Add a sparkle to your drinks with prosecco ice cubes! Fill an ice-cube tray with sliced strawberries, pour over bubbly and freeze until solid.

Make an impressive ice platter for your seafood by cutting and arranging watercress, mint, dill, cucumber, sliced limes and lemons in a large baking tray. Half fill with water and place in the freezer.

Once frozen, repeat layers, filling water up to the rim of tray. Freeze overnight. Before serving, turn over and rub with a tea towel soaked in hot water until the ice comes free. Top with fresh seafood.

Thinly slice lemons and lime and freeze, then add to sparkling water and cocktails.

Cut corn over a bundt pan It’s easier to hold the corn and makes less of a mess

Use unwaxed, unflavoured dental floss to neatly cut a cake into layers. It usually works better than a knife!

Push a straw through the bottom of a strawberry to quickly remove the leaves and stem.

Treat guests to chilled wine even when you haven’t got any in the fridge. Fill a jug with half ice and half water, then add a generous amount of salt to help the water reach a lower temperature. Submerge your bottle and wait a few minutes for it to cool down.

Melt chocolate in a squeeze bottle. It’s easier to use for decorating than the usual plastic snap-lock bag.

Create more space in the fridge by transferring leftover salads into large snap-lock bags for lunch the next day. Try shopping here to find eco-friendly reuseable ones.

Keep guests’ wine glasses easily identifiable by writing their names on gift tags and attaching them to the glass stem with a piece of string.

Wrap dry, unwashed leafy greens in paper towel and place in a plastic bag. Any extra moisture will be absorbed.

Pop it in the blender or food processor and give it a quick whiz to break up chunks, then return to pan until ready to serve.

Run a potato peeler along the edge of a block of chilled chocolate to decorate desserts.

Prop up a whole chicken on a beer can to roast for extra moisture. This method also allows for even heating all the way around the bird.

If your hands need a freshen up after chopping too many onions, simply rub some mint leaves between them and they’ll be fresh again.

Large disposable foil trays are a dream for cleaning up after roasting meats.

Oil unpeeled potatoes until tender then immediately transfer to ice water. The skins will easily come right off!

(Text: Rebecca Sullivan, bauersyndication.com.au / Additional reporting: Natalya Molok)

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