Do you have a secret trick?

sammyjammy

PollyWollyDoodle said:

If you're doing jacket spuds, don't pierce them with a fork to stop the skin splitting.  Use a sharp knife to cut a shallow groove round the long circumference of the potato. It will stop it exploding in the oven, and when it's cooked the potato will neatly split in half without needing a knife, ready for eating. 

I'm late to this thread but if you have metal skewers stick one through your potato, it will cook much quicker

sammyjammy

halfamo said:

MIL's trick was to have a tray by the stairs so she could take things up that belonged there and then take things down when going the other way. You could easily use a small basket for that too.

I would end up with several tray/baskets  stairs are a horror for me, my sister bought me a stair basket, its always full at the bottom and never gets taken up and emptied, I invariably have a pair of shoes on each step as well 

Siebrie

@sammyjammy I can only suggest that, if stairs are a horror for you, you shouldn't clutter them with shoes and baskets! Find a system that works for you and keep you safe!

London_1

Its an oldie, but for me a useful one.
 I have two empty clean plastic 2 litre screw-topped milk bottles I pierced the lids with a knitting needle several times, and when I have spare water i.e. from the washing up bowl, or the shower, until it runs hot I fill the bottles and use them as mini watering cans for my plants in the garden

As I have mobility problems, one of my arms is weak, so I cannot carry a heavy watering can, this does two jobs 

A. Easier for me to carry out to the garden when full 

B. No wasted water going down the drain that  I have paid for. 

Plus instead of having to over water the lawn or flower beds it keeps my water bills down as no water gets wasted. my monthly water rate bills are now £7,60 a month. I'm not too fussed about grass as it will always survive , but my DGS has planted some onions sets and some seed potatoes so any spare water gets used on them

Hope it helps the less mobile gardeners amongst us Handy if you have patio pots as well.

JackieO xx

weenancyinAmerica

@London_1 - glad to see you posting more hints on the sites. When you were ailing, you weren't posting much and you were missed. I love looking for your hints on the different sites. Hope you keep getting better. 

DiamondLil

London_1 said:

Its an oldie, but for me a useful one.
 I have two empty clean plastic 2 litre screw-topped milk bottles I pierced the lids with a knitting needle several times, and when I have spare water i.e. from the washing up bowl, or the shower, until it runs hot I fill the bottles and use them as mini watering cans for my plants in the garden

As I have mobility problems, one of my arms is weak, so I cannot carry a heavy watering can, this does two jobs 

A. Easier for me to carry out to the garden when full 

B. No wasted water going down the drain that  I have paid for. 

Plus instead of having to over water the lawn or flower beds it keeps my water bills down as no water gets wasted. my monthly water rate bills are now £7,60 a month. I'm not too fussed about grass as it will always survive , but my DGS has planted some onions sets and some seed potatoes so any spare water gets used on them

Hope it helps the less mobile gardeners amongst us Handy if you have patio pots as well.

JackieO xx

London_1 said:

Its an oldie, but for me a useful one.
 I have two empty clean plastic 2 litre screw-topped milk bottles I pierced the lids with a knitting needle several times, and when I have spare water i.e. from the washing up bowl, or the shower, until it runs hot I fill the bottles and use them as mini watering cans for my plants in the garden

As I have mobility problems, one of my arms is weak, so I cannot carry a heavy watering can, this does two jobs 

A. Easier for me to carry out to the garden when full 

B. No wasted water going down the drain that  I have paid for. 

Plus instead of having to over water the lawn or flower beds it keeps my water bills down as no water gets wasted. my monthly water rate bills are now £7,60 a month. I'm not too fussed about grass as it will always survive , but my DGS has planted some onions sets and some seed potatoes so any spare water gets used on them

Hope it helps the less mobile gardeners amongst us Handy if you have patio pots as well.

JackieO xx

Stood upright, this trick keeps cats out of the garden too; which is a blessing in a garden that's used as a toilet for all the local cats.

sammyjammy

Green_hopeful said:

Keep you fridge smelling nice with a couple of unused teabags. They suck up any yucky smells. Don’t use them to make tea afterwards. There was a thing on TV about cleaning carpets with tea so maybe it is well known. 

They used used tea leaves on carpets in the days before vacuum cleaners when they just had a sweeping brush and they still use them on carpets in stately homes where too much vacuuming will wear it away

London_1

sammyjammy said:

Green_hopeful said:

Keep you fridge smelling nice with a couple of unused teabags. They suck up any yucky smells. Don’t use them to make tea afterwards. There was a thing on TV about cleaning carpets with tea so maybe it is well known. 

They used used tea leaves on carpets in the days before vacuum cleaners when they just had a sweeping brush and they still use them on carpets in stately homes where too much vacuuming will wear it away

I can remember my late Mum doing this with tea leaves and using her Ewbank Carpet sweeper to brush them up from our lounge carpet (lounge was the best room in the house, only used when we had visitors or Christmas or if the vicar called,  and she had a lovely carpet square on the parquet floor.

Most of the time we were in what we called the kitchen ,but it was really a large square kitchen/ dining room, but the cooking went on in the scullery attached
We live in a freezing cold barn of an Edwardian pile, my Dad had bought after WW2 for silly money because it was huge and impossible to keep warm
On three floors we, as the family lived on the ground floor, and the upstairs rooms were too large to heat economically so were left empty and my two brothers and I used them as play rooms.

Thirteen rooms and the five of us lived on the 6 ground floor rooms plus the cellar which was off the scullery. The hall was bigger than my existing house ground floor.

My late Mum hated the place ,but the garden was very large, so she ,being a keen gardener put up with it. But it must have been a dreadful place looking back on it to keep warm .

I know I loathed the winter there as we always seemed to never have enough coal ,but the 'kitchen' had a large range which threw out a good deal of heat, but the bedrooms were always chilly in the winter time

By 1957 even my Dad had to admit it was too large to be economical, and he sold it and bought a more modern house I didn't miss the cold but I did miss the large garden. T

oday the house is still there ,but the garden was sold off ,and four houses built in it ,and the house was divided up into apartments .God knows what they cost today as its a grade two listed building I know I remember my Mum saying once why you spent £1400 on this place I will never know
Just think 13 rooms, two bathrooms and a huge garden for £1400 today  

JackieO xx

Spendless

My gosh Jackie that is a big house and all the time I was reading it before I got to the end I was thinking wonder how much that is worth now -lol. I have some friends that lived in what I didn't even consider to be that large a property as I grew up and they have also been knocked down since and more than 1 dwelling built in it's place.

Late to this thread and haven't read all replies so apologies if I'm repeating something but for years and years, I've taken veg out of packets when I've bought them, wiped any moisture off and put them in the salad drawer with a wad of kitchen roll underneath, which I change after a few days if I feel it's become damp. It is very rare I have veg go off due to doing this. 

I take all the bits that you don't tend to put in main dishes eg the stalk/bulb of broccoli/celery. the top leaves of spring onions, celery leaves and make them into Veg soup.  

Pollie

Spendless, rather than keep paying for kitchen roll, would you consider using a tea towel or j cloth in the bottom of the drawer which could be washed, dried and re-used?