If leftover wine after a dinner party, for instance, has always been a bit of a puzzler, don’t throw it out before reading about all its potential uses. From wine cubes to delicious homemade jellies to an excellent household cleaner, leftover wine has a plethora of uses that many people might never have thought of.
Make Wine Cubes
To make wine cubes, simply take the leftover wine, pour it into some ice cube trays, and freeze it like regular ice cubes. These can be used for recipes like soups, stews and pasta dishes which call for wine on their ingredient list.
Turn the Wine into Jelly
Wine-based jellies may sound like an exotic treat, but to make it at home all that is needed is the leftover wine, sugar and a pouch of liquid pectin. The jelly is elegant enough to be served at parties and makes an excellent glaze for dishes like Cornish game hen.
Create a Salad Dressing
For an excellent salad dressing, whisk old champagne together with olive oil, vinegar, mustard, diced onion and a pinch of sugar together and pour over greens. This is a tasty use for champagne that has gone flat.
Make a Marinade
Red wine in particular makes an excellent marinade for beef, pork or lamb. For flavor to die for, simply soak the meat in a mixture of red wine, chopped fresh herbs like rosemary, salt, pepper and garlic. Leave overnight to let the flavors really soak in before cooking the meat.
Soften the Skin
Red wine is rich in antioxidants. That makes it healthy for the heart, but also for the skin. Many women will use it as a toner and apply it directly to the skin to smooth and refine it and remove impurities that can cause problems like acne.
Clean Fruits and Vegetables
Because it has natural antimicrobial properties and can dissolve impurities, wine makes an excellent rinse for cleansing fruits and vegetables. It has been shown to be particularly effective against E. coli and salmonella.
Disinfect the Kitchen
Alcohol is enormously efficient at removing countertop stains and can be used to disinfect surfaces all over the kitchen. It best to use a white wine like sauvignon blanc, as it will not leave behind its own stains or sticky residues. Be warned, however, that this is not meant for use on granite countertops.
Clean Glass
If on the lookout for a natural glass cleaner, add a few drops of white wine to a spray bottle full of water. Use it like Windex to clean glass, mirrors and other similar surfaces, then wipe down with newspaper for a streak-free shine.
Clean Wine
This may sound counterintuitive, but if red wine has been spilled onto a carpet, soak the stain with white wine, then blot it up with a towel. It will help remove even the most stubborn red wine stains.
Make Vinegar
Making wine-based vinegar is as simple as leaving a bottle of wine out for a few weeks. The chemical changes that turn the wine into vinegar will happen naturally and provide a great supply for salad dressings and the like.
So after the next dinner party, hold on to the leftover wine. There are a whole variety of ways in which it can be reused!
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