Deglazing. It cleans the pan and adds delicious flavor to the dish. The stuff that sticks to the pan, you don't want to throw that out. When you're done sauteeing whatever it is you're cooking just add a few teaspoons of wine, vinegar, beer or even water to the pan and pour it over your food.
Never too much salt.
Salt Steak like you're salting your driveway. Most foods are ruined by too much salt. Steak is different. When it comes to seasoning your meat (before you cook it), more is more. Use a generous amount of coarse Kosher salt—more than you think you need.
Also, let the meat rest, at least five minutes, before cutting into it.
Smart idea.
If you're learning to cook meat, get a good digital thermometer. You'll be able to check for that just-done temperature. It feels like cheating!
A useful tip.
Take your time when sautéing onions, it will make the end product much tastier.
Good idea.
Meal prepping actually helps a lot, especially if you're trying to eat healthier.
All the seasoning.
Season every part of the meal. When you make spaghetti sauce? Season the meat as you brown it. Season the sauce while it's cooking. Season the pasta water. Season it all.
Image by Free-Photos from Pixabay |
Try as I might, there are some true crime cases that I can't get out of my head. Some are frightening. Others are disturbing. And then there's that special category of cases that continue to haunt me and that I keep going back to.
I have always been especially perturbed by the case of Sylvia Likens, who in the mid-1960s was tortured by Gertrude Basniewski, a woman who took care of Likens while her parents were away on business. What makes the case especially concerning is the way Basniewski recruited her own children––and even children and teenagers around the neighborhood––to join her in the abuse. The case is one of the most infamous child abuse cases of all time and I warn you to read about it at your own risk. (If you're interested, the drama film An American Crime, featuring Catherine Keener as Basniewski and Elliott Page as Sylvia Likens, is one film about the case. The Girl Next Door, a horror film based on the events, stars Blanche Baker as a Basniewski surrogate.)
After Redditor litteredbirdnina asked the online community, "What true crime case haunts you?" people told us about the cases that keep them up at night.
Warning: Some sensitive material ahead.
"Just the mental image of those poor children..."
<p>The Andrea Yates case. Just the mental image of those poor children trying to get away as she was drowning their siblings. Also, the image of her husband keeping her constantly pregnant despite knowing she had mental health issues - he was quoted at one point as saying that he wanted to have more children with her after she was treated and released. If you haven't read it, the book "Are You There Alone" is absolutely heartbreaking.</p><p><span></span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/ls4yyz/what_true_crime_case_haunts_you/gopryp1?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3" target="_blank">mrwednesday33</a></p>"I will never be able to forget..."
<p>The murder of James Bulger.</p><p>It's the most horrifying and tragic case to me and pulls my emotions asunder whenever I think about it, or hear updates about the killers. I will never be able to forget that little boy.</p><p><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/ls4yyz/what_true_crime_case_haunts_you/gopobq9?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3" target="_blank">CouldMurderACarvery</a></p>"I was really interested in history..."
<p>Jack the Ripper.</p><p>I was really interested in history as a kid, got a book from the library's history section about the case without knowing anything about it. (Why my parents or the librarian let a child check that book out I have no clue).</p><p>It had pictures, lots of them. The image of Mary Kelly is forever burned into my retinas. It gave me nightmares for years. Still horrified by it today.</p><p><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/ls4yyz/what_true_crime_case_haunts_you/goq7vza?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3" target="_blank">KnickKnick</a></p>"He would set up a murder kit..."
<p><span>Israel Keyes. He would set up a murder kit ahead of time, sometimes years in advance, and then when he went back, would find a home that provided the opportunity. He murdered a couple in my tiny state of Vermont, and their bodies were never found. Bone-chilling.</span></p><p><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/ls4yyz/what_true_crime_case_haunts_you/gopt2d4?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3" target="_blank">Inie802</a></p>"He begged law enforcement..."
<p>The Matthew Hoffman case. (Not the actor.)</p><p>For those who don't know, Hoffman was responsible for the deaths of Stephanie Sprang, Tina Maynard, and Tina's son Kody in November of 2010. After breaking into their house and stabbing them to death, he dismembered them, put them into garbage bags, and stuffed them inside a hollow birch tree. He also abducted Tina's daughter, Sarah Maynard, keeping her imprisoned in his basement for four days.</p><p>Hoffman had a minor criminal history and mostly kept to himself. When police identified him as a potential suspect and entered his home, nearly every surface was absolutely COVERED with leaves. There were leaves piled roughly three feet deep on the floor. Bags of leaves stacked against almost every wall. Sarah was kept on a makeshift bed of leaves in the basement.<span></span></p>"The way he would stalk his victims for weeks..."
<p>Joseph DeAngelo, the Golden State Killer. The way he would stalk his victims for weeks and sneak in and out of their house without anyone knowing and hide weapons around the victim's house and his victims had no idea. It just freaks me out to no end. Glad he was finally caught, but it took way too long. He took and ruined so many lives and then got to live the vast majority of his outside of prison. I'm not religious, but I hope Hell exists for fucking garbage like him. And I hope he has a long, miserable life of rotting in jail.</p><p><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/ls4yyz/what_true_crime_case_haunts_you/gopm76g?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3" target="_blank">Narge1</a></p>The Golden State Killer, or Original Night Stalker, as it were...
<p>...is another who continues to fascinate me. I once made the mistake of listening to a recording of a phone call he made to a victim years after he had assaulted her. Not something you want to hear late at night.</p>"The worst part..."
<p>The Oklahoma Girl Scout murders.</p><p>The girls (Lori Lee Farmer, Doris Denise Milner, and Michele Heather Guse) were between the ages of eight and ten and had been bludgeoned and strangled. It happened during a thunderstorm and they had been in the tent furthest from the camp counselors, no no one heard or noticed anything. Additionally, the tent was partially obscured by the showers.</p><p>The worst part is that less than two months before the murders, during an on-site training session, a camp counselor discovered a disturbing hand-written note in her belongings. It said, "We are on a mission to kill three girls in Tent one." The director of that camp session treated the note as a prank and it was thrown away.</p><p><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/ls4yyz/what_true_crime_case_haunts_you/gos99a1?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3" target="_blank">Iseeasong</a></p>"What they did to her..."
<p>The torture and murder of Junko Furuta. What they did to her would make the cartels cringe, but the worst part of her sordid case is that all of the people involved in her death were given slaps on the wrist and are roaming the streets of Japan today.</p><p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Junko_Furuta" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Junko_Furuta</a></p><p><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/ls4yyz/what_true_crime_case_haunts_you/goscfan?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3" target="_blank">GW2RNGR</a></p>Along with the Sylvia Likens case,
<p>This is the other case that continues to haunt me. The level of depravity involved is out of this world. I would caution those of you with sensitive constitutions: That Wikipedia entry is a horrific read.</p>"It's purported..."
<p>The murders of Channon Christian and Christopher Newsome. One of the worst crimes you rarely hear about. It's purported that the press was gunshy as it were to widely report on it being afraid they would look overzealous reporting on black perpetrators on white victims. I think those guys would have done it to whoever was in the car that pulled up. I don't think it was inherently a race-related crime, but it's one of the worst I've heard about and I'm a long-time true crime 'fan'.</p><p><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/ls4yyz/what_true_crime_case_haunts_you/gorftv1?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3" target="_blank">dart1126</a></p>"Accounts vary..."
<p>The most haunting to me is Carl Tanzler, aka Count Carl Von Cosel. He was a radiology technician who was obsessed with a young tuberculosis patient named Elena Milagros de Hoyos. A generally grandiose person who didn't fully exist in reality, he convinced her family that he could cure her with experimental treatments. Elena died and Carl funded a large mausoleum for her.</p><p>The thing is, he had the key to that mausoleum. He was convinced that he could preserve her body and bring her back to life (possibly by going into outer space? He'd created a strange contraption.) Anyway, here's the really eerie thing. For almost 9 YEARS, he 'refreshed' her body with wire, wax, cloth, and perfume to fill it out as she decomposed, basically turning her into a mannequin. Finally, Elena's sister, having heard rumors that he had been sleeping with Elena's corpse and confronted him. (Apparently, he'd also been seen dancing with her corpse?) He was arrested and stood trial, but charges were dropped. He later created an effigy of Elena that included no parts of her actual body and lived with it.</p><p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Tanzler#/media/File:Preserved_body_of_Maria_Elena_Milagro_de_Hoyos.jpg" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">This is Elena's body about 9 years after her death.</a></p><p><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/ls4yyz/what_true_crime_case_haunts_you/gossz9p?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3" target="_blank">Friendly_Coconut</a></p>We apologize in advance if you're going to have some trouble sleeping tonight.
<p>But if you're a bit of a true crime fanatic, you'll probably wind up going down the rabbit hole at 3 a.m. like the rest of us. We never learn, do we?</p><p>What are some cases that haunt you? Feel ftee to sound off in the comments below.</p>Got the hiccups? Here's a simple solution.
Home Remedy
<p>When you don't have commercial house cleaning products, check your fridge for solutions. No, really. </p><p>Other helpful hacks include using lint, gravity, and plain dish soap.<br></p>Glass Magnet
<p>"need to pick up small pieces of glass out of a carpet? Use a wet slice of bread. The surface tension 'sticks' to the peices of glass and the bread picking them out of the carpet. Just remember to vacuum afterwards."</p><p>– <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/lum9el/what_one_weird_trick_actually_works/gp8nje8?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">parabolicurve</a><br></p>Removing Wood Stain
<p>"If you get wood stain in your hands, rub any kind of kitchen oil on it then wash your hands with warm water and dish soap! Works amazingly, otherwise I think I would still have that stuff on me and it's been about three months since then."</p><p>"Edit: there seems to be a few confused people not knowing what wood stain is, it's basically just a really sticky/oily substance you put on wood to give it a darker color!"</p><p>– <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/lum9el/what_one_weird_trick_actually_works/gp7d8gl?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">MoeK430</a><br></p>Use For Lint
<p>"Save the lint from your dryer and roll in vaseline. My grandpa used these back in the day when we'd go on hunting trips. Hed make them quarter to half dollar size and keep in a metal tin and the vaseline also made them virtually water proof. What we used for our campfires being poor white trash lol."</p><p>– <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/lum9el/what_one_weird_trick_actually_works/gpa59af?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Lokken187</a><br></p>Let Gravity Be Your Guide
<p>"Dead batteries bounce when dropped on a hard surface. Good batteries don't."</p><p>– <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/lum9el/what_one_weird_trick_actually_works/gp8uti5?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">banjorunner8484<br></a></p><p>"This is better than my older sister's method back in the day. She used to tell me to put the prongs of the battery on my tongue, and if it shot me with pain, it was still live. I fell for this a couple years in a row; I was not very bright, and longed to hang out with her and her cool friends!"</p><p>– <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/lum9el/what_one_weird_trick_actually_works/gp9eyhw?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Overratedlove</a><br></p>Don't Sweat The Small Stuff
<p>These harmless cheat systems will make you sleep easier at night – both mentally, and physically. </p>Read At Your Own Pace
<p>"If you have a Kindle and are renting e-books from the library, put it in airplane mode and when it's due back, the book will still return but the content will still be on your device until you turn off airplane mode."</p><p>"I don't usually finish my books before they are due back so this trick works great."</p><p>– <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/lum9el/what_one_weird_trick_actually_works/gp8cssa?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">RyFromTheChi</a><br></p>Breathe With Ease
<p>"If your nose is stuffy and congested (or you can try it regardless, it works anyway) press firmly on the bridge of your nose for about 15 seconds. You'll feel your sinuses draining and it helps immensely if you've been crying for a while and it feels like your face hurts."</p><p>"There's other pressure points too but that's a good quality of life hack"</p><p>– <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/lum9el/what_one_weird_trick_actually_works/gp8q27d?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Blacksmoke1033</a><br></p>When You Can't Contain Yourself
<p>"If you feel like you need to laugh or scream, but you are not in a place where this is appropriate, open your mouth and breathe out an entire lungful like 'haaaa.' It will mitigate the feeling, and it's barely audible."</p><p>– <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/lum9el/what_one_weird_trick_actually_works/gp8xx0w?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">ApocalypseSpokesman</a><br></p>The Right Head Space
<p>No need to wrack your brain when writing dissertations or when you're trying to comprehend something that just won't sink in. </p><p>Because when all else fails, you can use your rubber duck. <br> </p>It's All In The Font
<p>"Learned this a while back and for some strange reason it's actually helped. When you have an assignment to type out like an essay to write, use the comic sans font and your ideas just flow out of you. As opposed to times new roman or any other official font, you're less worried about the 'correctness' of each sentence and you can just write without being too much in your head. Then of course before submitting have a read through and change it to the official font required."</p><p>– <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/lum9el/what_one_weird_trick_actually_works/gp7aldl?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">vizualdesperada</a><br></p>The Listener
<p>"If you want to make sure you understand something, try to explain it out loud to a rubber duck."</p><p>"(Not kidding.)"</p><p>"Edit: Y'all, I'm a programmer. I know the origins. But it's useful in learning anything - not just debugging!"</p><p>– <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/lum9el/what_one_weird_trick_actually_works/gp8b4kv?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">swordsmanluke2</a><br></p>The Right Portion
<p>"Serve your food on a smaller plate. Tricks the brain into thinking its a large portion."</p><p>– <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/lum9el/what_one_weird_trick_actually_works/gp8cztd?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">bedgasm_for_one</a><br></p>The Earth's endless mysteries continue to fascinate us and make us realize we are all specks of dust even as occupants of the blue planet.
Bodies Of Water
<p>The following factoids tend to sink beneath the surface.</p>In De-Nile
<p>"The Nile River flows North."</p><p>– <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/lvmrlm/whats_a_useless_geography_fact/gpcqu4w?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">llcucf80</a><br></p>Lava Land
<p>"There was an island originated by volcanic eruption below southern Italy. Different countries argued about which one should have been its rightful owner, but some time later there was another eruption and the island disappeared."</p><p>– <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/lvmrlm/whats_a_useless_geography_fact/gpco85o?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">HumanDrone<br></a></p><p>"Posiden's Island."</p><p>– <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/lvmrlm/whats_a_useless_geography_fact/gpdta0q?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">aibaron</a><br></p>Land O' Lakes
<p>"Canada has the more lakes than every other country combined."</p><p>– <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/Potensh/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Potensh</a></p><p>"The United States has more land area than canada, but not if you count the lakes."</p><p>– <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/lvmrlm/whats_a_useless_geography_fact/gpdqtac?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">RevolutionaryKnee683<br></a></p><p>"The United States has more land area than Canada even if you include all the lakes. Because the land area of a lake is zero."</p><p>– <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/lvmrlm/whats_a_useless_geography_fact/gpejfzp?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">protostar777</a><br></p>Deepest Lake
<p>"Lake Baikal contains approximately 20% of the world's surface freshwater."</p><p>– <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/DinoGuy2000/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">DinoGuy2000<br></a></p><p>"Holy crap, it would take over three years for the Amazon River (discharge of 6500 cu km/yr) to fill Lake Baikal (volume of 23615 cu km)!"</p><p>"And the Amazon River is f'king huge, more discharge than the next seven rivers combined."</p><p>– <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/lvmrlm/whats_a_useless_geography_fact/gpe5pzt?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">-Captain-Planet-</a><br></p>Head Scratchers
<p>Don't think too hard. You might break your brain from these statistics involving size, direction, and borders.</p>Same Destination
<p>"If someone were to travel in any of the four cardinal directions from anywhere in Los Algodones, Mexico (due north, due east, due south, or due west), they would cross a U.S. border."</p><p>– <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/lvmrlm/whats_a_useless_geography_fact/gpcv1vi?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">CharlieChile</a><br></p>French Border
<p>"France shares its longest border with Brazil."</p><p>– <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/maple_dip/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">maple_dip</a></p><p>"Yup. People forget that French Guiana and also the island of Reunion (Indian Ocean) are not mere overseas territories... they are <em>actually</em> France on the same basis that Paris and Bordeaux are France."</p><p>– <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/lvmrlm/whats_a_useless_geography_fact/gpd5la7?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Driver_67</a><br></p>The Biggest State
<p>"Alaska, the largest state in the US, is almost 3 times larger than the second largest state in the US which is Texas."</p><p>– <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/lvmrlm/whats_a_useless_geography_fact/gpcnzfb?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Mad_Chemist_</a><br></p>Beyond Our Borders
<p>Were you aware about these interesting tidbits from abroad?<br></p>Word
<p>"not exactly a geography fact but some cool wordplay."</p><p>"the first three letters of <strong>Swe</strong>den and <strong>Den</strong>mark spell <strong>Sweden</strong> while the remaining letters spell <strong>Denmark!"<br></strong></p><p>– <a href="https://www.reddit.com/usehttps://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/lvmrlm/whats_a_useless_geography_fact/gpddw45?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3r/soba_todoroki/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">soba_todoroki</a><br><strong></strong></p>Thing About Switzerland
<p>"Switzerland is a third world country. Third world simply means not a NATO aligned country (first world) and not a Warsaw pact aligned country (second world). Other neutral countries are also third world - Finland, Austria and Ireland being capitalist examples and Yugoslavia being a communist example."</p><p>– <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/lvmrlm/whats_a_useless_geography_fact/gpcz9o6?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">mordenty</a><br></p>Barely Exists
<p>"Because Finland is .2% of the global population, and the number of people in the world is always at +/- .2% of the number, there is a chance that Finland doesn't exist."</p><p>– <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/lvmrlm/whats_a_useless_geography_fact/gpdi1ar?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">teb_22</a><br></p>Size Contest
<p>"Australia is wider than the moon."</p><p>– <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/lvmrlm/whats_a_useless_geography_fact/gpd9uzd?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">pepeman931</a><br></p>Raising children isn't for everybody. That is a cold, hard fact that everyone should really comprehend. Being a parent is one of the most, if not the most, important jobs in the world, it's a calling really. And being a good parent is essential. Being an unwanted human is the most devastating feeling in life. So that's why I get so aggravated when people try to push others to have children when they're not ready or are unsure. There is so much avoidable pain and heartache by just being honest.
Redditor u/SniperGlizzy was wondering about some of the hard truths when it comes to parenting by asking people to share... [Serious] What is it like to have children you don't want?