From the book “Nourishing Traditions” by Sally Fallon 

1. Always skim foam off stock, sauces, soups, legumes, and stews. Many impurities rise to the top with the foam. Add spices and seasoning to stock, sauces, soups, legumes, and stews after skimming.

2. Grated lemon and orange rind should come from organic lemons. If not, wash the skin well with soap, rinse and dry before grating. 

3. Sauces and stews containing wine should be slowed to boil, uncovered, for at least 10 minutes to ensure all alcohol has evaporated. 

4. Grow your own herbs if you have garden space. If not, at least grow thyme in a pot. Nothing beats fresh thyme for flavor. 

5. To dry lettuce, watercress, spinach or parsley, wash well, shake dry and place in a pillowcase (in the case of lettuce) or small cloth bag (in the case of watercress or parsley). Tie up and place in your washing machine. Run on the last spin cycle to remove water by centrifugal force. 

6. To peel tomatoes and other thin-skinned fruits, bring a pan of filtered water to a boil. Using a slotted spoon, dip tomatoes in, one at a time, for about 5 seconds each. The skin should peel off easily. To seed tomatoes, cut in half at the equator, hold tomato half in the palm of your hand and gently squeeze out seeds. 

7. To peel large amounts of garlic, place whole bulbs in the oven and bake at 300 degrees until the individual cloves open. Remove from oven and pick out individual cloves.