Now Here’s a Tip – December 26, 2023

#MiddleburyCT

• Before you use your grater to grate cheese, give it a quick shot of nonstick spray. It will keep the cheese from gunking up in the grater. If you need softened butter for a recipe, you can grate it from frozen and it will soften up very quickly, but not melt like in a microwave.
• Eliminate the odor of peanut butter after you wash the jar by rinsing it with white vinegar. I use peanut butter jars for storing things in my shop because they are a good size and the twist off top is very secure. One time, the jar smelled like peanut butter and I guess a mouse decided he’d like to get a taste. I found the gnawed-on jar on my outside workbench. Luckily, there wasn’t anything in it. – T.E. in Georgia
• I have found a new way to grocery shop and stay on budget. I use my calculator as I am going through and add up as I go. Once I hit my budget, I can’t get anything else, so I have learned to get the things I really need first (most of them on the perimeter of the store), then shop the aisles for other things. I have stayed on budget for two months, when before I had been going over budget a lot! – E.O. in Oregon
• Clean your cellphone screen often. This is especially important if you have a smartphone. We use our fingers nonstop to touch the phone, then put it directly up to our face. It’s a germ’s paradise. Just remember: A quick swipe with an alcohol cloth might save you from getting the flu this season. Stay healthy!
• When heater season is in full effect – like now – I keep a spray bottle of water to which I add two tablespoons of liquid fabric softener. I spritz the house from time to time, and it will add humidity as well as a pleasant scent, but it also keeps my carpets from making my kids little zappers (from static buildup when dragging their feet!). – M.A. in Ohio

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