Bites Bits: Our favorite way to peel tomatoes and the rest of the week in brief food new

Tomatoes being blanched in boiling water --- Image by © Rose, Ludger/the food passionates/Corbis

A round up of this week's food news

Here's our favourite way to peel tomatoes when a recipe calls for it: core them first, then drop them in boiling water for no more than three minutes. Get them out of there, let them cool just a bit and you'll be able to peel them in no time and still have tomatoes that have retained their juices and can be used in cooking, without that pesky skin

Jones the Grocer has begun stocking healthy argan oil, which comes from the seeds of one of the oldest surviving plant species in the world, Argania Spinosa. The oil has up to three times the amount of Vitamin E compared to olive and avocado, with studies showing it can lower cholesterol and prove a cancer fighter. With a low smoking point, it's best drizzled on salads and other dishes

The fabulously dour Grumpy Cat has gone from viral video to internet meme to movie deal. It seems her next venture is a line of bottled iced coffee in three flavours, dubbed Grumpy Cat Grumppuccinos

Don't learn this the hard way: bananas apparently live longer if you separate them from one another and don't leave them connected at the stem. Do it as soon as you get home from the grocery store and you'll be able to enjoy the fruit for much longer

EatingRichly.com suggests you preserve avocados for a year by mashing them up and freezing them. The process is pretty simple: peel and pit the avocados, mash them up with a little lemon juice, then seal the mash in an airtight plastic bag in the freezer. They should keep for a full year