Cooking Class

Real Simple is my wife's second-favorite magazine. Each month she makes me a little smarter. This month, her passing of wisdom coincided with my blogging time. So let me channel her, and share some knowledge about the kitchen.

"¢ "Did you know we should only be cooking with cold water?"
Hot water, you see, can leach lead out of pipes. Especially in older houses. Fusing pipes with lead was only made illegal in 1991. I have a sense my wife had an ulterior motive in telling me this. Our cold water faucet is leaking, and my solution had been to shut it off and exclusively use the hot. Anyone know a good plumber in North Jersey?

"¢ "Hey, we can use the wooden cutting board for meat."
I've always thought the grooves would get all meaty and gross and possibly toxic. But according to Real Simple, as long as I clean it with soap and really hot water, we'll live to tell about it.

"¢ "Let's throw out all those plastic Chinese food containers."
On occasion, I will transport leftovers using plastic containers we acquired through the purchase of Chinese food. At work, I will heat said leftovers in said containers. This is not a great idea. Certain additives used to make plastic more flexible can dissolve in food. Unless the plastic is FDA-labeled "microwave safe," heat your food in other vessels.