4 Power-Ups for Your Snack Attacks

If you’ve discovered that your stash of potato or tortilla chips has gone stale, fret not. Use your best friend, the microwave, to beautifully restore their crispness. Spread 2 cups of chips on a Pyrex pie plate and microwave on high for 1 minute, and then place the hot chips on a double layer of paper towels and allow them to come to room temperature before serving.

Have you ever tried to store a large, bulk-sized package of tortillas in the freezer? It’s nigh impossible to free a few tortillas from the frozen block without ripping them in the process. Here’s what a smart person (like you!) would do to avoid that problem: Before freezing, separate the tortillas with sheets of waxed paper or parchment paper. Place the stack of separated tortillas in freezer bags and freeze as usual. The paper dividers make it easy to pull individual tortillas from the frozen pile.

It’s one of those gnarly facts of life: Squeeze-bottle tops are often caked with ketchup, mayonnaise, or mustard. To keep yours clean (and to look good in front of the neighbors), wash the tops from empty bottles and store them in a drawer. When the top of a new bottle gets dirty, unscrew it, replace it with a clean one and throw the dirty top into the dishwasher.

Looking for a crafty yet precise way to make equally sized patties for burgers or crab cakes or the like? Line a small, two-piece Mason jar lid with plastic wrap. Press enough ground meat, crab, or other mixture into the lid to fill it completely and evenly. Remove the patty by gently pushing the lid up from the bottom.