Handy Hints for Wednesday ~ 34
How about a Nancy pin-cushion? Since Nancy only had one bar of soap and needed it in the bath, why not try using steel wool to fill your pin cushion, it will keep needle points sharp.
Wash sweaters inside out and leave them that way until finished ironing. Place a layer of muslin or an ironing cloth smoothly over the item to be ironed. For machine washing - use the wool cycle only.
You can use certain fragrances to deter moths. Dried lavender blossoms in cotton bags or Cedar wood blocks hung in wardrobes or placed in drawers will do the trick.
Did you ever try cutting a hot or warm cake? Use a thread or dental floss, hold both ends tightly and lower through slowly.
Does peeling onions make you cry? Peel them submerged in a bowl of water. The ONIONS Nancy, not you!
Magpie11 said,
July 1, 2009 at 9:06 am
Early bird today….
Cedar blocks…from time to time refresh by rubbing with coarse sand paper!
Peel onions wearing a face mask and snorkel!!!!!! Seriously…
I wonder if dental floss can be used as Cheese wire?
Baino said,
July 1, 2009 at 9:45 am
I dunno I still struggle with onions. Not so much the peeling but the chopping. I’ve had the suck-a-piece-of-bread, soak in cold water, chop with the half cut edge down . . they still make me cry. Oh. If you have a nice sticky cake, cheesecake or icing coated cake, soak your knife in hot water before cutting and re-dip before slicing the next piece (Learned that one years ago cutting Sarah Lee Cheescake whilst working at KFC!
Grannymar said,
July 1, 2009 at 10:24 am
@Magpie - You are about bright and early today. The face mask and snorkel made me chuckle. I am sure you could use the dental floss for a soft or medium cheese but I am not sure about the very hard variety.
@Baino - I only get the onion weeps once in a blue moon. Mind you I now stick with red onions as I find there are less after effects to deal with!
The hot wet knife trick also works well to spread icing smoothly over a cake
Magpie11 said,
July 1, 2009 at 12:15 pm
I got the face mask and goggles idea from Gardeners’ Question Time and it was a serious suggestion used by someone’s daughter.
Have just come across this:
To prolong the shelf life of uncooked spaghetti wrap each stick in cling film (Saran wrap) before storage. then you need only take out the exact number of sticks you need.
Nancy said,
July 1, 2009 at 1:24 pm
Grannymar,
Your suggestions are OK, but Magpie’s are PRICELESS!!!
How many sticks of spaghetti do you think are in one pound? I use the thin kind so I suppose there are about 300. Now wrap each stick in Saran Wrap and your day is shot.. It would take about 8 hours and 12 boxes of Saran Wrap to do this EASY “Helpful Hint”.
Plus…..trying to see the spaghetti sticks and finding the end of the Saran Wrap through your mask and snorkel just might make your task even more difficult.
Little Links - Wednesday July 1st 2009 | Joe Scanlon said,
July 1, 2009 at 6:25 pm
[...] more great hints from Grannymar. What do i do about noisy birds waking me up at 4.30 in the morning? I can haz [...]
wisewebwoman said,
July 1, 2009 at 6:33 pm
OK, I’m sitting on my pincushion, wearing my inside out sweater, with one hand underwater peeling an onion, the other is pulling thread through my hot cake and I’ve sprayed myself with lavender, what’s next?
XO
WWW
kenju said,
July 1, 2009 at 7:17 pm
I keep onions in the fridge and they don’t bother me so much.
Grannymar said,
July 1, 2009 at 9:26 pm
@Magpie - You sure got the girls going today!
@Nancy - Don’t go spending all Roy’s pension on Saran Wrap!
@Joe - Thanks sunshine!
@WWW - What a picture you paint!
Grannymar said,
July 1, 2009 at 10:37 pm
Judy,
How did I miss you? I never keep onions in the fridge for fear of them tainting everything else.
Alice said,
July 4, 2009 at 7:50 am
A bit late here, but if you peel onions standing by a flame (candle or gas stove burner on) the gas the onion emits will be burned off in the air and you won’t cry. This really works, too. I’ve done it ever since Martha Stewart showed how on her television show. Does Nancy wear a bathing suit or go au naturel when she peels onions submerged in water?