This entire list is from a collection of one special lady... Sandee Eveland. Thank you Sandee! Thanksgiving "Memory Tablecloth" Create A Memory! Buy a plain tablecloth and have each guest at your Thanksgiving table sign the tablecloth, tell what they are most thankful for this year and date it! Each year your guest will enjoy reminiscing about the previous years "Thanks." Don't forget to trace those wee hands to preserve precious moments in time! ~~*~~ WHAT I ADD TO MAKE IT SPECIAL - From Taste Of Home ~*~ Perfect Pancakes To make yummy pancakes, I always stir crumbled bacon and 1 tsp or two of almond extract into the batter, then top the cooked pancakes with sour cream shares Nick Novak of Elyria, OH ~*~ Marvelous meat loaf "Instead of making my meat loaf with bread crumbs or crushed saltines, I use crushed cheddar cheese flavored crackers" reports Joan Bagaudae of Spring Hill, FL. They make a very tasty loaf. ~*~ Sensational Carrot Salad "Try replacing half of the raisins in your carrot salad with dried cranberries," suggests Helen Joyce of Centerville, Indiana. "They add color and a tartness that nicely offsets the sweet raisins." ~*~ Creative Chill "My family loves my chili on cold days, especially when I sweeten it with about 1/4 c honey" reveals Pamela Kramerage of Martinsburg, West Virginia. ~*~ Savory Stuffing For flavorful turkey stuffing, use a combination of sourdough, cornbread and white bread cubes. From Marina Ettel, Denver Colorado ~*~ Zippy Pea Soup Says Arnold Matthaei of Gig Harbor, WA, "To me, split pea soup isn't split pea soup without a tablespoon of heated sauerkraut stirred in before heating." Want to turn ho-hum foods into dishes that'll have family members asking for more? Take a look at the special ingredients some readers suggest. ~*~ Extraordinary Egg Salad - "Egg salad is extra special when I stir in crispy cooked and crumbled bacon," assures Cheri Venturi, Vineland, NJ. ~*~ Perfect Potatoes - Whenever I boil potatoes, I add celery leaves, onion and bay leaf to the water," says Gloria Tucker of Palm City, FL. "The extra flavor perks up potato salad and other dishes. ~*~ "For a pleasantly sweet and extra crunchy potato salad, I stir in a chopped apple" explains Maybelle Reaves of Chicago, IL. ~*~ Creative Carrots - "My grandson claimed he didn't like carrots until I steamed them with some fresh mint leaves, recalls Colleen Sherman of Bakersfield, CA. "Now that's how he requests them every time." ~*~ Best Beets - Leah Poeske of Redmond, OR, adds just a hint of ground allspice to fresh or canned beets to enhance their sweetness. ~*~ Better Zucchini Bread - Shares Barbara Clark of St. Albans, VT, "I receive a lot of compliments for my zucchini bread when I add only 1/4 tsp of grated orange peel and the same amount of grated lemon peel. It gives the bread a delicious tang." ~*~ Zippy Slaw - Remarks Robbie Pendergrass of Horn Lake, MI. "For an eye-opening coleslaw that gets noticed, stir in some horseradish." ~*~ Sensational Squash - "To make a more interesting side dish, I add potatoes, bell peppers and onions to my friend yellow squash or fried okra." says Annn Brasher of Tuscaloosa, AL ~~*~~ TIMELY TIPS from Taste of Home ~*~ Large sweet potatoes are often very fibrous. If you use an electric mixer to beat the cooked potatoes, the stringy fibers will wind around the beaters, leaving the potatoes smooth. LaFerne Wright Schellsburg, PA. ~*~ Since cranberries are only available a few months each year, freeze some bags to use later. Carole Dishman, Hampton, Virginia ~*~ The secret to perfectly roasted vegetables is to cut them into same-size pieces and turn them often (about every 15 min.) during roasting so they crisp and brown evenly. Patty Bukowski, Belair Maryland. ~*~ When you're storing carrots, keep them away from apples. The apples give off a gas that can cause the carrots to taste bitter. Nila Grahl Des Plaines, IL ~*~ Peeling boiled sweet potatoes is easy. Just drain off the hot water, then immediately plunge the potatoes into cold water. The skins will slip right off. Pamela Sjoden Houston, BC ~*~ For a taste twist, try substituting asparagus in your favorite broccoli casserole. Cynthia Edmiston Mt. Pleasant, SC ~*~ Here's a quick substitution for a c of buttermilk or sour milk in a recipe: Place 1 T of white vinegar or lemon juice in a measuring cup. Add milk to measure 1 cup. Annie Weyher Lake George, Michigan ~*~ Try this pretty serving idea for the holidays. Bake stuffing in a covered grease fluted tube pan. Let stand for 5 minutes, then invert onto a plate or flat serving dish. Slice into wedges to serve. Val Heinrichs, Steinbach, Manitoba. ~*~ Dried fruit will chop easier if you put it in the freezer for about an hour before cutting. ~*~ To make a pretty garnish, cut small pickles like a fan - cutting down the pickle's length but not through the bottom in thin slices. Spread slices like a fan to garnish plates. ~*~ You can easily just rub the skin off carrots after they have been cooked. ~*~ If you need to thinly slice raw meat: beef, pork or chicken, the job will be much easier if the meat is slightly frozen. ~*~ Prevent dried fruit or nuts from sinking to the bottom of your batters by coating them lightly with flour first. ~*~ Adding a pinch of baking soda to icings prevents hardening and cracking so the icing stays moist. ~*~ Use a cosmetic puff in your flour to dust your cookie sheets, and cake pans. ~*~ Raisins should be stored in the refrigerator to keep them soft and moist. ~*~ To add sugar to cold tea, dissolve the sugar first in a glass of hot water. You won't have those hard sugar crystals floating around in your tea now. ~*~ To make big ice cubes for your pitcher of iced tea or lemonade, use muffin tins as ice cube trays. ~*~ To make plain pasta tastier for little ones, put a bouillon cube in the water while it's boiling. Toddlers will love the extra flavor ~*~ Carrots cook faster if you slice them along their length rather than their width. ~*~ Before adding veggies, toss them with a little flour to keep them from sticking to the bottom. ~*~ To keep cauliflower white while cooking just add a little milk to the water. ~*~ The best way of removing extra fat from soups is to refrigerate them until the fat hardens on the top, and you can simply spoon it off. ~*~ Use plain yogurt as a substitute for sour cream ~*~ Boil Overs To keep a pot from boiling over, place a toothpick between the cover and the pot. This will give the steam an outlet. This will also work with a casserole dish in the oven. ~*~To get grease off suede, immerse toothbrush in vinegar and gently rub over the spot. ~*~ Keeping Brown Sugar Moist Generally when you buy a bag of brown sugar to use in a recipe, you use only a fraction of it and the rest turns into a sugar brick in your cupboard. It's nothing like white sugar in its consistency and therefore needs to be stored differently. The best way is in a solid screw-top glass jar. If, however, you have a bag that has gone to stone, you don't need to throw it away (unless it's ancient and has bugs in it)! You can moisten it by adding a dampened paper towel to the bag and sealing it up for a day. The next day you should be able to break it up easily, and THEN store it in a jar. Tip World ~*~ Today's Internet Tip: Deleting E-Mail This tip is for Netscape users, I am not sure if it works with Internet Explorer but you could give it a try to find out. Do you hate deleting email and then having to delete it AGAIN out of the trash? Well I have your solution! All you do is "select" the email) by the way you can select more than one by holding down the "Ctrl" key and clicking on the unwanted email, Now you have them selected you can now hold down the "Ctrl & Shift keys at the same time and then press the Delete key. The mail is now permanently deleted from your system. Melanie Prisella, Savona, NY ~~*~~ KITCHEN TIPS * To get snowy white potatoes, add a teaspoon of vinegar or fresh lemon juice to the boiling water * Making noodles is easy by adding an egg to a package of pie crust mix. Mix; roll out, cut, and let dry. * For a different flavor and less fat, use chicken stock instead of butter or milk when whipping up mashed potatoes. * Keep a small plastic bag in your can of vegetable shortening. When it comes time to grease a pan, just slip your hand in the bag, scoop out what you need and spread it on the pan. * Fresh ginger will last longer by storing it in a pot of sand. ~~*~~ VJJU Recipes ~*~ Spots on your drinking glasses? Try mixing equal parts of water, vinegar and lemon juice in a spray bottle and spray the glasses before putting in the dishwasher. ~*~ To get stubborn stains out of coffee cups and tea cups, add half a teaspoon of salt and a little water before scrubbing with a sponge. ~*~ Lettuce and celery will crisp up if you place them in a pan of cold water and add a couple of slices of potato. ~*~ For a real treat when making pumpkin pie. Place a layer of mini-marshmallows on the bottom of the pie shell. They will rise to the top while baking and make a great topping. ~~*~~ KITCHEN TIPS * Slide a strand of unwaxed dental floss--one end wrapped around the forefingers of each hand--under fresh cookies to unstick them from a cookie sheet. Floss also makes a clean cut through a cake for layering. No more crumbly edges! * For extra smooth, well-mixed oil and vinegar salad dressing: Combine all ingredients in a screw top jar, add an ice cube and shake--then discard what's left of the ice cube. * Use a 1-1/2 inch natural bristle paintbrush dipped in melted margarine or oil to grease muffin tins, cookie sheets or cake and bread pans. It's much faster than using a skimpy pastry brush. * If you put onions in the freezer 15 minutes before you chop them, you'll reduce the spray of vaporized onion oils--which means your eyes won't tear when you cut the onions. * To prevent cream whipped ahead of time from separating, add one quarter teaspoon of gelatin to each cup of cream during whipping. ~~*~~ SHORTCUTS WORTH SHARING - From Taste of Home ~*~ Small bags of nuts, herbs, etc. kept falling out of my freezer or getting burried beneath bigger items --- until I bought a large wire mesh bin to hold all those odds and ends. It sits right on the shelf in my freezer. Now I know just where to look for those small items. Collen Hille, Warrenton, Oregon. ~*~ When I melt bulk chocolate or almond bark to coat candies, fruit or pretzels, I like to use my slow cooker. It keeps the chocolate warm for repeated dips. C.M. Harris, Walker Minnesota ~*~ Here's a neat way to make cutout cookies. After your cookie dough is rolled out, place a piece of plastic wrap loosely over the dough. Use your cutter to cut out the cookies, pressing down on the plastic. Since the plastic wrap is between dough and the cutter, the cutter stays clean. Gayle butler, Millbrook, Alabama. ~*~ To save time and mess, put all your pumpkin pie ingredients into a blender. Blend to combine. Pour into a pie shell and bake. Easy! Ruth Mohl, Orwigsburg, PA ~*~ In science class, I learned a great trick for polishing silverware. Line a pan with foil. Add water and bring to a boil. Add some baking soda and stir. When the water comes to a boil again, put in your silverware and turn off the heat. Wait a few minutes, then remove. Your knives, forks and spoons will shine like new! Jessica Olechowski, Port Orange, FL ~*~ For a quick, economical breakfast, I make up a batch of oatmeal. I thin it a bit with water and cool it, then pour it into ice cube trays. Once the cubes are frozen, I pop them out and store them in freezer bags. For a fast morning meal, I heat as many cubes as I need and mix with sugar and milk. Barbara Franklin, Topeka Kansas ~*~ Don't fuss with a nut chopper. When you need nuts for a recipe, put them in a plastic bag and roll them with a rolling pin. Then just pour them from the bag into a bowl with the other ingredients. Dorothy Baxter, Brush Prairie, WA ~*~ To avoid trouble getting the paper coffee filters apart, turn each batch inside-out. This loosens them up and lets you easily get one at a time. ~*~ Before adding filling for a juicy pie, cover bottom crust with 2 T flour and 1 T sugar. ~~*~~ GIVE LEFTOVERS A LIFT ~*~ TURKEY TURNAROUND No one will recognize leftover Christmas or Thanksgiving turkey if you chop it into small pieces, stir into a homemade cheese sauce and serve over toast or noodles. This is a good and quick dish. ~*~ SLOPPY JOE SAVER Layer cooked lasagna noodles, leftover sloppy joe meat and velveeta, then bake till hot. Husbands love this casserole. ~*~ MAC 'N' CHEESE MAKEOVER For a delicious and easy pasta salad, mix mayonnaise, celery and pickle relish to cold leftover macaroni and cheese. ~*~ NOODLE RE-RUN Whenever you have a few left-over noodles, put them in the freezer. For a fast main-dish salad, defrost the noodles and combine them with mayonnaise and cooked or canned seafood. ~*~ Brownie Points Use the size of baking pan specified in the recipe. A pan that's too big will cause the batter to spread too thinly and be in danger of overcooking and drying out. Too small a pan may yield brownies that are underbaked in the center. ~*~ Brownies are done when they just begin to pull away from the sides of the pan and when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. If in doubt, remove the pan from the oven. The brownies will continue to set after removal from the oven, and baking them beyond the time recommended can result in dry, hard brownies. ~*~ To prevent crumbling, let the brownies cool before cutting them by setting the entire pan on a cooling rack. To prevent big cracks in brownies with a crisp top over a moist interior, lightly score the cutting lines on the surface with a knife while the brownies are still warm. Cut them all the way through after they cool. To keep brownies freshest, cut only what you need. ~*~ Brownies freeze well. Wrap them in plastic, individually or in pairs, and pop several into a self-sealing plastic freezer bag. Thaw, unwrapped, at room temperature, or microwave for a fast, warm treat. ~*~ Remove Candle Wax Easily As you retrieve your holiday decorations from storage, you may find that your candleholders still have wax drippings from last year. To get the wax off, put the holders in the freezer. Once frozen, wax is easy to remove. ~*~ Exciting Uses For Cumin: * Before roasting a chicken or ears of corn, rub with a mix of pounded raw cumin seeds, soft butter, some crushed garlic, and a pinch of cayenne. * Add an earthy flavor to plain rice by adding some raw cumin along with the salt and water. Or sizzle some seeds along with some chopped onion in butter or oil and proceed as you would for a rice pilaf. * Sprinkle coarsely ground toasted cumin seeds over boiled or roasted potatoes, along with cayenne and salt. Transform a simple dip of cucumbers and yogurt by adding some toasted, ground cumin. * Sizzle whole cumin seeds along with a clove or two of chopped garlic and add this at the last minute to lentil soup. * Season a sofrito--the sauteed mixture of chopped onions, green peppers, and garlic--for black beans generously with cumin. * Add whole raw or toasted cumin seeds to cornbread or cheese straws. ~~*~~ KITCHEN TIPS ~*~ When breading chicken pieces before frying, take the time to refrigerate the coated chicken for at least 30 minutes. The chilling sets the crust and keeps it on the chicken. ~*~ Place aluminum foil under the napkin in your roll basket and the rolls will stay hot longer. ~*~ Potatoes will roast in half the time if they are boiled for five minutes, then put into a hot oven. ~*~ If you don't want your fruit pies to bubble over, just stick a piece of macaroni standing up in the center of your top crust, making sure it goes through the crust. This will vent the steam under the crust which is the cause of bubble overs. ~*~ Don't want to spend money renting a movie? Check out a movie from your local library! You'll find plenty of them there, even popular new releases. ~*~ Don't throw away empty butter wrappers. Instead throw them inside a baggie and leave them in the fridge. Later they can be used to grease pans. ~8~ You don't need to buy the new Fruit and Veggie Washes to get your produce squeaky clean. Sprinkle on baking soda, give a good scrub, and rinse with water. Very clean, for only pennies! ~ Add life to your legs by making panty hose snag free. Before wearing, soak them in a mixture of one gallon water and two cups of salt. Let them sit for three hours. Then rinse and wear. ~*~ Save your empty egg cartons. After emptying your kitchen garbage bag, replace with a fresh bag and place an empty egg carton in the bottom. The carton will absorb moisture from coffee grounds and other miscellaneous wet discards. Another solution is to use brown paper bags from groceries, folded and put in the bottom of your garbage can. ~*~ Egg cartons make wonderful drawer separators to keep miscellaneous small items neat in your kitchen drawers or to keep small pieces of jewelry safely stored if you use a jewelry drawer like I do. ~*~ For those of you that have ice makers and don't use ice trays egg cartons make a good substitute for saving egg yolks or whites for freezing, freezing herbs and other individual items you want to package in plastic bags for later use. ~*~ Easy Microwave cleaning Since scrubbing the interior of a microwave is tedious and has the potential to damage the interior surfaces, Sondra Jackson de Cadirola of Chevy Chase, MD devised a simple cleaning method. she places a microwave-safe bowl full of water in the oven and heats it on high for 10 minutes; the steam loosens dried food particles so they can be wiped off with ease. ~*~ Slick Snow Shovel If snow sticks to your snow shovel, you'll work just as hard getting the snow off the shovel as on! To solve this problem, coat your snow shovel with silicon spray or simply rub the shovel with wax paper to make the surface slick. ~*~ Tablecloth Hangers Here's a way to avoid ironing tablecloths (always a worthwhile effort) and free up drawer space. As soon as you wash the tablecloths, fold them lengthwise and store on a hanger in your closet. The cloths remain wrinkle-free until you need to use them. ~*~ After washing out a mustard squeeze bottle, fill it with your favorite cooking oil and keep it on your pantry shelf. It squeezes out a tablespoon of oil for a recipe or for your frying pan with no drips. No more bulky bottles, except to refill your squeeze bottle! ~*~ Rub the top of your meat loaf with cold water before baking it. This will prevent the loaf from cracking. ~*~ Use an old shaving brush to clean pleated lamp shades. The bristles are long enough to remove dust from the folds and soft enough not to injure the fabric. ~*~ Keep Dust Off Plastic Surfaces (televisions, stereo equipment, etc.). Wipe them with a lightly moistened anti-static dryer sheet, such as Bounce. The sheet not only picks up dust - it also contains compounds that eliminate static cling. That disrupts the magnetic-like attraction that plastic surfaces usually have for dust particles, meaning that you will need to dust less frequently. ~*~ Keep Curtains Fresh. Every three months or so, toss them in the dryer on the "air-fluff" setting, with no heat. The tumbling loosens dirt and dust, transferring it to the dryer's filter. Then you simply pull out the lint screen and toss away the layer of debris that it has collected. ~*~ Get Dirt And Dust Off Venetian Blinds. Submerge them, fully extended, in a bathtub filled with warm water and one or two cups of powdered dishwasher detergent. Dip them up and down to clean. Then wipe them with a cloth or kitchen scrub brush. Rest on old towels to dry. This takes half the time and creates much less mess than cleaning them slat by slat. ~*~ The Gas Grill Cleans Itself. Place a double layer on aluminum foil over the cooking grate, so that it is completely covered and drapes over the sides of the grill. Close the grill onto the foil, to seal. Set the grill at a high temperature. Keep covered, until all smoke dissipates. Any burnt-on food will be reduced to a soft, powdery ash that you can whisk away with a small broom and dustpan. ~*~ To keep celery from getting soft pick off leaves, wash, cut away any unwanted pieces. Add a little water to an empty, clean, large mayonnaise jar. Keep celery bunched and slowly slide into the jar, then cover with plastic wrap and an elastic. Keeps it fresh for weeks! You can take out 1 piece at a time and chop for garnishes or use it all. ~*~ When dusting your furniture take the time to go over your light bulbs in your lamps. A quick swipe with he dusting cloth will remove dust and increase your light output by as much as 50%! ~*~ No-mess ginger - Use a garlic press to crush your fresh ginger. Just peel it and squeeze it through. ~*~ Faster biscuits - Instead of rolling out the dough to cut individual biscuits, spoon the dough into a muffin pan. It's less work and they're the same shape. ~*~ Fresher-tasting fish To lessen that "fishy" taste and smell found in frozen fish, thaw it in a bowl of milk. ~*~ Make your own gourmet coffee by adding a few drops of almond, mint, chocolate, cinnamon or other tasty flavoring to the coffee grounds. ~*~ Soap Dish Solution Here's a way to avoid cleaning soap scum off your soap dish. Cut a sponge the size of the soap dish and use it as a pad for your bar soap. The wet soap drips onto the sponge instead of the dish. Clean the sponge simply by rinsing it, and the job is done. ~~*~~ Making Gravy 1. While a roast is cooking, add a little water to the pan drippings if they appear to be evaporating and browning too fast. 2. Beef, chicken or giblet broth in place of water can add more flavor to your gravy. 3. If your gravy is not as dark in color or as rich in flavor as you'd like, add 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon browning sauce (such as Kitchen Bouquet) (NOTE: I have used this for years, and absolutely swear by it. - gravy not only looks great, but the taste is also wonderful-Margo) or soy sauce to 2 cups gravy. 4. Cornstarch has twice the thickening power of flour. If a recipe calls for flour, substitute half the amount of cornstarch. 5. To avoid lumpy gravy, always stir flour or cornstarch into cold water until smooth (I also do this - used to have to strain my gravy to get the lumps out. this takes all the worry out! - Margo)(oh, by the way, they call this a "slurry" if you ever see the term in a recipe) 6. After the flour or cornstarch is combined with all ingredients, be sure to bring the mixture to a boil, then continue boiling for 2 minutes. This step ensures the starch is properly cooked and will eliminate any starchy taste in the gravy. 7. Should lumps for, blend with a wire whisk to break them apart. If the lumps persist, place the gravy in a blender or food processor and process until smooth (or strain :) ) ~*~ To get rid of a lingering odor in the kitchen, bake some orange peels in the oven at 350ºF for about 15 minutes. ~*~ When cut roses start to fade, just take them out of the vase and hang upside down for a week or so until completely dry, then put them back in a vase without water for a dried arrangement that will last almost forever. ~*~If you spill coffee or wine on your carpet and don't have carpet cleaner handy, try shaving cream. Rinse with plain or seltzer water. ~*~ To dot a casserole or pie with butter, use a coarse grater to shred cold butter over the dish. ~*~ When cutting fruit for fruit salad, chop the pineapple first. The acidic juice on the cutting board will prevent apples, pears and other low-acid fruits from darkening. ~~*~~ Clean Your Home 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 twoAlka-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). ~ Unclog a drain. Clear the sink drain by dropping three Alka-Seltzer tablets down the drain followed by a cup of Heinz White Vinegar. Wait a few minutes, then run the hot water. ~~*~~ ~*~ If there are socks that match your baby's outfit, simply pin them to the outfit when you do the laundry. This way you won't be looking all over for them when it's dressing time. ~*~ Love fresh flowers but hate cleaning vases? Place a clear plastic bag in the vase, fill it with water & then insert the flowers. ~~*~~ Here are 3 tips for cooking chicken on the grill (or in the oven)....... 1) Use the skin! You don't have to eat it, but you should always keep the skin intact. Chicken is less expensive when bought this way, but the biggest factor is one of moisture retention. So, as long as you are not cooking your chicken smothered in a sauce, keep that skin on! 2) When applying a rub, lift the skin and apply underneath! Chicken skin is easily lifted from the meat. To apply your rub, simply lift the skin up, rub and then let the skin fall back in place. This way, your rub will penetrate much deeper into the meat. 3) When grilling or cooking, put the skin side UP! This will allow the fat that is being rendered from the skin to flow down and into the meat. ~~*~~ * To banish GARBAGE DISPOSAL odors and clean off the grinder at the same time, freeze leftover lemon or lime wedges, orange peels or other citrus fruit remnants. Then run them through the garbage disposal, followed by a lot of cold water. You can also run fresh citrus fruit waste and drops of peppermint or other extracts down the disposal to deodorize it. * To remove odors from a MICROWAVE, clean the oven with a solution of 4 tablespoons of baking soda stirred into 1 quart of warm water. After washing with the solution, wipe out the inside with a damp cloth or sponge. If odors remain, put 1 cup of water in a large 4-cup microwave-safe bowl and add a few teaspoons of baking soda. Cook on High for about 5 minutes. CAUTION: Don't put your face in front of the door. * To replace unpleasant odors with scents that make the ENTIRE HOUSE smell good, try this homestyle "aromatherapy." Put 1 cup of water and 2 teaspoons of pumpkin-pie spice in a large microwave bowl or 4-cup glass measuring cup and heat on High until it boils. After the boiling point is reached, cook for 3 more minutes. Everyone will think you've been baking pumpkin pies. (Consider buying a pie or two to satisfy the cravings created by the pleasant smells.) Source: "In the Kitchen with Heloise" (adapted) ~*~ Decorate your trees and bushes for the birds. String popcorn and cranberries together for beautiful garlands. Make pine cone hangers by spreading lard on the cone and sprinkling birdseed over the lard, pressing in slightly if needed. ~*~ A teaspoon of sugar for every 3 cups of water used in cooking peas, carrots, cabbage, turnips or onions will improve the flavor. ~*~ Don't throw out all that leftover wine: Freeze into ice cubes for future use in casseroles and sauces ~*~ Don't waste money on those expensive foaming cleaners for your disposal. Pour a small box of baking soda down the disposal then pour in 1 to 1 1/2 cups white distilled vinegar. It will foam and bubble and you'll have a clean, fresh smelling disposal. ~*~ Apply iron-on patches to the underside of the knee portion of children's pants to keep the knees from wearing out or getting baggy. ~*~ To quickly use that frozen juice concentrate, simply mash it with a potato masher~no need to wait for it to thaw! You can also nuke it for a few seconds right in the cardboard container after you remove the top. ~*~ 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! ~*~ To easily remove burnt on food from your skillet, simply add a drop or two of dish soap, or baking soda and enough water to cover bottom of pan, and bring to a boil on stove-top~skillet will be much easier to clean now! ~*~ Spray your tupperware with nonstick cooking spray before pouring in tomato-based sauces~no more stains! ~*~ To remove the smell from a tupperware container, crumple up a page of newspaper and put it in the tupperware for a day. The smell will be gone! ~*~ Transfer your jelly to a small plastic squeeze bottle~no more messy, sticky jars or knives! This also works well for homemade salad dressing! ~*~ To aid in washing dishes, add a tablespoon of baking soda to your soapy water~it softens hands while cutting through grease! ~*~ Save your store-bought-bread bags and ties~they make perfect storage bags for homemade bread! ~*~ For fluffier omelets, add a pinch of cornstarch before beating. ~*~ To put the crunch back into soggy potato chips, pretzels and crackers, simply put them in the microwave on high for 30 to 60 seconds and let stand for 2 minutes. ~*~ Adding a few dried chilies to dried beans, peas and lentils before sealing them into airtight jars will help protect them from insects til a recipe calls for them. ~*~ Keep your party punch icy cold with frozen seedless grapes. Not only will they add festive color, but unlike ice cubes, they won't melt and dilute your punch. ~*~ To ease out a stubborn cork, dip a dish cloth in very hot water and wrap it around the neck of the bottle. The heat will expand the glass and make the cork easier to pull out. ~*~ Reluctant to toss out pretty bath oil and perfume bottles once they're empty? Keep them. With their unusual shapes and colors, they make pretty bud vases. Just soak them in soapy water and rinse well to remove all residue. ~*~ After Easter, save all those eggshells for your garden. Sprinkling crushed shells around your plants will protect them from plant snacking critters that hate to crawl over rough surfaces. ~*~ Keep your bath soap unwrapped and stored in the linen closet. Not only will it scent your linen, but, exposed to the air, the soap will harden and last longer in the bath. ~*~ Mix your own Easter egg dye. Add a few drops of food coloring to 1 cup water and 1/4 cup white vinegar. Thanks again Sandee!