Heather says: On relaxing less harried mornings, double a batch of pancakes or waffles for quick reheating on busy mornings. Flash freeze by placing them in a single layer on a baking sheet, freezing and then place the pancakes or waffles in freezer bags.* Alternately, if a baking sheet won’t fit in your freezer. Freeze …
Ivy says: It’s been awhile since Kathy T has graced us with her Stupid Questions. I’m glad they’re back! On with the questions. 1. I’m having a terrible time with my vacuum cleaner. It blows instead of sucking. I know this reads like a dirty back-of-the-video-store room, but it’s my carpet that’s the dirty boy. …
Heather says: It may come as a shock to some of my readers, but I don’t have a whole lot of patience for general pickiness when it comes to meal time. I do not go out of my way to torture my family members, but let’s face it, you can’t please everyone all of the …
Dear Home-Ec 101, What is the best way to clean the tops of ceiling fan blades? That dust gets sticky! Love, Grungy in Grange-Over-Sands Ivy says: Oddly, I enjoy cleaning fan blades. My kids get all grossed out and squeal at the nasty “worms” coming off the fan blades. It’s the awesome. Cleaning fan blades …
Dear Home-Ec 101, I have this nasty smell in my bathroom. It is very hard for me to describe, but I’m OCD and it is driving me nuts. I think I have it pinpointed to the shower stall. I have totally scrubbed it however, I’m very anal about cleaning so it was already clean. I …
Typically, you should be vacuuming your refrigerator coils twice a year with your spring and fall cleaning. Vacuuming the refrigerator coils not only extends the life of your refrigerator, but it helps save electricity because a dusty fridge has to work harder. If you have pets, you should vacuum more often- the more pets, the …
Dear Home Ec 101: This is embarassing, but I can never remember which way to tighten a bolt. ~A nut with more than a few loose screws Heather says: Don’t be ashamed. If you have never been shown, how could you know? There is a simple rhyme to keep things straight: Lefty loosey, righty tighty. …
Ivy says: First, wish Heather a happy birthday! I’m a terrible friend, she had to remind me. Now, for the question du jour: What domestic skill do you wish you had learned? For me, my mother sews like an angel (an angel that sews, anyway), and I wish I had learned that. She no longer …
Dear Home Ec 101: My son will be moving into an apartment and setting up a kitchen for the first time. I’m pretty confident about what kind of hardware (pots, pans, plates, etc) to buy, but what would be a good basic list of staples (salt, pepper, sugar, cannola oil) to set him up with. …
Ivy says: Heather and I were talking last night about how I’m eating about 90% vegetarian nowadays. She suggested I post recipes for y’all, and I laughed, since my cooking is rather haphazard. However, I thought I’d give you guys a primer on how I’m moving from meatatarianism (as my daughter calls it) to vegetarianism. …