A huge thank you to everyone! Please alert me if I've left anyone out. A big group hug! Sally Jo Separating Eggs When separating eggs, break them into a funnel. The whites will go through leaving the yolk intact in the funnel. Cooking Chat with Beach Boy Meet with Myron (Beach Boy) at 9pm ET Time: 6:00PM - 7:00PM PST (GMT-08:00) Sundays. Bring your rolling pins! It's at: http://busycooks.about.com/home/food/busycooks/mpchat.htm I'm usually at the chat every Sunday! Lots of fun..... Sally Jo (my chat nickname is SJ ) ~~*~~ My tip refers to chopping onions, then having onion smell on your hands. After chopping/slicing onions, wipe your hands on anything that is stainless steel--such as your sink or faucets. Then dry your hands and smell--no onion smell! You can buy little stainless steel bars from the little "junk mags", but why pay money for something you already have? Another tip is about SOS pads. After using the pads, squeeze them out, and put them right back into the box. They won't rust, and don't leave a rusty spot on your sink! No need for the "frogs" or whatever else you lay them on. take care, Wanda in TN ~~*~~ Hey, Sally! Here is my tip. If you have a sticker on a glass and you can't get it off, try rubbing it with some vegetable oil. Make sure to let the oil really soak into the sticker. Then, lightly scrape off the sticker with a knife or with your fingernail. It makes the sticker really easy to get off and dissolves that sticky residue that's left over after you peel a sticker off. Hope this helps! --Lisanne in NY ~~*~~ Hi there, Here are a few tips.Hope you can use them! ***Gardening -- Instead of buying that black landscaping fabric/weed barrier use your old newspapers! Even quack grass has a hard time trying to get thru! Use at least 5 layers and as many as 10, then wet it down with hose(keeps it in place),then cover with a decorative mulch. ***Shipping peanuts added to the bottom of pot help with drainage and greatly reduce the weight of planters! ***Adding those absorbent crystals to your planters can reduce watering by more than half and keep plants from getting midday wilt. ***We live in a rural area and understand some of you may not be able to do the following: Don't rake!!!! Wait until the spring thaw has come and everything is dried out.Then rake your leaves.I have found that many plants that are not supposed to be hardy to our zone4 climate will return year after year when covered all winter by fallen leaves.Our grass is also always much thicker and greener than our fall-raking neighbors! Wildwood Herbals by Kelly http://site.yahoo.com/hazelnut49862-site/ ~~*~~ When rolling cookie or pastry dough, I use confectioner's sugar rather than flour. It works the same as the flour and doesn't take the sweetness away from the dough. Same idea when rolling chocolate dough, I use cocoa. I got this one in my email from fast and frenzy. HOLIDAY TIPS ---------------------------------- -- Visit your bread outlet (many brand name bakeries have these) or a bakery for specials on rolls, bread, heat and serve rolls or stuffing. -- Often you can get great deals on Turkeys at your local grocery store with an extra $10.00 or $20.00 purchase. Watch the ads! -- Look at thrift stores for wicker baskets. You can use hot, soapy water and a stiff brush to clean. Then place paper doilies in basket and use on the table for rolls, breads, silverware, napkins, or you can even place bowls in the larger ones. -- Have extras on hand to place on the table while guests are waiting for dinner. Homemade quick breads, dips and crackers or even nuts work well. This one is from Yummies Pat ~~*~~ I can't say that my suggestion qualifys as a 'tip' for sure, but may be more like a family tradition that has been adopted by many I've shared it with. Greeting Cards....Birthday, Christmas, and other special days like Mother and Father's days. Save them all in a big file box. When it's time to give someone in your immediate family a card, find one in the box that you've given them before in previous years. We always write something along with the year in every card. When we use it again, we add the year, and the new message. We started doing this in 1977, when our son was 5 years old. Mike has given his dad one of the cards 10 times now for Father's Day. The messages are more precious than you can possibly imagine. Mike is 29 years old this year, and even he is amazed at how sweet his childish messages were for his dad. They are family treasures. Bud and I have exchanged many of the cards over and over as well, and especially the anniversary cards are precious to us....as over the years we continued to renew our pledges of love to one another. It has become as much of a ritual to return those cards to the big box as it is to go through the box looking for just the right ones to give once again. Some years , we buy more cards for one another, but will go through that box, and pick out several of the ones previously given and regive them as well. The old cards are more meaningful than the new ones although the new ones will take their place in time and gradually become more valuable too. Reading of the cards is very special to us, and better than opening gifts. We all gather around to see what's been added, and read what was written in years past. Some are just hilarious, but all are dear and sweet. The big filing storage box is filled now, but if there were ever a fire, we all know to try to grab that box. It represents a lot of major days in our lives, and the caring and sharing we've done and felt for one another. With warmest regards, Julia in Ft. Lauderdale ~~*~~ ~~ How to tell if its going to rain! Red in morning sailor take warning Red at night sailors delight ~~ How to tell if its going to rain all day (Summer Only) Rain before seven - Dry before eleven ~~ How to positively identify poison ivy. Leaves of five stay alive - Leaves of three let it be. To which I add the caveat - Poison ivy has the two side leaflets close together - the central leaflet (sticking up) is on a short stalk ~~ How to tell the time without a clock! Face north! Remember the sun rises in the east so the north is to the left. Face north - stand tall! The shadow caste by your body indicates the hour (standard time - not daylight) ~~ How to find civilization when lost Always go downstream - small rivulets always turn into streams and civilization. May not work in the Arctic. In mountains always go down, except in the Cascades of the Pacific Northwest - Then go up - Why up? The forests of the Pacific slope are impenetrable - Better to go up above the tree line so the search helicopter can spot you. ~~ Making perfect rice! Two cups water, one cup rice put on moderate heat with covered for ten minutes - no more. Don't peek! Turn off heat and wait til it cools. ~~ One minute Lemonade - One cup sugar, one cup lemon juice and two quarts water! Stir! In fact always stir before serving. If you don't stir - it sets up a sucrose gradient which all you with advanced biochemical training understand! Dave the Botanist ~~*~~ >I think everyone will want to know this little tip. I saw it in Heloise >yesterday, she had three really good computer hints. > >A lady from Hillsboro, Indiana wrote to say: > >"When typing the email address, put an X at the end of the address. Then >you can't accidentally send it. When you are ready to send, erase the X." >That would have come in handy last week, when I accidentally send a >holiday page too early. > >Cheers ~ >~ Elizabytes ~~*~~ Hi: Scour thrift shops for new items, still in the package, never opened, or overruns from mills. I just bought 6 new sweatshirts with hoods, assorted colors, tags still on, on a paper bag day sale at the thrift shop $5 a bag. The sweatshirts were only some of the items filling the bag. I also found a package of red bows, never opened. Also visit more than one thrift shop and talk about thrift shops. That's how I found out about the $5 a bag sale as I told a woman in the doctor's waiting room, when she complimented me on my vest, that I buy all my clothes at thrift shops. * Also a Typing Tip: A trick my typing teacher tried to teach us years ago was "sight typing". Don't say each letter as you type it, look and see the word. After a while, you won't even have to say the word to yourself, you'll see a whole sentence. By this time, you won't even be saying the sentence, you'll just be transferring the words from the paper to the computer. Then, you can type a whole page and not even tell what it said because you've not said it to yourself. They teach this technique in speed reading, to read down the middle of the page and see everything on the sides. May The Angels Watch Over You, Betty G. ~~*~~ *I got this from a friend of mine. True? I don't know. But it seems logical.* You can tell which day a loaf of bread was baked by the color of its plastic twist tag. I thought this was interesting. I looked in the grocery store and the bread wrappers do have different colored twist ties, and even the ones with the plastic clips have different colors. You learn something new everyday !! When you go to buy bread in the grocery store, have you ever wondered which is the freshest, so you "squeeze" for freshness or softness ? Did you know that bread is delivered fresh to the stores five days a week? Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday. And each day has a different color twist tie. They are: Monday - Blue Tuesday - Green Thursday - Red Friday - White Saturday - Yellow So today being Thursday, I wanted a red twist tie - not white which is Friday (almost a week old?) The colors go alphabetically by color Blue - Green - Red - White - Yellow, Monday thru Saturday. Very easy to remember. But I put a post-it note in my wallet when I first found out about this so I would not forget. Enjoy fresh bread when you buy bread with the right color on the day you are shopping. Will Bowden ~~*~~ Thanksgiving Dinner Tips: Don't forget to remove the giblets, neck, and liver! Discard liver. Save the neck and giblets for the gravy. ***** Use the liver too, throw it in the pan with the rest of the "guts", you can either chop finely and add to the stuffing or gravy, or give to the cat or dog, or just eat it! YUMMY! ***** I never pat my turkey dry, just wrestle it in the sink and rinse off and put in the pan and use my homemade cooking spray on it.(this is like Pam, it's a pump bottle for oil.) *****McCormick makes a chicken seasoning that is a killer! I also throw several bullion cubes and a couple of bay leaves in the pan. If you are worried about a greasy bird, put celery sticks in the bottom of the pan before you put in the turkey. I also add water to ensure lots of yummy broth for gravy. I don't stuff the bird (don't like the texture of that kind of stuffing), it usually falls off the bone. I cover it until about ¾ of the time done and check it and uncover to finish browning the bird. ******* I might baste 1-2 times, but quite often I put the bird in before going to bed and it's ready in the morning. I pull the pan from the oven when done and let cool on the stove for about 15 minutes, so I can touch it and not get burned too badly. I use a large slotted turner and take out all the turkey(I usually use a giant pasta bowl for this. I then strain the broth(save the "stuff-celery etc., I throw it in a cooking pot and when picking the turkey, throw in all the bones and make soup/broth,) and save for making the gravy. I pick the turkey and we always have plenty of good food! There's never any waste to a bird in my house. Remember, Thanksgiving with all the relatives is no time to experiment or try to cook your first bird. Try it out on the family beforehand. You don't have to have all the trimmings- just a few choice ones. If you've ever roasted a chicken, it's the same- just bigger. Hope y'all have good luck. Andrea <>< ~~*~~ Put a basket for collecting dirty clothes in each person's bedroom, color code them to make it easier to identify. Keep a pretreater stick or spray bottle in your dirty clothes baskets in order to pretreat stains right away. Use zipper mesh lingeree bags for each person's socks, these can be washed, dried, and returned to their owner. Utilize overhead pipes for hanging clothes or purchase an inexpensive tension shower rod to hang clothes as they come out of the dryer. Amanda :-) FamilyCorner.com Magazine, Inc. http://familycorner.com Practical Kitchen http://practicalkitchen.com ~~*~~ To remove a white ring from a wood coffee table, rub it with a paste made of baking soda and water. Tina I ~~*~~ Spring, my husband keeps a bucket of sand in the garage that he has poured motor oil into ( he changes the oil in our cars so he used some of that oil) when he comes in from the garden, he pushes the tools that he was using into the oiled sand, which cleans the mud and dirt off, and puts a light coat of oil on the metal part and prevents rust! then he stores the tool the way he always does. Love & Hugs Joyce ~~*~~ I use toilet cardboard from the paper rolls to put my tongs in. Keeps them closed in the drawer!! Easy. My girlfriend Sue suggested it and I thought DOING!!! what a simple solution, Carol Cabbage ~~*~~ Using Low-Fat Versions of Meats, Sauces, Cheeses, and Oils. 1. Use half the amount of refrigerated reduced-fat pesto or Alfredo sauces. Add extra Romano cheese. 2. Top fruit with either non-fat yogurt or dessert topping. Yogurt can be flavored with fruit and artificial sweetener. 3. Crock-pot, pressure-cook, or tenderize and barbecue lean meats like chicken breasts or flank steak, for example. Remove fat or skin. 4. Every calorie counts when choosing reduced-fat foods. Low-fat cooking spray and spray butters are very cool! 5. Use tomato sauce, wine, or broths in cooking meats, or rice. Use seasonings, herbs and scant sauces to perk-up dishes without fat. 1. Use pumpkin or apple-pie spice on fruit for a faux pie taste. 2. Use fresh mint and other herbs for salads, chili, stews, fish, or fruit. 3. Use a bit of wine to cooking sauces, soups, stews, and meats. 4. Use crushed red pepper or lemon pepper instead of regular pepper for zest. 5. Using extra, fresh garlic; roasted or sauteed is wonderful. 6. Use sea salt instead of regular salt. 7. Use packaged or bottled sauce mixes, and sparingly; Dijon or BBQ are examples. Kathy Dery ~~*~~ Too many things are foil sealed for "safety" these days everything from asprin to engine oil for your car. I find it most easy to remove said seal by using the cap to puncture the foil seal. Turn it on edge and twist until seal loosens/breaks. Sewing by hand, instead of using a "knot" at the end of my thread, I just sew a stitch over and over again (about five times), I do the same thing at the end of my sewing, it saves from having to worry about the knot coming thru, or having that annoying piece of thread at the begining/end of your work. Computer tips: One enter equals a mouse click, Ctrl c = copy and Ctrl v = paste. (I'm a keyboarder instead of a mouser) Ctrl Tab = switching between applications/programs and Alt + F4 will close your current program. Joy ~~*~~ I'm tipping everyone off to never losing this Hints_Tips_Remedies list... it is fabulous. I use a lot of tips but can't remember them... the only two that come to mind that I do regularly is: 1) When I've printed a recipe out and ready to use it, rather than lay it on the counter which makes it hard to read and having to constantly move it, I get a tall water glass, put a fork in it with the "tines" up in the air and weave my recipe in the tines. Holds that paper perfectly straight and high so I can set it in the back of my counter and joyfully go about the cooking... 2) I add "instant mash potato flakes" to my soups, stews and casserole. I don't do this to thicken it (which I do when something is to the food is too thin/watery), I do it primarily for the taste. Even those soups, stews and casseroles that have potatoes in it, I add those potato flakes. Family constantly mentions how good a meal is when I add those flakes (although they don't know why it tastes different). Take care, Mary Ann ~~*~~ To keep your hands soft when they are feeling dry, mix equal parts olive oil (probably any vegetable oil would do) and Vaseline, rub into your hands, place each hand in a plastic bag and wrap in warm towels for half an hour. With four kids, I don't often get the chance to do nothing, so I love this... Diane ~~*~~ I like to pour a dollop of oil into my hand, add a tablespoon of sugar, rub in well, and wash. Great exfoliant! Tammy ~~*~~ What I do for Christmas for all the adults in my large family rather than giving gifts. I host a Christmas brunch (I do it Christmas day, but you could do it any day of the season). I do all the work, no one can bring anything, as this is my gift to them. It's a lot of work the day before, but no shopping to do, and no one needs anything that they couldn't get themselves. To save on ink on your computer printer, change the default settings to "draft" mode with "grayscale" only. You can always change it back if it is something special you are printing or want to use color. You can change the default mode by going to "Start", "Settings", "Control Panel", "Printers", then right click on the printer you use. Under "Properties", select "Main", then click on "Text", check "Grayscale only", then "Apply" at the bottom.. "The Hranks" ~~*~~ To make screws go into whatever it is you're screwing into easier, swipe it across some glycerin soap first. it makes it more slippery and quicker to install :) ~~*~~ I guess my biggest tip is have a positive attitude. For instance - if you have $10 to spend on a Christmas gift NEVER think "what can I buy with only ten dollars" instead think "what is the most creative gift I can find for ten dollars?". Focus on what you DO have, not what you DON'T have. Short on cash, company coming for dinner - cook veggies. Pay attention to the presentation of the meal - (iron a tablecloth, use candles, get a little creative) and serve your dinner with pride. Your guests will go away thinking you went all out to provide them an interesting meal. Darla ~~*~~ I just found a new tip for the holidays!!! if you need napkin rings make your own! take a paper towel or toilet paper roll and cut into rings cover ,paint and add holly or other decorations you have around the house!!! I'm doing this for of Christmas dinner!!! Tracey ~~*~~ I have a couple of food hints One is....always keep a couple of onions stored in your fridge for when you need one.....after they have been stored in the fridge they don't sting your eyes anymore....I've been doing this for years now. The other is...I buy my cheese in bulk, grate it and freeze it. No more waste from chopping off the mouldy bits. I'm sure I'll think of others as the day goes on hugs Helen ~~*~~ I thought their would never be anything I could do for my calloused, cracked feet. Then I began using the alpha hydroxy lotion I use on my face. (The cheap $2 Suave kind...overnight hydroxy cream). In a week, the difference was amazing! My feet haven't been this soft in years! You have to use it every day, just like your face. I put it on at night before bed. Tammy ~~*~~ We make almost everything ahead - all my veggies were picked fresh at the farm and frozen, holiday breads are baked and even potatoes are pre-cooked and frozen. Saves not only time, but money, as all is done whenever the major ingredients are on sale. I love spending holidays with family, but "doing" dinner is expensive. Some of the others can't afford it either, so we often have breakfast or brunch together instead. It is more enjoyable since the little ones aren't all tired out (yet) and saves money too. Deli containers (the nice heavy duty ones) make great presentations for home made bath products and you don't have to worry about them breaking in the tub or on the tile. Greatest gifts: Family oriented things: Last year I gave the kids CD's with pictures from when they were kids, as well as printouts. Used the scanner and Adobe Photoshop, but a lot of different programs will work. They enjoyed them immensely and so did the grandchildren. This year it is cookbooks - with the recipes they enjoyed as kids, as well as some favorites from relatives and a few of my current ones. A plastic 3 ring binder, some vinyl inserts to keep the pages clean and a few bows and pictures on the covers and "voila" Grandma Beth's Favorite Recipe Book! Of course the binders and inserts were on sale, the stickers are 'giveaways' and the bows and stuff are leftover laces and ribbons. The most expensive part may turn out to be the paper. Beth ~~*~~ I wanted to share a couple of holiday gift giving ideas that I haven't seen yet, though they may have circulated in years past. The first is for small refrigerator magnets. Save the lids from the cans of frozen concentrated juices. Cut a photo (or a picture from a card or even a magazine) and glue it inside the lid. Add a small magnet to the back. That's it! The rim of the lid makes a little frame. These have been a hit and the kids love to make them. The other thing I did last year was to make a crocheted or tatted lacy motif and glue it to a CD on the shiny side. On the side with writing I glue a piece of paper or card stock that I have traced and cut to the shape of the CD. The metallic finish on the back of the Cd shines through the openings in the lace. I write a greeting on the paper and make a CD card. I tell people that they can then use it as a coaster or hang it as a sun catcher. I imagine that paper snowflakes would work, too, if you wanted a card or suncatcher. Now everyone gives me their unwanted Cds and I will probably never get to all of them--LOL. Ok, well, I guess that's enough from me. Hope everyone is having a great day! Shari in Fairbanks ~~*~~ My husband does something that may not be financially frugal, but certainly is frugal with his time. While he is blowing the leaves on the driveway and patio, he takes the blower on the roof and blows out the gutters. This only takes a few extra minutes and prevents the leaves from packing down into the gutters. It takes him less time to keep the gutters clean this way than when he cleaned them out by hand. Peace, Liz ~~*~~ My cooking tip is: to use lots of Watkins products ;>) .25¢ on every dollar will be sent to the Disaster Relief Fund. Your family gets a great meal and you'll be helping someone in need as well... Same principle for Fuller Brush,make a clean sweep of your home and brush away all your hair tangles,or dust away those hard to reach cobwebs and clean up those piles of laundry make the kitchen look like new and smell so sweet,with all the time honored Fuller products while helping others in need... My organizing tip: Print out all our daily tips ,and preserve them in page protectors in a 3 ring binder.... (1) binder for cooking tips (1) puter tips & (1) binder for Quotes Frugal Tip: Never throw away your address from incoming mail or all the return address labels we get in the mail for free.... Put them on the back of all your out going cards, you know, where the price is. When the receiver turns the card over to see how much you spent they'll find your address instead.. They'll always know how you thought enough of them to send a card.... Also inclose a loose address label in your mail to a friend, so they can put it in their address book nice and neat, and correct. Ewe ewe ! I just thought of one maybe two...... Cooking: For the person who loves steamed shell fish dipped in melted butter,add no more than a drop (1) of vanilla to the melted butter.... It brings out the flavor of the butter and the seafood, especially lobster but in this case more IS NOT BETTER, a drop is a drop is a drop Cooking: When cooking rice for a chicken meal,add 1tbsp. Watkins chicken soup base & 1/4 cup white wine & 1 whole onion to unsalted water +1 tbsp. grapeseed oil; bring to a rolling boil add rice,cover,reduce heat and cook 20 min.s or until tender... This is also good for fish & pork meals.For a beef meal do all the same except change wine to a red wine. Never use cooking wine,it's loaded with sodium and chemicals you get a better flavor from a cheap wine. I buy it by the gallons and they last me for over a year, so it's only as expensive as you want it to be...Only time I spend a little extra is when I'm fixing Veal Marsala.... If you are cooking carrots as a side dish , slice them on a angle so they'll look nice,then steam them with butter (not margarine) and bourbon...... ~*~ Many people don't like liver and onions, but for years I had someone thinking they were eating steak. I didn't tell them it was steak,I just didn't say it wasn't cause I love it... First I slice up lots of yellow onions,toss them into the frying pan with a couple tbsps. grapeseed oil,stir fry until they are transparent, add a tbsp. flour ,2 tbsp.s Worcestershire sauce and a little Watkins beef soup base (about 1 cup) to make a gravy,add fresh chopped garlic and Watkins black pepper; When it begins to thicken add liver reduce heat and simmer until you see the liver bleed,turn off the heat,let stand for 5 min.s and serve with mashed potatoes and a vegetable. It will be tender enough that you should be able to cut it with a fork.... P.S. Fuller Brush now Celebrating 95 Years of Time Honored Quality and Service/ Buy or Sell ID# 9201-675 For More Info or Catalog : Send to [email protected] http://www.fullerdirect.com ********************************************************* WATKINS,130 years of Gourmet food items, & highest quality home & health products 100% Satisfaction Guarantee or Your Money Refunded Order ID# 015596N - http://spicesearch.com For more info or Catalog: [email protected] Col. A. E. & Mrs. T. ßennett U.S A.(Ret.) *Tish* ~~**~~~~*~~ Thanks Again everyone!