Sunday, October 18, 2009

Sunday Trivia Tidbits...!


My sister Beth sent me these little tidbits of information and I thought I had better pass them on to you!

You know how much I love all the little bits of trivia I find around, and since I had not seen some of these...I figured that some of them may be new to you as well!

If you have not seen them, enjoy! If you already knew them, then why didn't you tell me about them, huh?

Anyway, a few little fun facts for a Sunday! OK? OK!

Peel a banana from the bottom and you won't have to pick the little 'stringy things' off of it.

That's how the primates do it.

Take your bananas apart when you get home from the store. If you leave them connected at the stem, they ripen faster.

Store your opened chunks of cheese in aluminum foil. It will stay fresh much longer and not mold!

Peppers with 3 bumps on the bottom are sweeter and better for eating. Peppers with 4 bumps on the bottom are firmer and better for cooking.

Add a teaspoon of water when frying ground beef. It will help pull the grease away from the meat while cooking.

To really make scrambled eggs or omelets rich add a couple of spoonfuls of sour cream, cream cheese, or heavy cream in and then beat them up.


For a cool brownie treat, make brownies as directed. Melt Andes mints in double broiler and pour over warm brownies. Let set for a wonderful minty frosting.

Add garlic immediately to a recipe if you want a light taste of garlic and at the end of the recipe if your want a stronger taste of garlic.

Leftover snickers bars from Halloween make a delicious dessert. Simply chop them up with the food chopper. Peel, core and slice a few apples. Place them in a baking dish and sprinkle the chopped candy bars over the apples. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes!!! Serve alone or with vanilla ice cream. Yummm!

Reheating pizza...

Heat up leftover pizza in a nonstick skillet on top of the stove, set heat to med-low and heat till warm. This keeps the crust crispy. No soggy micro pizza. I saw this on the cooking channel and it really works.

Easy Deviled Eggs ...

Put cooked egg yolks in a zip lock bag. Seal, mash till they are all broken up. Add remainder of ingredients, reseal, keep mashing it up mixing thoroughly, cut the tip of the baggy, squeeze mixture into egg. Just throw bag away when done easy clean up.

Expanding Frosting...

When you buy a container of cake frosting from the store, whip it with your mixer for a few minutes. You can double it in size. You get to frost more cake/cupcakes with the same amount. You also eat less sugar and calories per serving.

Reheating refrigerated bread ...

To warm biscuits, pancakes, or muffins that were refrigerated, place them in a microwave with a cup of water. The increased moisture will keep the food moist and help it reheat faster.

Newspaper weeds away...

Start putting in your plants, work the nutrients in your soil. Wet newspapers, put layers around the plants overlapping as you go cover with mulch and forget about weeds. Weeds will get through some gardening plastic they will not get through wet newspapers.

Broken Glass...

Use a wet cotton ball or Q-tip to pick up the small shards of glass you can't see easily.

No More Mosquitoes...

Place a dryer sheet in your pocket. It will keep the mosquitoes away.

Squirrel Away!

To keep squirrels from eating your plants, sprinkle your plants with cayenne pepper.

The cayenne pepper doesn't hurt the plant and the squirrels won't come near it.

Flexible vacuum...

To get something out of a heat register or under the fridge add an empty paper towel roll or empty gift wrap roll to your vacuum. It can be bent or flattened to get in narrow openings.

Reducing Static Cling...

Pin a small safety pin to the seam of your slip and you will not have a clingy skirt or dress. Same thing works with slacks that cling when wearing panty hose. Place pin in seam of slacks and ... ta da! ... static is gone.

Measuring Cups...

Before you pour sticky substances into a measuring cup, fill with hot water. Dump out the hot water, but don't dry cup. Next, add your ingredient, such as peanut butter, and watch how easily it comes right out.

Foggy Windshield?

Hate foggy windshields? Buy a chalkboard eraser and keep it in the glove box of your car . When the window s fog, rub with the eraser! Works better than a cloth!

Reopening envelope...

If you seal an envelope and then realize you forgot to include something inside, just place your sealed envelope in the freezer for an hour or two. Viola! It unseals easily.

Conditioner ...

Use your hair conditioner to shave your legs. It's cheaper than shaving cream and leaves your legs really smooth. It's also a great way to use up the conditioner you bought but didn't like when you tried it in your hair.

Goodbye Fruit Flies...

To get rid of pesky fruit flies, take a small glass, fill it 1/2' with Apple Cider Vinegar and 2 drops of dish washing liquid; mix well. You will find those flies drawn to the cup and gone forever!

Get Rid of Ants...

Put small piles of cornmeal where you see ants. They eat it, take it 'home,' can't digest it so it kills them. It may take a week or so, especially if it rains, but it works and you don't have the worry about pets or small children being harmed!


INFO ABOUT CLOTHES DRYERS...

The heating unit went out on my dryer! The gentleman that fixes things around the house for us told us that he wanted to show us something and he went over to the dryer and pulled out the lint filter. It was clean. (I always clean the lint from the filter after every load clothes.)

He told us that he wanted to show us something; he took the filter over to the sink and ran hot water over it. The lint filter is made of a mesh material ... I'm sure you know what your dryer's lint filter looks like. Well ... the hot water just sat on top of the mesh! It didn't go through it at all!

He told us that dryer sheets cause a film over that mesh that's what burns out the heating unit. You can't SEE the film, but it's there. It's what is in the dryer sheets to make your clothes soft and static free ... that nice fragrance too.

You know how they can feel waxy when you take them out of the box ... well this stuff builds up on your clothes and on your lint screen. This is also what causes dryer units to potentially burn your house down with it! He said the best way to keep your dryer working for a very long time (and to keep your electric bill lower) is to take that filter out and wash it with hot soapy water and an old toothbrush (or other brush) at least every six months. He said that makes the life of the dryer at least twice as long! How about that!?!

Learn something new everyday! I certainly didn't know dryer sheets would do that. So, I thought I'd share!

Note: I went to my dryer and tested my screen by running water on it. The water ran through a little bit but mostly collected all the water in the mesh screen. I washed it with warm soapy water and a nylon brush and I had it done in 30 seconds. Then when I rinsed it ... the water ran right through the screen! There wasn't any puddling at all! That repairman knew what he was talking about!

Well, there you have it! Just a few more bits of almost useful trivia from the Hermit! Thanks go out to my big sis (Beth) for sharing these with us today!

Now, my friends, let's get some fresh coffee and sit outside for a bit...I'll furnish the dryer sheets for the 'skeeters, OK?

18 comments:

Catman said...

Hey Jim,

Thanks for the tips.

Here's another one. We're all trying to save a few pennies whenever we can.

If you prefer lean ground beef, but are offered a great price on ground beef that contains more fat, take it home and freeze it.

When you are ready to use it, place the frozen ground beef in a skillet and set the heat to low.

I use a covered cast iron skillet, and it seems to work the best for this.

The fat will melt out of the frozen ground beef. The block of beef can be easily removed from the skillet and the semi solid fat poured or wiped out with a paper towel.

The cottage by the Cranelake said...

I certanly learned a lot now! Tanks for the tips! But reheating pizza? I rather eat it all at once :-)
Have a great day now!
Christer.

Anonymous said...

Thanks HJ, for the tips. I'm going to add them to my Tips & Tricks with your permission. Meanwhile, I'm going to put them into practice.
YeOldFurt

Ben in Texas said...

Thanks for all the tips. I am going to steal them and add to my blog, and email a few of them to friends and family. Again, thanks!!

JoJo said...

Good Morning Special One, great blog today lots of good and useful info. Thank you Beth also.
I made that chicken and dumpling reciept, I cut it way down since it is just me. It was really good. I just don't think it needs to cook that long.
Lets do sit out and have some coffee before the temp rises again.

Ken said...

...Thanx Brother,info worth sharing...

...how many of us have cleaned the dryer screens already ?...lmao

HermitJim said...

Hey Catman...
Now that makes a lot of sense to me. Easy to do, and could save a lot of money over the course of time! Thanks!

I appreciate you sharing that and coming by!


Hey Crister...
I like to do the same thing...or even eat it cold!

Thanks for coming by today, sir!


Hey Jesse...
Always glad to pass on anything given to me, my friend! Share away!

I appreciate you coming by this morning!


Hey Ben...
Glad you found them useful, Ben. The dryer one is pretty amazing, I'll have to admit! I tried it at my mom's house, and wow! What a difference it made!

Thanks for dropping by today, buddy!


Hey JoJo...
It's harder to cook for just one sometimes, than it is for two or more! Have to adjust a lot of recipes!

Thanks, sweetie, for the visit today!

HermitJim said...

Hey Ken...
It's pretty impressive when you see how much of a film stays on the screen. If it won't let water through, then air is going to have a hard time as well!

Good to see you this morning, my friend...I appreciate you coming by!

MamaHen said...

thanks Jim! those are great!

HermitJim said...

Hey ER...
Glad you found them useful, my friend! Always happy to be of service, ya know?

Glad you could take the time to come by today!

JoJo said...

I am really such a dunce sometimes just read my earlier post and saw that I called it a reciept. Guess I didn't have enough coffee in me yet. LOL

HermitJim said...

Hey JoJo...
Don't worry, sweetie! I read hat you meant, NOT what you said! So you're covered...

Thanks, sweetie!

Anonymous said...

Mr Hermit;
Every body can use all your great tips today, and they will be spread around. Especially the dryer tip. Thanks alot & thank Sis as well.

I had a great weekend at the gun show.

See Ya

HermitJim said...

Hey Tony...
Glad you had a good time at the gun show! Always a good way to spend a couple of hours, huh?

Happy that you found the post useful, and I thank you for coming by today!

Kyddryn said...

Nifty stuff, Mister Hermit, sir. I knew the pizza thing...or, at least, I've done that before, back before I had a microwave and used a frying pan or the oven to reheat everything. Come to think of it...I still use the stove and oven to reheat more often than the nuker...I think food stays warm longer and tastes better that way.

I have banana bread for the klatch...

Shade and Sweetwater,
K

HermitJim said...

Hey K...
You know, I think you're right about the food staying warmer when warmed in the oven! Strange how we become such creatures of habit, forsaking things that work for something newer...that turns out NOT to really be an improvement!

I sure do appreciate you dropping by today!

MsBelinda said...

Great tips Hermit Jim, I am really interested in trying out the mosquito and the ant one since it doesn't involve the use of chemicals.

HermitJim said...

Hey Ms. Belinda...
I know that the dryer sheet works for me...but I haven't tried the cornmeal yet!

BTW, I did the water test on my mom's dryer vent...and the water did NOT go through at all. After I cleaned it with soapy water and a brush...water goes right through! Who knew?

I guess that just because it looks clean, doesn't mean it is!