As I turned the pages of the book I found quite a few "gems" of hints for situations that I have encountered, and did not know how to fix.
For example - have you ever tried to get candle wax out of the carpet, material, or even a glass measuring cup when you are making your own homemade hand cream? Oh yes, I've been there, frustration and all... see this post to read about it!
Here are the tips for candles:
"If your candle holders are coated with wax, place in the freezer for an hour or so. The wax will peel off in a jiffy with absolutely no injury to the silver."
"Or, run under very hot water and dry with a paper towel". ... which in my desperation to get beeswax off the measuring cup, and mason jar, I did, and it worked!
But I did not know about the freezer tip - which I will have to give a try the next time I am working with beeswax!
And then there are hints for beauty - I suppose we could all find a hint or two here to help... (smile)...
"Teach your skin not to be taut - Pour some apple cider vinegar into a basin of warm water and splash your face thoroughly. Let dry without using a towel. If used once a day, this will restore the natural ph-balance or acid mantle to y our skin. Acne sufferers should try this also, but be sure to start with a perfectly clean face."
Some other hints that I found interesting throughout the book:
- Soggy mashed potatoes: Overcooked potatoes can become soggy when the milk is added. Sprinkle with dry powdered milk for the fluffiest mashed potatoes ever.
- Measuring sticky liquids: Before measuring honey or other syrup, oil the cup with cooking oil and rinse in hot water.
- Glassware: Never put a delicate glass in hot water bottom side first; it will crack from sudden expansion. The most delicate glassware will be safe if it is slipped in edgewise.
- Grater: For a fast and simple cleanup, rub oil on the grater before using.
- Bacon: To prevent bacon from curling, dip the strips in cold water before frying.
- Garlic: Garlic cloves will never dry out if you store them in a bottle of oil. After the garlic is used up, you can use the garlic flavored oil for salad dressing.
- Ice cream: Ice cream that has been opened and returned to the freezer sometimes forms a wax-like film on the top. To prevent this, after part of the ice cream has been removed, press a piece of waxed paper against the surface and reseal the carton.
- Lemon: Submerging a lemon in hot water for 15 minutes before squeezing will yield almost twice the amount of juice.
- Onion: Once an onion has been cut in half, rub the leftover side with butter, and it will keep fresh longer.
- Chicken: After flouring chicken, chill for 1 hour. The coating adheres better during frying.
- Salt: When to add salt: Soups and stews - add early. Meats - sprinkle just before taking off stove. Vegetables - cook in salted water.
There are a lot more wonderful tips scattered throughout the book! I won't try to post them all today, and will continue to read through the book, and have a "part 2" post to share sometime soon.
Do you have a favorite handy tip to share? If you do, I'd love to hear it! Have a blessed day!
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I used to have this book---nope---I didn't---she used to have a column in the newspaper every week. I still use some of the tips I got there- like oiling the measuring cups before measuring sticky stuff...etc.
ReplyDeleteOr-if your brown sugar gets hard to place a sliced apple in the container on top of a piece of wax paper and the brown sugar will soften up in a day or so...and then remove the apple.
Great tip about the apple in the brown sugar! I like that one too. And oiling the measuring cup saves a lot of sticky mes for sure! Thanks for sharing your tip with me.. and for stopping by today!
DeleteI used to have this book---nope---I didn't---she used to have a column in the newspaper every week. I still use some of the tips I got there- like oiling the measuring cups before measuring sticky stuff...etc.
ReplyDeleteOr-if your brown sugar gets hard to place a sliced apple in the container on top of a piece of wax paper and the brown sugar will soften up in a day or so...and then remove the apple.
That is sure interesting. There are some helpful tips there that I have never heard of before. I put an apple slice in with homemade cookies that I want to soften.
ReplyDeleteI am always on the lookout for ways to make things easier, and I like your apple slice tip... if we could keep cookies around long enough here, I might get to try it out :)
DeleteThanks for the helpful hints! I love old book shopping too, they are like buried treasure. My mom saves the inside papers of cereal boxes for use as wax paper or rolling and freezing extra cookie dough. I also learned from her to use butter wrappers for greasing cake or bread pans.
ReplyDeleteThat is a great idea, to use the cereal papers for something else! I remember my mother saving butter wrappers and using them to grease her loaf pans and butter the tops of the bread coming out of the oven. Thanks for stopping by and sharing your tip!
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