Some of these ideas have been circulating on the Internet for a while, so we thought we would consolidate them and make them available to Bergen County Balehbustehs.

• Use old CD spindles, the ones that are used to sell bulk CDs, and use them as bagel totes or storage

• Freeze red and white grapes and use them instead of ice cubes in glasses of red and white wine so that the wine doesn’t get watered down. (You can also use those permanent ice cubes, but they are plastic…no so good!)

• Place a wooden spoon over a pot of boiling liquid to stop overflow.

• When you make a bologna or salami sandwich, instead of overlapping the circles and leaving the corners of the bread empty, cut the circular slices of luncheon meat in half, and place them curved side in with the straight edges along the sides of the bread slice.

• Want to keep the pizza warm on the way home from the take-out? Put the box on the passenger seat and turn up the seat heater.

• Use a pant or skirt hanger with clips and hang it from a kitchen cabinet door knob to hold recipes or lightweight cookbooks while you work.

• If you want to start a BBQ or a fire in the hearth, and you don’t have kindling, Doritos work well.

• If you are having folks over for a BBQ, and there aren’t too many of you, you can put your condiments into a muffin pan, but don’t forget to make a cool version of a Bain Marie. Take a larger foil baking pan, fill it with ice, so the condiments stay cold and don’t spoil in the heat.

• If you’re making pancakes, and are tired of the messy spooning of batter into the frying pan or griddle, funnel the mix into a squishable bottle, like an old ketchup or mustard bottle and squeeze out exactly how much you need for making the perfect size pancake. It helps if you add a little extra vegetable oil to the mix, too, so it won’t stick to the pan as much.

• Want to cut cakes and cheeses, butter and other soft items without all the goo sticking to your knife? Unflavored dental floss or heavy nylon thread will do a great job. Stretch the thread tightly with two hands, and bring it down through the food. It should cut cleanly and neatly.

• If you don’t want to crumble a loaf of bread that you didn’t have sliced, turn the bread upside down and cut from the bottom to the top. The bread won’t squish as much…and it helps to use a serrated knife!

• Do you hate it when a sipping straw pops out of you soda can? Twist the tab top over the opening and push the straw through the hole in the tab. It will anchor the straw, so it doesn’t pop up in your face.

• Scraping fresh corn to get at the kernels? Rest the ear of corn on the top of the tube in an angel food cake pan, and scrape it down with an electric knife if you have one. Otherwise, use a serrated knife. The ear will hold steady, and the kernels will drop into the pan.

• Instead of digging into a gallon of frozen ice cream with a scoop, warm up a knife and cut the ice cream into slices. You get better portion control and it’s a lot less messy.

• And for those who love to dunk their Oero cookies, stick a fork into the cream between the layers, and dunk away without getting your dirty fingers into your coffee or milk.

• Ripen avocados in 24 hours for guacamole by putting them in a sealed brown paper bag with a banana. Now you can plan ahead for that Tex-Mex dinner you wanted to make.