KSS,
Thanks for the advice!
However, I will take issue with a couple of these tips. Or I wouldn't be me:
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Take your bananas apart when you get home from the store. If you leave them connected at the stem, they ripen faster.
Ripening faster is a bad thing?
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Store your opened chunks of cheese in aluminum foil. It will stay fresh much longer and not mold!
Baking parchment works even better. Wrap the cheese in parchment (or butcher paper) and then wrap that bundle in foil or plastic.
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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.
I'd love to see some blind testing on this. I think the above is a myth.
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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.
... or
both at the beginning and the end, if you're me.
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4. 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.
Better not to use the microwave at all, and use the oven.
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7. No More Mosquitoes
Place a dryer sheet in your pocket. It will keep the mosquitoes away.
Anyone tested this? Seems unlikely, at best.
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8. 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.
I'm gonna test this one as soon as it stops raining. If it doesn't work, time to get out the blowgun.
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15. 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!
If you try this in California, you will end up just attracting more fruit flies into the house.
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16. 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 & you don't have the worry about pets or small children being harmed!
I'm not sure I believe this one. Anyone tested it?
Here's something I know works for ants in the kitchen: orange peel oil. Such as that in Orange Guard or various natural cleansers. You spray it in crevices, and ants won't go near it because it's like tear gas to their delicate sense of smell.
My tips:
If you spill red wine on cloth or upholstery, cover it heavily with salt while it's still wet. This will substantially reduce staining.
Baking soda paste will also help remove fresh grease stains from items which are not launderable (like suede).