Mom's
way #1: Stuff a miniature marshmallow in the bottom of a
sugar cone to prevent ice cream drips.
My way: Just suck the ice cream out of the bottom of
the cone, for Pete's sake, you are probably lying on the
couch with your feet up eating it anyway.
Mom'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.
My way: Buy the precooked kind you nuke in the microwave
for 30 seconds. The hard part is getting them out of the
plastic bag.
Mom's way #3: To keep potatoes from budding, place an
apple in the bag with the potatoes.
My way: Buy Hungry Jack mashed potato mix and keep
it in the pantry for up to a year.
Mom's way #4: To prevent eggshells from cracking, add
a pinch of salt to the water before hard-boiling.
My way: Who cares if they crack, aren't you going to
take the shells off anyway?
Mom'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: Sleep with the lemons in between the mattress
and box springs.
Mom'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: Eat at Chili's every night and avoid cooking.
Mom'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: Feed your garbage disposal and there won't
be any leftovers.
Mom'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: Go to the bakery. They'll even decorate it
for you.
Mom'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: If you over salt a dish while you are cooking,
that's too damn bad. My motto: I made it and you will
eat it and I don't care how bad it tastes.
Mom's way #10: Wrap celery in aluminum foil when putting
in the refrigerator and it will keep for weeks.
My way: Celery? Never heard of the stuff.
Mom's way #11: Brush some beaten egg white over pie crust
before baking to yield a beautiful glossy finish.
My way: The Mrs. Smith frozen pie directions do not
include brushing egg whites over the crust and so I don't
do it.
Mom's way #12: Place a slice of apple in hardened brown
sugar to soften it.
My way: Brown sugar is supposed to be "soft"?
Mom'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: The only kind of corn I buy comes in a can.
Mom'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: Eat, cook, or use the egg anyway. If you feel
bad later, you will know it wasn't fresh.
Mom'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: Mom, dear, the only reason this works is because
you can't rub a lime on your forehead without getting
lime juice in your eye, and then the problem isn't the
headache anymore, it is because you are now blind.
Mom's way #16: Don't throw out all that leftover wine.
Freeze into ice cubes for future use in casseroles and
sauces.
My way: Leftover wine?
Mom'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: Go ask the very cute neighbor to do it.
Mom'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: Mashed potatoes will now be replacing the antibacterial
soap in the handy dispenser next to my sink.
Mom'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: Put your jewelry, vases, and thermos in the toilet.
Add some Alka-Seltzer and you have solved a whole bunch
of problems at once. |
