Over the years all Moms have learned little tricks to make household chores go smoother and to prevent annoying little accidents. Some work well and some just appear to work. Whatever the case, here are some that my Mom and friends have passed on over the years.

Stuff a small marsh marrow in the bottom of an ice cream before filling with ice cream. If you have little ones that insist on biting the points off of their cones, the marshmallow with hopefully stop or at least slow down the drips.

On those mornings that you feel the need to make pancakes, suck the batter up into a turkey baster and then squeeze your pancake batter into your fry pan on onto the griddle. It gives you better control of the size of the pancake and makes much less mess than using a ladle or spoon.

Put an apple in the bag or bin with your potatoes to keep them from sprouting.

Run cold water over your hands before patting rice Kispie treats into the pan. This will keep the mixture from sticking to your hands. Spraying your hands with Pam or rubbing them with butter works well too.

To prevent stains in your plastic storage containers, spray them with cooking spray before putting tomato based foods in them.

If your cake recipe calls for flouring the pans, flour them with cake mix instead of flour and your cakes won't have that white look after they come out of the pan.

For those folks who, like me, bake their cakes in the microwave, butter the pan and then dust with sugar. It doesn't leave marks on your microwaved cake.

When you juice lemons or limes, let them sit out and get to room temperature first. Before juicing, roll them around under your palms. You will get more juice out of them more easily.

Drop a whole, peeled potatoe into a pot of soup or stew that you have over salted. It will draw the salt right out.

To remove the charred taste from food you have scorched, soak a crust or slice of bread in it. It removes the scorched taste quite effectively.

Place a slice of apple in hardened brown sugar to soften it back up.

Don't throw out all that leftover wine or juice. Freeze into ice cubes for future use in casseroles and sauces.

If you have problem opening jars: Try using latex dishwashing gloves. They give a non-slip grip that makes opening jars easy.

To keep your celery fresh longer, wrap it in aluminium foil when putting in the refrigerator. It will keep well for days longer than it normally would. My Mother used to wrap celery in layers of newspaper and it would keep for weeks.

Brush beaten egg white over pie crust before baking to yield a beautiful glossy finish.

When boiling corn on the cob, add a pinch of sugar to help bring out the corn's natural sweetness.

To determine whether an egg is fresh, immerse it in a pan of cool, salted water. If it sinks, it is fresh, if it rises to the surface it is old.