Some Helpful Hints (house, buy, accident, temperature)

[Sandhills Guru]

For all you Martha's out there here are some helpful hints plus my own.


Martha's way #1: Stuff a miniature marshmallow in the bottom of
a sugar cone to prevent ice cream drips.

NeSandhill's 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.

Martha'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.

NeSandhill's way: Buy the precooked kind you put in the toaster for 30 seconds. The hard part is getting them out of the plastic bag.

Martha's way #3: To keep potatoes from budding, place an apple
in the bag with the potatoes.

NeSandhill's way: Buy Hungry Jack mashed potato mix and keep it in the pantry for up to a year.

Martha's way #4:To prevent eggshells from cracking, add a pinch
of salt to the water before hard-boiling.

NeSandhill's way: Who cares if they crack, aren't you going to take the shells off anyway?

Martha'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.

NeSandhill's way: Sleep with the lemons in between the mattress and box springs.

Martha'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.

NeSandhill's way: Eat at Chili's every night and avoid cooking.

Martha's way #7: Spray your Tupperware with nonstick cooking
spray before pouring in tomato based sauces and there won't be any stains.

NeSandhill's way: Feed your dog or cat the scraps or garbage disposal and there won't be any leftovers.

Martha'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.

NeSandhill's way: Go to the bakery. They'll even decorate it for you.

Martha'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."

NeSandhill's way: If you over salt a dish while you are cooking, that's too damn bad. My motto: I made it, you will eat it, and I don't care how bad it tastes.

Martha's way #10: Wrap celery in aluminum foil when putting in
the refrigerator and it will keep for weeks.

NeSandhill's is confused here: Celery? Never heard of the stuff.

Martha's way #11: Brush some beaten egg white over pie crust
before baking to yield a beautiful glossy finish.

NeSandhill's way: The Mrs. Smith frozen pie directions do not include brushing egg whites over the crust and so I don't do it.

Martha's way #12: Place a slice of apple in hardened brown sugar
to soften it.

NeSandhill's confused again: Brown sugar is supposed to be "soft"?

Martha's way #13: When boiling corn on the cob, add a pinch of
sugar to help bring out the corn's natural sweetness.

NeSandhill's Way: The only kind of corn I buy comes in a can.

Martha'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.

NeSandhill's way: Eat, cook, or use the egg anyway. If you feel bad later, you will know it wasn't fresh.

Martha's way #15: Cure for headaches: Take a lime, cut it in
half and rub it on your forehead. The throbbing will go away.

NeSandhill's has you figured out now: Martha, 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.

Martha's way #16: Don't throw out all that leftover wine. Freeze
into ice cubes for future use in casseroles and sauces.

NeSandhill's thinks: Leftover wine?

Martha'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.

NeSandhill's way: Drop jar in boiling water and cook away, if it explodes you weren't suppose to eat it anyway, if it don't the heat will surely loosen the lid.

Martha's way #18: Potatoes will take food stains off your
fingers. Just slice and rub raw potato on the stains and rinse with
water.

NeSandhill's thinks: Mashed potatoes will now be replacing the antibacterial soap in the handy dispenser next to my sink.

Martha's way #19: Now look what you can do with Alka Seltzer.
a.. Clean a toilet. Drop in two Alka-Seltzer tablets, wait twenty
minutes, brush and flush. The citric acid and effervescent action clean vitreous china.
b.. 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.
c.. Polish jewelry. Drop two Alka-Seltzer tablets into a glass of
water and immerse the jewelry for two minutes.
d.. 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).

NeSandhill's 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.

[fuzzymystic]

WOW! Thanks, I can't wait to try some of these!

[Sandhills Guru]

She is probably referring to the aluminum foil keeping for weeks.

[fuzzymystic]

Originally Posted by Sandhills Guru

She is probably referring to the aluminum foil keeping for weeks.

D'Oh! You must be right!

[I Am Woman]

#16 definitely works in my house!

[Karla with a K]

rofl !!!
My husband wanted to know what had me laughing at 4:20 am this morning!!
so of course I had to read these to him and started laughing all over again

[mainesnowflake]

I'm with you on #16