Ya Learn Somethin' New Every Day

[dragnlaw]

I also tried the house-brands - yech...

Blue Dawn? Maybe I should give them a second chance but I found Blue Dawn as watered down as any house-brand of dish soap. I had to add soap to the dishwater at least twice and with a lot of dishes, 3 times.

I stick with Sunlight original - scented ones are more expensive, even within the same brands.

 

[Kaneohegirlinaz]

I've tried the cheaper dish soaps, I always end up back with my Blue Dawn.

When we first moved into our rental last summer, Mr & Mrs Landlord had one of those small little bottles of the blue dawn on the kitchen sink... it lasted me a good 2 months!

The cheap stuff is so thin, like it's watered down. I think their business model is if everyone tries it once and learns the harxd way that it's cheap, at least they snookered in each of us once at a profit.

Right Bucky? That's how I felt! Snookered!

I also tried the house-brands - yech...

Blue Dawn? Maybe I should give them a second chance but I found Blue Dawn as watered down as any house-brand of dish soap. I had to add soap to the dishwater at least twice and with a lot of dishes, 3 times.

I stick with Sunlight original - scented ones are more expensive, even within the same brands.

There seems to be a 'new" Blue Dawn, not the original but Ultra Dawn, not bad stuff, I thought anyways *shrug*

 

[Addie]

I've tried the cheaper dish soaps, I always end up back with my Blue Dawn.

I buy Dawn for two reasons. First because it is just so darn good. It really works. Second, for every bottle you buy, Dawn puts some of that profit for oil spills and other episodes where wild animals are in danger.

I bought the gallon bottle of Dawn last year through Jet. It has lasted for more than a year. I will have to buy a new bottle next month.

Remember the hair crème ad from the 50's that said "a little dab will do ya?" Well with Dawn, "a little drop will do ya!"

 

[taxlady]

Oh my, I won't be doing this again!

I was in the Dollar Store, just poking around.
I saw this off brand of liquid dish soap,
a big bottle for a buck.
I figure, ok this couldn't be so bad, I'll give it a try.

MISTAKE!

That is terrible soap, it takes three times as much
soap as my regular purchase of Costco brand soap.
The Costco soap goes along way with just one squirt.

If you have one of those dispensers for liquid hand soap, use it up that way. Guess how I know.

The cheap stuff is so thin, like it's watered down. I think their business model is if everyone tries it once and learns the harxd way that it's cheap, at least they snookered in each of us once at a profit.

I think you are right.

I did an experiment and learned that you can wash a lemon and just freeze it like that. The thawed lemon is a little more fragile than a fresh lemon, but if you are careful when you cut it, you can still use slices as garnish. It works well for lemon juice. I looked like it would still work well for grated lemon rind.

 

[taxlady]

I have a Chinese friend who speaks one of the Chinese languages. He said that the correct pronunciation of lychee is "lie-chee". Since it's originally a Chinese fruit, I try to remember to pronounce it that way.

 

[Kaneohegirlinaz]

I did a search of DC and didn't find a thread on this topic, so...

In regards to cooking/food, of course,
what is it that you've learned that you had no clue about previously?

A few days ago, I found a taste treat from back home...

View attachment 27460

Fresh Lychee!

DH went bonkers!
"Where did you find these?"
I got so excited, I sent a photo to my Mother,
Me: "Mom, Mom, MOM! You'll never guess what I found!"
Mom went bonkers!
"Put some in the freezer for me, that's if they're not to pricey."

Twice none, here in the middle of the desert, I've found fresh Lychee but they were WAY expensive.
This time was a totally different story.

So, my lesson for today...
I had no idea that you could freeze, fresh-whole-unpeeled Lychee,
AND they will last in the freeze for up to a year!

Mom, you're getting TWO bags of fresh Lychee.

(*note: In Hawaii we say Lie-Chee not Lee-Chee)

I have a Chinese friend who speaks one of the Chinese languages. He said that the correct pronunciation of lychee is "lie-chee". Since it's originally a Chinese fruit, I try to remember to pronounce it that way.

Taxy, I'd be willing to wager that your friend speaks Cantonese.
Most of Hawaii's Chinese population speak Cantonese, and alot of the Chinese foods that you get in restaurants serve the same, but we do have foods from all of the regions in China. *sigh* I miss home!

 

[Kaneohegirlinaz]

Much Easier Deep Freeze Hunting

I have had a small-ish chest freezer (5-7 cubic feet) for the
longest time, ever since 1993 so DH says.
I'd package up all of my bulk meats as well as
soups, stews, sauces, stocks... you get the idea,
I freeze alot of stuff
Sometimes it has a real pain trying to keep
it all organized and accessible ... sometimes going
deep freeze diving isn't fun

I started collecting those reusable bags on
each of our various road trips around this fine country
and have acquired loads of them
over these past 10 years living here on the mainland.



It occurred to me one day to take one of those
quite sturdy bags for each kind of frozen food,
and finally tame this beast.



I have one for breads, one for meats and one for
the assorted liquid-type goods frozen flat and
they stack very nicely, like soldiers in a row in those bags.
This way I can pull out the bag and find just what
I want without fuss or muss.
I do have to say that I have one bag that really
took a beating and I had to retire that one;
it's the only bag that I have from
Yellowstone National Park and I can't see us going
back there in the near future.

 

[Just Cooking]

Bagging like products for a deep freeze seems to make perfect sense...

A real freezer is another thing I miss, living in an apartment...

Ross

 

[dragnlaw]

Easier Deep Freeze Hunting II

K-girl, I do the same thing in my upright freezer. But I bought bins at the $tore.

Have poultry in one, fish in another, beef, pork, soup/sauces.
Sooo much easier. The bins have different colours, are low enough to see the top 1/3 or 1/4 of the products. Able to stash on top of the bins for 'overflow' and sometimes they slide into the next bin, but at least I'm able to see at a glance which is which.

Top 2 shelves pretty much have just fruits, vegies, nuts. Next has finished meals (grab'n heat), breads. Bottom 2 shelves have the meats.

At least this is my intention.. Still have a few issues with my "hunter/gathering/stashing" complex. and just in the last couple of days with trying to freeze things from the garden (mainly tomatoes) I've run out of designated areas and things are overflowing... Have to find tme to get to the canning stage pretty soon!

And now to add insult to injury - something got wedge in the door unnoticed and there is a humongous frost build-up. D*mn! I hate defrosting the freezer!

 

[Cheryl J]

That's a good idea, kgirl. And the bag would kind of squish in there as opposed to individual bin type storage. I have some of those plastic shoe box thingies in my freezer for separation of veggies, vacuum seal packs of soups, meats, etc., but it's a small freezer and those take up lots of room.

Ross...even though there are some disadvantages, I'm pretty sure there are lots of advantages to apartment living. Having someone else pay for repairs and upkeep for one...plus living in the beautiful area that you do without going broke. The housing market there must be astronomical. It's sooo pretty up there.

edit...dragn, we were posting at the same time about the plastic 'bin' usage. haha

 

[Kaneohegirlinaz]

Bagging like products for a deep freeze seems to make perfect sense...

A real freezer is another thing I miss, living in an apartment...

Ross

Ross, do you folks have a balcony maybe with an outlet?
When we lived in an apartment, I kept my small chest freezer
outside on the lanai, but we were up on the 4th floor
and I knew that I didn't have to have a lock on it.
We lived for a year without a deep freeze while our house was finishing up and that was so annoying!
I really like to buy our meats from Costco and vacuum pack them.
In alot of cases, like right now, the price of meats jump way up I noticed yesterday, buying in bulk is more economical.
I paid $7.99/lb for New York Strip steaks at Costco about 2 weeks ago and
yesterday I was in Walmart and saw they wanted $9.99/lb for a lesser quality product!

 

[dragnlaw]

LOL, Cheryl, you are spot on about the bins. If they were stiff it would be a problem and I thought about this and the wasted space (which I HATE!) so almost didn't go with them.

But they had 'soft' bins that give and take, even when in a freezer. Stiff ones not only would take up more room (did I mention I hate wasted space?) but if bumped or overstuffed would also crack/split/shatter whether frozen or not. and I do cram things in!

As mine is an upright freezer rather than a chest type, it is perfect for just pulling a bin straight out from the shelf to see what the contents are in a glance.

I very much agree it would not be as practical for a chest type (there's that wasted space again, grrr). Just wish there were "clear" plastic re-usable bags. arghh... just may have to make my own should I have to re-activate the chest.

 

[Just Cooking]

Ross, do you folks have a balcony maybe with an outlet?

Ross...even though there are some disadvantages, I'm pretty sure there are lots of advantages to apartment living. Having someone else pay for repairs and upkeep for one...plus living in the beautiful area that you do without going broke. The housing market there must be astronomical. It's sooo pretty up there.

K-girl... No balcony or individual outdoor space... A small, compact building with only 8 units... We give up some conveniences to live here..

Cheryl... We, actually love apartment living.. The positive of being in this place far outweigh the negatives..

Our apartment is the first on the left, with the only fireplace in the building..

 

[CharlieD]

I like canned lee-chee, never cared for fresh ones. Don't know why.

 

[Addie]

My freezer is always a mess about a week after shopping. I have that standard freezer on top and it is not the biggest appliance I would have liked to have. But you folks have given me some great ideas for making some order out of chaos. Dollar Store, here I come. My biggest problem are the bags of frozen FF, veggies, etc. I have a designated shelf in there for them, but it always ends up a mess as soon as I take out the first bag for a meal. I have three produce draws. But because I shop only once a month, I don't buy too much fresh produce. So cheeses, extra pounds of butter, items that are mostly square and pack in neatly go into one of the drawers.

By the end of the month, my fridge looks like it is suffering from malnutrition. So anytime I see room to move stuff around, a warm sponge on the empty shelf helps keep it clean. Then about every other month, EVERYTHING comes out and the whole unit gets a thorough cleaning.

 

[Cheryl J]

K-girl... No balcony or individual outdoor space... A small, compact building with only 8 units... We give up some conveniences to live here..

Cheryl... We, actually love apartment living.. The positive of being in this place far outweigh the negatives..

Our apartment is the first on the left, with the only fireplace in the building..

Ross....what a cute place! Complete with the white picket fence - I LOVE it, and thank you for sharing!

When you have an hour or so to kill, you might like this thread that kgirl started a few years ago. It's one of my favorites.

http://www.discusscooking.com/forums/f26/this-is-where-im-from-90539.html

 

[Just Cooking]

Thank you Cheryl....

I've saved that link and will have fun reading through it...

Ross

 

[dragnlaw]

Ross....what a cute place! Complete with the white picket fence - I LOVE it, and thank you for sharing!

When you have an hour or so to kill, you might like this thread that kgirl started a few years ago. It's one of my favorites.

http://www.discusscooking.com/forums/f26/this-is-where-im-from-90539.html

I so totally agree - Ross, that is very cute and picturesque!

Thanks for the link. I went there (more than 1/2 an hour) and had to stop for a while - loved it and will go back on my next "break" from the real world.

 

[Kaneohegirlinaz]

Ross....what a cute place! Complete with the white picket fence - I LOVE it, and thank you for sharing!

When you have an hour or so to kill, you might like this thread that kgirl started a few years ago. It's one of my favorites.

http://www.discusscooking.com/forums/f26/this-is-where-im-from-90539.html

+2 (is it or 3, oh well) cute place Ross and Jeannie!

and Cheryl, thanks for bringing up that thread from the past.
I forgot all about it, and what the heck happened to me beautiful photos
of Kaneohe?!! I started to read the thread and, wow, 24 pages,
that will take a while to read all the way through, but fun!

 

[Cheryl J]

Yep, that was a fun thread, kgirl! I noticed your pics were missing, too.