Household Helpful TipsWritten by Mrs. Party... Gail Leino
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~ 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 stove top. ~ Spray your Tupperware with non stick cooking spray before pouring in tomato based sauces and there won't be any stains. ~ When a cake recipe calls for flouring baking pan, use a bit of dry cake mix instead and there won't be any white mess on outside of cake. ~ Wrap celery in aluminum foil when putting in refrigerator and it will keep for weeks. ~ When boiling corn on cob, add a pinch of sugar to help bring out corn's natural sweetness. ~ Cure for headaches: Take a lime, cut it in half and rub it on your forehead. The throbbing will go away. ~ Don't throw out all that leftover wine: Freeze into ice cubes for future use in casseroles and sauces. ~ To get rid of itch from mosquito bites, try applying soap on area and you will experience instant relief. ~ Ants, ants, ants everywhere ... Well, they are said to never cross a chalk line. So get your chalk out and draw a line on floor or wherever ants tend to march. See for yourself. ~ Use air-freshener to clean mirrors. It does a good job and better still, leaves a lovely smell to shine. ~ When you get a splinter, reach for scotch tape before resorting to tweezers or a needle. Simply put scotch tape over splinter, then pull it off. Scotch tape removes most splinters painlessly and easily. ~ 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 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 jewelry for two minutes. * Clean a thermos bottle. Fill bottle with water, drop in four Alka Seltzer tablets, and let soak for an hour (or longer, if necessary). * Unclog a drain. Clear sink drain by dropping three Alka Seltzer tablets down drain followed by a cup of Heinz White Vinegar. Wait a few minutes, then run hot water.
Mrs. Party... Gail Leino is the internet's leading authority on giving the best possible party, using proper etiquette and manners while also teaching organizational skills and fun facts.
| | Closing Up Your Container GardenWritten by Debbie Rodgers
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Cleaning Up Now that you've rescued what you can, get ruthless and empty all of your other outdoor containers. If you have a compost heap, chop up remains and toss them there. Soil too! This is particularly important if you've been using terracotta or ceramic containers, as moisture in soil will expand when it freezes and you'll end up with cracked pots. (If there are any crackpots around my house, I want them to be of human variety!) Next, wash out empty containers to remove any disease and fungal spores. If your terracotta pots have a white build-up from water, potting soil and fertilizer chemicals, soak them for 24 hours in white vinegar and water with some baking soda added. Then scrub them with a stiff brush in warm soapy water. Rinse thoroughly. Air or sun dry containers and then stack them with layers of newspaper between each. If you have a spot to store them where they won't freeze over winter months, all better. If not, as long as you've made certain pots are dry and well layered with paper, they should be fine until spring. Now you're ready to put on a show of fall color. I can tell you EVERYTHING you need to know. Check under “Fall Planting Tips” on fre*e articles page of my webs-site.
Debbie Rodgers, the haven maven, owns and operates Paradise Porch, and is dedicated to helping people create outdoor living spaces that nurture and enrich them. Her latest how-to guide “Attracting Butterflies to Your Home and Garden” is now available on her web site. Visit her at http://www.paradiseporch.com and get a free report on “Eight easy ways to create privacy in your outdoor space”.
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