Kitchen Tip: Softened Butter

Here's a quick tip that will help ensure your baking projects turn out well.

When a recipe calls for softened butter, the temp of the butter should be between 65 and 70 degrees F - it should have the appearance of chilled butter...

But it will easily squish when pressed.

Perfect. If your the butter gets too warm, it will start to separate and look oily.  If that happens, it's best to either melt it down and use it in a recipe that calls for melted butter, or use it on toast or pancakes. Happy Baking!

Favorite Kitchen Things: Jar Key

If you've ever struggled to open a new jar, you need to get one of these nifty tools.  It's called a Jar Key and it releases the manufacturer's vacuum so you can twist the lid off with ease.

You just place the jar key on top of the jar so the little feet catch on the bottom edge of the lid.

Then you lift up on the handle slightly until you hear the vacuum release. POP!

That's it.  Now you can twist off the lid with hardly any effort at all.

The Jar Key is great for opening vacuum seals canning jar lids too!  I absolutely love it and don't know how I ever lived without it.

Note: this tool works on short lids like the one shown - it doesn't work on tall lids like the ones you'd find on a peanut butter jar or a 2-liter soda bottle.