The Gardens Gazette

23 Clever Food Storage Tips

10/29/2016

Received 10-29-2016
Sent by Nancy H
Source Buzzfeed

1. Prevent brown sugar clumps by tossing a marshmallow or two in the container. Read more.

2. Keep the halves of avocado fresh by storing them in an airtight container on a bed of roughly chopped onions. Watch video.

3. Cut the leaves and roots off of celery, wrap it in a paper towel, then wrap that in foil. Read more.

4. Get rid of any mold spores lurking on your berries or greens by rinsing them well in vinegar water before putting them in your fridge. Read more.

5. After you’re done washing your produce, put it in a plastic bag or glass container with a folded-over paper towel inside to soak up extra water.
Read more.

6. Wrap onions individually in (clean, unworn) pantyhose, then store them in a cool, dry place. Read more.

7. Cut half an inch off the bottom of your asparagus, then store it in water in the fridge. Read more.

8. Make a batch of smoothies, then freeze them in mason jars so they last at least three weeks. Read more.

9. If after cooking you have way too many extra green onions, chop them up and freeze them in an empty water bottle (plastic OR glass). Read more.

10. Flip your all-natural nut butters upside down to keep them from separating. Read more.

11. Freeze tablespoons of tomato paste so you never waste the second half of a can of tomato paste again. Read more.

12. Then freeze any extra fresh herbs in olive oil, so they’re easy to drop into stews, pastas, and scrambled eggs. Read more.

13. Or go ahead and store them in moist paper towels or in jars with water. Read more.

14. When you’re not using it, store your butter in the back of your fridge, not in the butter spot in the front door of your fridge. Read more.

15. Separate your bananas and wrap each stem in a small amount of plastic wrap to help them last longer. Read more.

16. Whether you used half a carton of chicken broth for dinner or got fancy and made your own, store the leftovers by freezing them. Read more.

17. Make extra soup, then ladle it into red Solo cups to freeze. Grab one or two cups’ worth to defrost anytime you need a quick dinner. Read more.

18. Store a cut loaf of bread in a paper bag, cut-side down. Read more.

19. Pour your paper bag of flour into an airtight glass jar. Read more.

20. Stash leftover pizza slices in a plastic bag to keep them from drying out in the fridge. Read more.

21. Store your milk in the coldest part of the fridge — the back of the middle shelf. Read more.

22. Make a double portion of cookie dough to use the next time guests come over, divide the layers with wax paper, then freeze them. Read more.

23. Do the same thing with a sliced chocolate cake for the evenings.
Read more.

Source Buzzfeed

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A Pig In A Poke

10/29/2016

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Received 10-29-2016
Sent by Nancy H
Source Phrasefinder

Meaning of a pig in a poke

An offer or deal that is foolishly accepted without being examined first.

Origin

'Don't buy a pig in a poke' might seem odd and archaic language. It's true that the phrase is very old, but actually it can be taken quite literally and remains good advice.

The advice being given is 'don't buy a pig until you have seen it'. This is enshrined in British commercial law as 'caveat emptor' - Latin for 'let the buyer beware'. This remains the guiding principle of commerce in many countries and, in essence, supports the view that if you buy something you take responsibility to make sure it is what you intended to buy.

A poke is a sack or bag. It has a French origin as 'poque' and, like several other French words, its diminutive is formed by adding 'ette' or 'et' - hence 'pocket' began life with the meaning 'small bag'. Poke is still in use in several English-speaking countries, notably Scotland and the USA, and describes just the sort of bag that would be useful for carrying a piglet to market.

Continue reading on Phrasefinder.

Copyright © Gary Martin, 1996 - 2016

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Fourteen Clever Deep Cleaning Tips

9/5/2016

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Sent by Nancy H
Posted: 10-15-2016

Fourteen Clever Deep Cleaning Tips and
Tricks Every Clean Freak Needs To Know

Read the howto instructions at Postris.com

A clean home is a sign of a healthy lifestyle. Living in a clean house is so important for your health and your overall sense of well-being. But home cleaning can be tedious and time consuming task. If you don't have those extra 4 to 8 hours per week, and you want to feel good about your home, then you should learn some deep cleaning tricks, that will help you to do this task efficiently.

1. Remove Kitchen Cabinets Gunk Using Just Two Ingredients
2. Clean Your Brush In a Minute
3. Clean Your Gross Steam Iron With Baking Soda
4. Clean Any Floor Like a Pro
5. Clean Your Kitchen Sink & Disposal
6. How to Shine Cloudy Glassware
7. Clean Fan Blades Without a Dusty Mess
8. Clean Your TV screen With a Coffee Filter
9. Repairing a Cast Iron Skillet
10. Clean Up a Nail Polish Spill
11. Clean a Glass Cooktop Fast and Easy
12. Clean Your Washer The Easiest Way
13. Your Ultimate Home Cleaning Routine
14. Clean Like a Maid Cheat Sheet

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Brain Teaser: In a Pickle

8/31/2016

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Brain Teaser: In a Pickle
from Nancy H
Receive date: 8-27-2016
Draft date: 8-31-2016
Post date: 9-5-2016

Meaning: In a quandary or some other difficult position.
Origin
The earliest pickles were spicy sauces made to accompany meat dishes. Later, in the 16th century, the name pickle was also given to a mixture of spiced, salted vinegar that was used as a preservative. The word comes from the Dutch or Low German pekel, with the meaning of 'something piquant'. Later still, in the 17th century, the vegetables that were preserved, for example cucumbers and gherkins, also came to be called pickles.

The 'in trouble' meaning of 'in a pickle' was an allusion to being as disoriented and mixed up as the stewed vegetables that made up pickles. This was partway to being a literal allusion, as fanciful stories of the day related to hapless people who found themselves on the menu. The earliest known use of pickle in English contains such an citation. The Morte Arthure, circa 1440, relates the gory imagined ingredients of King Arthur's diet:

“He soupes all this sesoun with seuen knaue childre, Choppid in a chargour of chalke-whytt syluer, With pekill & powdyre of precious spycez.
[He dines all season on seven rascal children, chopped, in a bowl of white silver, with pickle and precious spices] “

The figurative version of the phrase, meaning simply 'in a fix' or, in the almost identical 19th century phr:ase 'in a stew', arrives during the next century. Thomas Tusser's Five Hundreth Pointes of Good Husbandrie, 1573, contains this useful advice:

“Reape barlie with sickle, that lies in ill pickle.”

Presumably, barley that wasn't in ill pickle, that is, the corn that was standing up straight, would be cut with the larger and more efficient scythe.
There are a few references to ill pickles and this pickle etc. in print in the late 16th century, and Shakespeare was one of the first to use in a pickle, in The Tempest, 1610:
“ALONSO:
And Trinculo is reeling ripe: where should they
Find this grand liquor that hath gilded 'em?
How camest thou in this pickle?

“TRINCULO:
I have been in such a pickle since I
saw you last that, I fear me, will never out of
my bones: I shall not fear fly-blowing.”

A return to the more literal interpretation of the phrase came about in the late 1700s. The Duke of Rutland had toured Britain and wrote up his experiences in a travelogue - Journal of a Tour to the Northern Parts of Great Britain, 1796. He was present at the disinterment of the 350 year-old body of Thomas Beaufort, which he claimed to have been pickled and 'as perfect as when living':

“The corpse was done up in a pickle, and the face wrapped up in a sear cloth.”

Nelson - In a pickle. Just nine years later the most celebrated personage ever to have been literally in a pickle, Admiral Horatio Nelson, met his end, although some pedants might argue that, being preserved in brandy, he found himself in more of a liquor than a pickle.
Copyright © Gary Martin, 1996 - 2016

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Helpful Tips: Hand Sanitizer Emergency Uses

8/31/2016

3 Comments

Helpful Tips: Hand Sanitizer Emergency Uses
from Nancy H
Receive date: 8-26-2016
Draft date: 8-30-2016
Post date: 9-3-2016

1. Fire starter. You need as many ways to start fire in your bug-out bag as possible. You hopefully already have a lighter, matches and a magnesium flint striker. But even that is not enough. You should also include cotton balls, some premade kindling, and hand sanitizer, too. The hand sanitizer works due to the high levels of alcohol in it. And it can help start a fire in the rain. One of the most efficient ways to start fire is to apply some hand sanitizer either onto the cotton balls or onto the premade kindling. It will light up as soon as it comes in contact with a spark.
2. Cleaning material To remove stains from clothing, often our first thought is to turn to a cleaning solution or a stain removal product designed specifically for that purpose. But hand sanitizer will work. Simply rub the stain – ink stain, blood stain — with some hand sanitizer, and most, if not all. of the stain should go away. Hand sanitizer can also work in this manner to get rid of paint stains. You can even use your hand sanitizer on used paint brushes, and much of the paint embedded into the fibers of the paint brush will wash away.
3. Glue remover. When you need to remove glue or similar material, applying just a little bit of hand sanitizer to the glued area will get the job done. This same logic also applies to sticky labels. Hand sanitizer corrects that problem.
4. Sticky residue: Remove sticky residue from labels.
5. Mosquito bites: Stop mosquito bites from itching
6. Deodorant: For emergency deodorant: wipe it on and let it dry. Don’t do this on freshly-shaved pits, though.
7. Mirrors and windows: Clean mirrors and windows in a pinch. (Bonus: it will prevent frost and fogging!)
8. Emergency disinfectant: Disinfect minor wounds in an emergency.
9. Pine pitch remover:: Get sticky pine pitch off your hands and other surfaces
.

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