This post was inspired by a Tweet tonight from Tanis; she tweeted:

Crap. I put too much hot s ..._1279080797601

Cream, Cream Cheese and Sour Cream were the popular answers, however, with a homemade tomato sauce.. adding a cream can easily go wrong.  That’s a delicate balance and can go bad on you, very quickly.

Truly, the answer is quite simple and is probably in your pantry right now:

Fresh honeycomb

Honey.

I know, you’re sayin’:  “Honey, please”

Honestly, y’all.. Honey.  Just a little bit of the sweet combats the heat from too much cayenne, too much red pepper, too much hot sauce.   A little bit of honey goes a long way and won’t compromise the integrity of your dish.

So, this got me thinking… what other quick kitchen fixes do I know?

Too much salt in a soup or stew?

  • add in a few thick slices of peeled potato, potatoes absorb salt.  Just add the potato slices and slowly simmer until the potatoes become translucent.

Bitter Coffee

  • Add a dash of salt to a pot of coffee that tastes too bitter, yet you can’t bring yourself to throw it out.

Undercooked Cake

  • Scoop out the center and fill with frosting or fresh fruit
  • Crumble up the usable parts to serve over ice cream or make into a beautiful parfait.
  • Whatever you do, don’t tell them it’s a mistake!!!  Just smile, wink and accept the compliments and praises on your delicious concoction

Too Thin Sauce

  • if your sauce is too thin, you can add a bit of cornstarch mixed with water, mashed potato flakes or even a quick flour and butter roux

Recipe Substitutions:

Did you run out of buttermilk or another key ingredient?  There are some surprisingly simple fixes for that.

  • 1 tsp baking powder = ¼ tsp baking soda +  ½ tsp cream of tartar
  • 1 cup buttermilk = 1 Cup Skim Milk + 1 Tbsp vinegar or Lemon Juice
  • 1 tbsp cornstarch = 2 Tbsp all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup cream = ½ cup butter + ¾ cup whole milk
  • 1 cup honey = 1 ¼ cups sugar + ¼ cup water
  • 1 cup molasses = 1 cup of honey
  • 1 cup sour cream = 1 cup of yogurt
  • 1 cup brown sugar = ¾ cup of granulated sugar + ¼ cup molasses
  • 1 cup granulated sugar = ¾ cup honey or ½ cup corn syrup
  • 1 cup powdered sugar = 1 cup granulated sugar + 1/8 tsp cornstarch (blended in food processor)

How To Take The Gamey Flavor Out of Venison

  • Soak the venison in a mixture of buttermilk and worcestershire for 24 hours.

and I can’t believe I forgot this one! Thanks, April!

What Can I use in Place of Oil during Baking?

  • I use applesauce in place of oil in a LOT of my baking recipes: Like in my Easy homemade Granola
  • April also suggests: pureed pumpkin, sweet potato and even pureed black beans!


These are just a few ideas, a few quick tips to fix those “happens-to-everyone” kitchen oopsies

What are your favorite tips, hints and tricks?

I'm a deep-fried Southern belle, married to a cowboy boot wearin', Harley ridin’ Texan Prince Charming. I am the always proud and frequently exhausted mom to two 8th generation Texans My childhood was spent at my Granny's side learning to cook with cast iron, butter and that special southern ingredient -- love Today, I share my passion for food, family and photography with thousands of monthly readers on my blog, A Southern Fairytale. I love cute boots, my Canon camera, belly laughs with friends, the beach, my family and ellipses..."

41 Comments

    1. You can try adding more tomatoes, or use the honey method.
      A little bit of honey goes a long way.
      Add some honey, simmer a bit, taste… repeat 😉

      Reply

  2. The honey worked like a charm. Thanks so much Rachel. I knew I could count on you to fix my kitchen blunders. I really need you to come up north and give me some kitchen lessons. My children would thank you for eternity. Wink.

    Reply

  4. What a fun post! I love this! I use the buttermilk substitution whenever I make scones because they only sell buttermilk in quarts around here and most of it ends up going to waste.

    Reply

    2. About the buttermilk…You can freeze the leftovers by pouring the buttermilk into an ice cube tray and freezing that. When it’s solid, pop them out and put in a labeled freezer bag or freezer safe plastic container. 🙂 I’ve done that, and it’s perfect!

      Reply

  5. I like to substitute applesauce, pureed pumpkin, pureed sweet potato or pureed black beans for fat and oil. 🙂 it’s yummy AND makes recipes healthier.

    Reply

  6. Im a new follower, and had to let you know this post could have helped me ALOT on the past and will be even better for the future when things go wrong in the kitchen 🙂 Love your blog!

    Reply

  10. Here’s one of my favorite tips:

    Trying to get more vegetable into your kids’ diet? Once it is soup season again, try this trick for 1. cooling down soup to an edible temp and 2. getting more veggies into those kids! Just stir in some frozen mixed vegetable into any vegetable stew or soup you are serving. The heat will cook the veggies and in turn these frozen bits will cool down the soup so it is not scalding to little mouths.

    Reply

  13. If I have just a little salsa left, I add it to my rice as it cooks while I make tacos. Out of oil, you said it, apple sauce is the best. need to use up some dried figs/cranberries/raisins? throw them in your banana bread.

    those are my tips.

    Reply

  14. Love, and I mean Love this post. You don’t know how many times I wish I had some of this info handy. The honey? Who knew? I know I’m going use that one. Printing up this info and posting it in my kitchen cabinet. Thanks a bunch of daffodils~

    Reply

  18. I make all of these mistakes seemingly on a daily basis! LOL I am bookmarking this post so you can rescue me when I goof from now on!

    thank you! (my husband’s taste buds thank you, too! LOL)

    Reply

  19. I think your first sub is mixed up: 1 tsp baking powder = ¼ tsp baking soda + 1/2 cup buttermilk or ½ tsp cream of tartar

    Can’t be 1/2 cup buttermilk – isn’t it cornstarch or salt?

    Reply

    1. Thank you so much for catching that, Rachel! I’m not sure how the buttermilk got in there! oops! That’s what I get for doing multiple posts at once 🙂

      The buttermilk was incorrect! it was supposed to be 1/4 tsp baking soda and 1/2 tsp cream of tartar!!!

      I can’t believe that’s been up for so long and nobody (ME) caught it!!!!

      Reply

  20. Awesome! I have honey on hand but haven’t ever actually bought molasses…oops! ;p

    Once I was making brownies, had already started, then realized that we were out of eggs…so I searched online for vegan cooking tips, and used banana. They didn’t set, but DANG they were tasty! 🙂

    Reply

    1. I’ve always heard the bananas sub for eggs thing, yet, never believed it 😉 or tried it!
      I’m glad ot hear it was tasty, even if it didn’t set 😉

      Molasses is awesome, I think everyone should have Molasses in their pantry — it lasts forever and it’s so useful!!!!!!

      Reply

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