household tips

[annaraven]

Quote:
DH nearly died from an alka seltzer back in the early 80s. Ended up getting transfusions because of blood loss because it ate a hole in his innards. Now, he's on chemo for the hepatitis C that he got from the transfusions (back before they tested blood for that stuff.)

So yeah - alka seltzer doesn't come anywhere near this house.

 

[KristyHall]

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[SpringChickens]

Great tips! Love them!!

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

Quote:
Considering you'd never reuse an envelope because it's written on, you know what that tip is good for!!!

*sneaksy*

We get such overwhelming fog where I live that the bills that come in the mail already have the return payment envelope sealed shut, after sitting in the mailbox for 24 hours.

This will be helpful for me. Sometimes I have to tear the payment envelope open, then tape it shut with my payment inside.

 

[elizabethbinary]

Quote:
DH nearly died from an alka seltzer back in the early 80s. Ended up getting transfusions because of blood loss because it ate a hole in his innards. Now, he's on chemo for the hepatitis C that he got from the transfusions (back before they tested blood for that stuff.)

So yeah - alka seltzer doesn't come anywhere near this house.

Whoa now there's a warning: "Don't take alka-seltzer or you'll need chemo."

 

[elizabethbinary]

Quote:
Considering you'd never reuse an envelope because it's written on, you know what that tip is good for!!!

*sneaksy*

We get such overwhelming fog where I live that the bills that come in the mail already have the return payment envelope sealed shut, after sitting in the mailbox for 24 hours.

This will be helpful for me. Sometimes I have to tear the payment envelope open, then tape it shut with my payment inside.

Stop putting your logic in my coffee!!!

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

Quote:
We get such overwhelming fog where I live that the bills that come in the mail already have the return payment envelope sealed shut, after sitting in the mailbox for 24 hours.

This will be helpful for me. Sometimes I have to tear the payment envelope open, then tape it shut with my payment inside.

Stop putting your logic in my coffee!!!

Hee hee.

 

[GarlicEater]

Martha's way #1:
Stuff a miniature marshmallow in the bottom of a sugar cone to prevent ice cream drips.

Garlic Eater's way: I used to hold a pinky over the hole, and generally ate it too fast for it to get too drippy, but if it did, nothing beats a nice suck of ice cream out of the bottom of a sugar cone.

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Martha's way #2:
Use a meat baster to "squeeze" your pancake batter onto the hot griddle and you'll get perfectly shaped pancakes every time.

Garlic Eater's way:
Just use any ol' scoopy sort of spoon, and interesting shapes make breakfast fun!

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Martha's way #3:
To keep potatoes from budding, place an apple in the bag with the potatoes.

My way:
I'll have to try that, although knowing me I'd just forget and eat the apple. I keep my potatoes in my plastic bags/Mason jar lids/target clips/markers(??) drawer. They're not sprouting. They don't dare.

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Martha's way #4:
To prevent egg shells from cracking, add a pinch of salt to the water before hard boiling.

My way:
Hm, I always did that too, but frankly they won't crack salty water or not if you just don't dump 'em in there so @@#$%@$ hard geeze they're eggs not Nerf balls.

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Martha's way #5:
To get the most juice out of fresh lemons, bring them to room temperature and roll them under your palm against the kitchen counter before squeezing.

My way:
I think it's lucky to throw a lemon at a goose. Or something.

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Martha's way #6:
To easily remove burnt-on food from your skillet,simply add a drop or two of dish soap and enough water to cover bottom of pan, and bring to a boil on stovetop.

My way:
Since my "ecological" greywater system doesn't tolerate a lot of organic material, I just wipe the frigger out, right after cooking when nice and hot. OK so it's a cheapie Teflon job, but that's actually how you treat a good iron skillet.

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Martha's way #7:
Spray your Tupperware with nonstick cooking spray before pouring in tomato based sauces and there won't be any stains.

My way:
Old tomato sauce, bean, etc cans are a joy, just keep sauces in there. Or since I probably used the cans for pellet gun targets (again) just use good ol' mason jars.

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Martha's way #8:
When a cake recipe calls for flouring the baking pan, use a bit of the dry cake mix instead and there won't be any white mess on the outside of the cake.

My way:
It's not a real cake w/o that white mess. Lack of it makes store boughten cakes inferior.

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Martha's way #9:
If you accidentally over salt a dish while it's still cooking, drop in a peeled potato and it will absorb the excess salt for an instant "fix me up"

My way:
Just put more "food" in to dilute the salt. Bon appatit!

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Martha's way #10:
Wrap celery in aluminum foil when putting in the refrigerator and it will keep for weeks.

My way:
Celery's never around for weeks around me. It's lucky if it gets to survive the day. I love celery!

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Martha's way #11:
Brush some beaten egg white over pie crust before baking to yield a beautiful glossy finish.

My way:
That's an old trick everyone knows, Meh.

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Martha's way #12:
Place a slice of apple in hardened brown sugar to soften it.

My Way:
Ya know, that's funny. I was messing around in the laundry room looking for xtra buckets for nest boxes and I found one had .... brown sugar in it! Good, too. That's pretty cool.

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Martha's way #13:
When boiling corn on the cob, add a pinch of sugar to help bring out the corn's natural sweetness.

My Way:
WTF? It's corn not candy. Corn on the cob is supposed to taste buttery and salty and oh yeah, corny. Sugar's for babies.

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Martha's way #14:
To determine whether an egg is fresh, immerse it in a pan of cool, salted water. If it sinks, it is fresh, but if it rises to the surface, throw it away.

My way:
Candle your eggs, as long as you don't get the "pullet surprize" the egg is probably fine. Unless it's an Easter egg and you found it in November.

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Martha's way #15:
Cure for headaches: Take a lime, cut it in half and rub it on your forehead. The throbbing will go away.

My way:
Eat a live frog. ... OK no wait, that's another joke. Aspirin, caffeine, are good. Swaller a couple-three aspirin with some coffee. If that doesn't help because you're *really* hung over, take 3 teaspoons of hot sauce, just swaller it on down, it's fine, I mean not all in a row, take one, then drink your coffee, take a bite of something, then another.... Ya won't believe it but it'll fix ya up.

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Martha's way #16:
Don't throw out all that leftover wine. Freeze into ice cubes for future use in casseroles and sauces.

My way:
OK I'm all fine with this, not saying I'd ever have leftover wine, but...... if I'm gonna freeze it into ice cubes, for that much effort, I'll go around and hand 'em out to winos or something. Or little kids. Or little kids destined to be winos. With my help. Yeah!

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Martha's way #17:
If you have a problem opening jars: Try using latex dishwashing gloves. They give a non slip grip that makes opening jars easy.

My way:
That's a good idea, also whang on it with something in the direction of opening. Works great.

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Martha's way #18:
Potatoes will take food stains off your fingers. Just slice and rub raw potato on the stains and rinse with water.

My way:
Food stains? Lady, what do you eat? I mean, I eat all kinds of weird stuff, and just never seem to have a food-stains-on-fingers problem. What are you eating? Squid ink? "Child safe" Marvy Markers?

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Martha's way #19:
Now look what you can do with Alka Seltzer. Clean a toilet. Drop in two Alka-Seltzer tablets, wait twenty minutes, brush and flush. The citric acid and effervescent action clean vitreous China. Clean a vase. To remove a stain from the bottom of a glass vase or cruet, fill with water and drop in two Alka-Seltzer tablets. Polish jewelry. Drop two Alka-Seltzer tablets into a glass of water and immerse the jewelry for two minutes. Clean a thermos bottle. Fill the bottle with water, drop in four Alka-Seltzer tablets, and let soak for an hour (or longer, if necessary).

My way:
Yeah! And you should be able to make cool bombs with it! Like those Mentos and Coke bombs! And you (I have heard) can feed 'em to seagulls which then explode because birds can't burp! (I'm deeply ashamed to say I've never tried this.) And you could make cool cocktails with 'em, I'm sure - like dialectical materialism, they'll contain their own contradiction, get drunk on the hangover cure! Alka-Seltzer, for Alka-holics, whee! And for seagulls!

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Martha, you are a very strange, strange, woman. Kinda scary actually.

 

[Whispering Winds]

Quote:
If you think you are getting a bladder infection, take 2 alka-seltzer's every 4 hours for 24 hours, and it will rebalance your PH and take care of it. You have to do it as soon as you get that "feeling", but I tried it and it works!!!!!

 

[pdsavage]

Quote:
Considering you'd never reuse an envelope because it's written on, you know what that tip is good for!!!

*sneaksy*

Or you forgot to put something in there like the check....