Tips for the Home and Kitchen...

[Yakuta]

Katie, thanks for the safety pin tip. I will try it, who knew something so simple would fix the static problem.

My tip is about cleaning hard water from showers. Two easy tips:

- Spray CLR liberally on the door (I buy the concentrated stuff in grey bottles and then pour it into a spray bottle and spray it full strenght). Wipe with a soft towel and viola, all hard water stains disappear and the door is clean and new and sparkling.

I use the same trick on my stainless sinks. I wash and clean them first and then spray CLR and then wipe them down with a paper towel and it's almost brand new.

Another trick to clean showers and tubs is to take a magic eraser and dip it in vinegar and then just clean the tub with it. Sparkly and Clean in minutes and hardly any elbow grease.

To keep your stainless steel appliances shiny, mirrors sparkling and counters smudge free (especially granite ones) just use two peices of microfibre cloths. One should be wet and one should be dry. Use the wet one first to wipe down whatever surface you are cleaning. Use the dry one to buff it up. You don't need to invest in glass cleaners any more. It is smudge free and cheap.

[CherryRed]

The verdict is in! I tried the peanut butter trick on one of the four bowls I had to de-stick. It worked but it took a lot of rubbing. When I went to the kitchen closet to get a napkin, lo and behold, there was a bottle of Goo Gone hiding at the back of the shelf. Silly boyfriend for telling me we had none! I guess he forgot. Anyway, I did the other 3 bowls with Goo Gone and it worked a lot faster. Still took some serious effort though. I've never encountered stickers that stubborn before!

[GB]

Wow those sound like super stickers!!! Well I am glad you eventually got them off

[CherryRed]

Originally Posted by GB

Wow those sound like super stickers!!! Well I am glad you eventually got them off

And not without your help. Thanks!

[3babies]

I have heard the toothpaste is great for bites!

[sparrowgrass]

Just an addition to the "make your deviled egg filling in a ziplock bag" tip.

If you are signed up to bring the deviled eggs to the potluck, they will look neater if you carry the filling to the potluck in the plastic bag. When you get there, nip a corner off the bag and use it like a pastry bag to fill the eggs.

No more slidey eggs all mushed together on one corner of the plate.

[markgill]

When making bread do the basic fermentation (first rising) in the fridge overnight. Flavour and quality are much better.

[LadyCook61]

Don't want to use Pam or any commercial spray for releasing cake from pan?
I use a homemade mix. In a bowl , mix together one part vegetable oil, one part vegetable shortening and one part All purpose flour, whip it all together, store in container, use as needed. In hot weather, it should be stored in refrigerator. Before using it from the fridge, the mix should be room tempurature for easy spreading. Brush generously on pan, using a pastry brush . If you are making a chocolate cake, you can make a smaller mix with cocoa powder instead of flour.

[DramaQueen]

I got this in an e-mail. I had a meeting, made brownies using the "Andies Mint ." My guests LOVED them!! GONE in a heartbeat. Read on:

DID YOU KNOW?

Peel a banana from the bottom and you won't have to pick the little
"stringy things" off of it. That's how the primates do it.

Take your bananas apart when you get home from the store. If you leave
them connected at the stem, they ripen faster.

Store your opened chunks of cheese in aluminum foil. It will stay fresh
much longer and not mold!

Peppers w ith 3 bumps on the bottom are sweeter and better for eating.
Peppers with 4 bumps on the bottom are firmer and better for cooking.

Add a teaspoon of water when frying ground beef. It will help pull the
grease away from the meat while cooking.

To really make scrambled eggs or omelets rich add a couple of spoonfuls
of sour cream, cream cheese, or heavy cream in and then beat them up.

For a cool brownie treat, make brownies as directed. Melt Andes mints in
double broiler and pour over warm brownies. Let set for a wonderful
minty frosting.



Leftover snickers bars from Halloween make a delicious dessert. Simple
chop them up with the food chopper. Peel, core and slice apples.
Place them in a baking dish, sprinkle the chopped candy over the
apples. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes!!! Serve alone or with vanilla ice
cream.

1. Reheat Pizza
Heat up leftover pizza in a nonstick skillet stovetop , set
heat to med-low and heat till warm. This keeps the crust crispy. No
soggy micro pizza. it really works!


2. Easy Deviled Eggs
Put cooked egg yolks in a zip lock bag. Seal, mash till they are all
broken up. Add remainder of ingredients, reseal, keep mashing it up
mixing thoroughl y, cut the tip of the baggy, squeeze mixture into egg.
Just throw bag away when done easy clean up.

3. Expanding Frosting
When you buy a container of cake frosting from the store, whip it with
your mixer for a few minutes. You can double it in size. You get to
frost more cake/cupcakes with the same amount. You also eat less sugar
and calories per serving.

4. Reheating refrigerated bread
To warm biscuits, pancakes, or muffins that were refrigerated, place
them in a microwave with a cup of water. The increased moisture will
keep the food moist and help it reheat faster.

5. Newspaper weeds away
Start putting in your plants, work the nutrients in your soil. Wet
newspapers put layers around the plants overlapping as you go cover with
mulch and forget about weeds. Weeds will get through some gardening
plastic they will not get through wet newspapers.

6. Broken Glass
Use a wet cotton ball or Q-tip to pick up the small shards of glass you
can't see easily.

7. No More Mosquitoes
Place a dryer sheet in your pocket. It will keep the mosquitoes away.

8. Squirrel Away!
To keep squirrels from eating your plants sprinkle your plants with
cayenne pepper. The cayenne pepper doesn't hurt the plant and the
squirrels won't come near it.

9. Flexible vacuum
To get something out of a heat register or under the fridge add an
empty paper towel roll or empty gift wrap roll to your vacuum. It can be
bent or flattened to get in narrow openings.

10. Reducing Static Cling
Pin a small safety pin to the seam of your slip and you will not have a
clingy skirt or dress. Same thing works with slacks that cling when
wearing panty hose. Place pin in seam of slacks and -- ta da! -- static
is gone.

11. Measuring Cups
Before you pour sticky substances into a measuring cup, fill with hot
water. Dump out the hot water, but don't dry cup. Next, add your
ingredient, such as peanut butter, and watch how easily it comes right
out.

12. Foggy Windshield?
Hate foggy windshields? Buy a chalkboard eraser and keep it in the glove
box of your car. When the windows fog, rub with the eraser! Works better
than a cloth!

13. Reopening envelope
If you seal an envelope and then realize you forgot to include
something inside , just place your sealed envelope in the freezer for an
hour or two. Viola! It unseals easily.

14. Conditioner
Use your hair conditioner to shave your legs. It's a lot cheaper than
shaving cream and leaves your legs really smooth. It's also a great way
to use up the conditioner you bought but didn't like when you tried it
in your hair...

15. Goodbye Fruit Flies
To get rid of pesky fruit flies, take a small glass fill it 1/2" with
Apple Cider Vinegar and 2 drops of dish washing liquid, mix well. You
will find those flies drawn to the cup and gone forever!

16. Get Rid of Ants
Put small piles of cornmeal where you see ants. They eat it, take it
"home," can't digest it so it kills them. It may take a week or so,
especially if it rains, but it works & you don't have the worry about
pets or small children being harmed!

[pdswife]

there are some good ones here. Thanks!!!!