What do garlic presses, corn holders, and a meat tenderizers have in common?  They only perform one task in your kitchen.  I guess the meat tenderizer could also be used on an intruder.  Generally, you want your kitchen tools to be used for more than one activity so that you don’t end up with a bunch of clutter. 

I’m here to make the case for ice cube trays that were originally designed for whiskey enthusiasts who want ice cold whiskey without the diluted flavor.  So these novel ice cube trays make ice that’s larger, sometimes rounded, or cubed, or even long cylinders.  They make your cocktail look professional and are super functional because they keep your drink cold without diluting the flavor of your drink.  

But did you know that there are plenty of other uses for your ice cube trays?  Here are some examples.

1. Preserving fruits and vegetables! Do you have a garden or do you only like to buy vegetables and fruits when they’re in season?  Well one of the best ways to preserve food that’s simple and maintains their flavor is by freezing them when they are in season.  This is especially perfect for tomatoes.  I used to go picking when tomatoes were in season and we would come out with multiple bushels of these sweet and ready to eat tomatoes right from the farm.  But of course there was no way we were going through them before they all rotted.  So we pureed some and froze some whole (after peeling).  But the ice cube trays were great for portion control.  I just had to pop a few cubes in the pot if I was just cooking for one, or several if I were making a larger dish.  I didn’t to thaw everything!  And I get flavorful tomatoes all year!

2. Molds for desserts or even fancier drinks! Another great thing about these larger ice cube trays are that they are great for created single portion sized desserts.  If you’re good at working with melted chocolate, you can use the silicone as molds to create little bowls to hold fruits and custards or even more chocolate!  You could even try gelatinous desserts.  I also use them to fancy up drinks.  Try freezing berries and mint and adding them to a wine spritzer or other clear drink.  This makes everything look so pretty and festive! 

3. Freezing sauces and baby food! Many these days worry about all the extra ingredients that go into processed foods you buy right off the shelves.  I can’t even pronounce some of the ingredients, let alone figure out why they are in my food.  Some additives are there to preserve, to give the food the right texture and consistency after sitting on the shelves for so long, or even make them look a certain color because that can fade over time.  Sometimes you don’t want that stuff in you or your baby’s body, but you don’t have to cook a meal from scratch every day.  These ice cube trays are perfect for sauces and baby food.  Warm up some sauce and cook some pasta and you have dinner ready in minutes.  Again, when you freeze these in perfect portions, you can warm up what you need and keep frozen what you don’t.  This saves you time and money!  But more importantly, you know exactly what you’re putting into your body. 

Those are just a few ideas we had on how to maximize usage of your fun large size ice cube trays!  What other fun ideas do you have?