Tuesday Tip: Bacon on Parchment Paper

My aunt came to visit a few weeks ago and taught me about parchment paper.  I can honestly say I had never used it before and told her so.  Her response: "Every good southerner should know about parchment paper."  And yes, now I only cook my bacon on it but also used it for all of my holiday cookie baking and it worked like a charm...and clean up was a cinch! 

I'm sure you all know about baking your bacon in the oven which is now my preferred method of choice.  No grease splattering all over the stove top and it turns out perfectly every time (as long as I don't forget about it and set the fire alarm off!!).  My children love bacon so I cook it frequently since, let's be honest, there isn't a lot that they will eat in the way of meat (or anything for that matter).  Before, I was pouring the grease out into a jar.  Now, when I cook it on parchment paper, the grease stays on the paper and I can simply toss it out.  Voila!

Tuesday Tip: Luxardo, baby!

About 2 weeks ago if you asked me if I even liked bourbon, much less drank it on the regular, I'd tell you emphatically "no way"!!  But then my husband came home with the most magical liquor called Luxardo and now I cannot get enough of his Manhattans.  I can't tell you how many times I've tasted his Manhattan and just cringed but this magical ingredient, Luxardo, has converted me and it will change your world as well! 

Luxardo liquor originated in Croatia in the early 1800's and was made from the maraschino cherry (see cherry commentary below) pits. The distillery was eventually moved to Italy in the early 1900's which is where many people mistakenly associate its origins.  Besides having a recipe that has stood the test of time, you'll still find fifth and sixth generation Luxardo family members running the distillery!  How's that for a family business?  You can get a longer history lesson here if you are interested. 

Cherry note: PLEASE do not confuse these marachino cherries with the jarred, food-dyed cherries you find in the grocery store now...marachino cherries came from a special type of cherry called the Marsaca cherry that isn't grown in the United States.  After these imported cherries became super popular in the United States, people began preserving their own cherries in things like almond extract and eventually the marachino cherry as we know it today evolved.  But, thankfully it is easy enough to get Luxardo cherries today (can we say Amazon?!) although you will find them to be much more expensive than the grocery store version.  But let me tell you, it is a) worth the splurge and b) they last a long time. 

Without futher adieu, here is my husband's version of a Manhattan:

The Jack Jones Manhattan
1.5 jiggers of bourbon
.5 jigger Luxardo
1 jigger Vermouth (use the good kind - it makes a difference)
dash of bitters
splash of Luxardo cherry juice and a Luxardo cherry (or two!)

Oh, and just one of these Manhattan's will do ya ;)

Cheers!

Tuesday Tip: Rejuvenate your Champagne

Now, for most of my friends, having leftover bottles of champagne is an unlikely scenario.  But, for those of you who don't indulge in champagne a bottle at a time, here is a handy little trick I learned thanks to Real Simple!

Drop a single raisin into an opened bottle of champagne and it will restore the bubbles to your bubbly!

Image from here.

Tuesday Tip: How to Make your House Smell like the Holidays!

Simmering potpourri over the stove top is something that my mom used to do all the time and I love doing this around the holidays to make the house smell so cozy and holiday-esque.  You can mix up the recipe depending on what you have on hand.

What You'll Need:
1 orange, halved
1-2 lemons, halved
3-4 sprigs of fresh rosemary
3-4 fresh cinnamon sticks
1 Tbsp of cloves
3 cups of apple cider
fresh cranberries (these don't really add any scent but I like the pop of color they lend)
water

What You'll Do:
In a large pot, add the citrus.

Add the other dry ingredients.

Add the cider.  Fill up the rest of the pot with water.

Simmer over low heat and add water as it evaporates.  Just remember, this is a potpurri - I don't recommend drinking this!  Don't forget to turn the stove off if you leave the house!!  This is a great thing to do before you have guests over - they will all comment on how great your house smells!

#adornedabode #christmas #christmassmells

Tuesday Tip: Perfectly Cooked (and moist!) Grilled Chicken

About once a week now we've been having a yummy salad for dinner.  We are trying to not only be healthier but it makes for a really simple supper.  And it is super easy to change up different ingredients so you don't get tired of the same thing.

The thing that really sets a dinner salad off to me is to have a nice fresh grilled piece of warm chicken breast over the cold of the other salad ingredients.

The easiest thing to do to get super moist grilled chicken is to marinade it in Italian dressing.  I use fat free and just season the chicken with a little bit of salt and pepper.  If you have a couple of hours, that'll do the trick but if you can marinate it for at least a day in the fridge, you'll notice the difference.

I like to marinate mine in a big ziplock freezer bag.  I think it helps all of the dressing coat the chicken but it also makes for really easy clean up.

I cook mine on a gas grill 'cause I cannot be bothered with all that charcoal nonsense - and, we are trying to be speedy about this, right?

I preheat the grill on high (all four burners) and make sure that the chicken has sat out of the fridge for at least 30 minutes to take the chill off.  Plop that chicken on the grill and resist the urge to turn it for at least 5 minutes (especially if you've got thicker cut breasts).  It'll make sure that you get a nice good char on the outside.  Turn the chicken over and repeat on the other side.

Remove from the grill and let sit for about 3-4 minutes so that the juices redistribute.

I actually made this batch for my book club and accidentally bought thinner chicken breasts than I normally prefer but you get the point.

I can't take all the credit for this yummy chicken...George Washington helped.

Tuesday Tip: Lots of Lime Juice (or lemon...)

My husband never ceases to amaze me.  Sometimes I wonder how he would get  by in life if I wasn't doing things to keep this house going (watering plants, taking out the garbage, buying paper towels and cleaning supplies - just to name a few).  And then, he'll just come out with this tip that is so "DUH!" but so helpful.

My favorite one still is when he taught me that if you put a wooden spoon over a pot of boiling water, it won't boil over.  I blogged about that here.

Then the other night we were making pork tacos and they marinade for the pork takes about a zillion limes.  I rolled the lime a few times under my hand to try to extract the juices and I could hardly get any juice out despite my little trick.  I told my husband he was going to have to roll the limes around because I clearly wasn't pressing had enough.

And that's when he said, "Don't you know?  Just pop it in the microwave for 10-15 seconds."  And dang if that didn't work like a miracle - the juice came pouring out of that babies after that!

Images via here.

Tuesday Tip: Removing Water Stains from Wood

Several months ago my husband put something wet down on our wood dining table and it left water marks.  Not rings but these weird smudgy looking marks:

No matter how much I wiped the table they wouldn't come off.  It has been driving me CRAZY looking at it.  Instead of looking into how to fix it, I have just been secretly shopping for a new dining room table.  Problem solved, right?  Well, not when my husband said that we are NOT buying a new table right now.  So, I had to look into a more cost efficient option.

I'm embarrassed that the table has been looking like this for months (thank goodness for my cute ikat tablecloth).  But, I'm even more embarrassed that I read about this tip well over a month ago and it has taken me this long to try it.  That said, the good news is IT WORKED!

All you do is take a hot iron and a damp towel and iron over the stained part of the wood.  Like magic, the stain is removed:

I'm so happy that it worked (but kicking myself at how long it took me to try this!).

Tuesday Tip: Disposable Shower Cap as Shoe Bag

I haven't done a Tuesday tip in a while.  I saw this on (where else) Pinterest and had to share.  It originally came from Fab Finds Under $50 and I think it is such a great idea!

I hate putting shoes in with my clean clothes when I am packing.  Now, problem solved!

Tuesday Tip: New Use for a Lazy Susan

I was cleaning out a closet and came across a Lazy Susan that we received as a gift that I hadn't used yet.  I don't have a lot of table top space for it so I decided to put it in the fridge.  It sure does make it easier to find things and totally saves space!

Tuesday Tip: New Uses for Coffee Grounds

• Clean your hands. Rub a scoop of grounds between palms as an exfoliant to remove dead skin and help eliminate smells from foods like fish and garlic.

image from here

• Grow blue hydrangeas.  Work grounds into the soil at the base of mophead hydrangeas to increase the acidity level. This helps the shrubs absorb aluminum, which you can add to the soil to keep the flowers a vibrant blue.

• Repel insects. Mound grounds into a ring to create a protective border around plants that will ward off ants and slugs.

• Clean dishes.  Place a few teaspoons of grounds on a thin cleaning rag and use to scour away grease and grime. Finish with a thorough rinsing.

All taken from This Old House.  More coffee tips found here.

Tuesday Tips: Protective Storing and Moving for your Dishes

I HATE moving.  It is one of the most stressful things to me.  But man, I do love unpacking and reorganizing.  And, I do like the opportunity to purge a few things.  We moved 8 months ago into our house.  I hope we will eventually grow out of it because of kids but in the meantime, I am thankful that we don't have to move again any time soon.

That said, when I do, I am going to remember this trick - protecting your dishes when packing with styrofoam disposable plates as demonstrated by TheFrugalGirls.com:

This is a trick that my grandmother always used with her china and I still have most of her things stacked up like this, just as she had them (except when I use them, of course!).  She used coffee filters to protect dainty china when it was stacked.

Cost effective and simple.  If you use filters smaller than the plates, you can still display them openly on your shelves and no one will know that the filters are there!

Both images from Pinterest here and here.

Tuesday Tip: 5 Uses for Vodka I bet you never thought of!

This one is courtesy of my pops.

Goo Remover: Got a price tag, sticker or label that just won't peel off? Bring on the vodka. Simply saturate a sponge (or paper towel) with the strong stuff, apply to the sticker and wait about a minute. The paper (and tacky residue) will come right off.
Chrome "shiner": Restore the beauty of chrome fixtures in seconds with this easy trick. Just moisten a soft cloth with vodka, then rub down the fixture. Good as new. (This will also work on porcelain and glass!)
Room Deodorizer: Since air fresheners can often leave a room smelling worse, try this no-odor fix. Fill a spritzer bottle with a 1:1 ratio of water to vodka (this is a good time for the cheap stuff) and mist the air. Surprisingly, the room won't smell like a vodka martini.
Bouquet Preserver: Bacteria growth can make a pretty bouquet fade fast. To prevent this, add a few drops of vodka to every time you change the water. The flowers will stay lovelier longer.
Shower Cleaner: The moist, humid environment inside a bathroom can often lead to mold. To clean AND prevent it from happening again, spritz the shower, curtain liner and all, with vodka. Chemical-free and effective.

Image and info from here.

Tuesday Tip: Turning a little nook into something

There's a little space behind the door in our living room.  It wasn't being used but I knew it had potential.  I don't think these pictures show how cute it really is.  It was sort of a last minute decision.  We bought this hook from the Container Store a few weeks ago.  As much as I love lucite, it is hard to believe this is the first lucite looking piece I own!

Then I remembered this great mirror I found at a thrift store a few years ago.  I was this close to painting it white so that it would stand out against the wall but at the last minute chickened out.  I just love the look and texture of the mirror as it currently is and now I'm glad I didn't change it.  So, I hung the mirror and then my new hook underneath for scarves.  I have the perfect little nook to check my hair or makeup before I leave the house and pick from one of my scarves to accessorize!

It is amazing what defining a purpose for an unused nook can do to the room!

Tuesday Tip: Coffee Filters in your Potted Plants

I saw this on Pinterest via This Old House and thought it was pure genius.  Why haven't I known about this before?  Put coffee filters at the base of your pots so water drains out but soil does not.  I don't drink coffee but now I have a use for filters!

Tuesday Tip: Wrangle Your Wrapping Paper

This tip is so obvious and so ingenious at the same time. Cut open an empty roll of toilet paper and use it to keep your wrapping paper from unrolling.

Image from Pinterest.

Tuesday Tip: Walnuts as a Wood Repair Tool

Check it out: Use a walnut on scuffed wood and watch the blemishes vanish. 

Tuesday Tip: Easy Candle Holder Clean Up

Thanks to Real Simple for this idea:

Cooking Spray as Candlestick Cleaner

Celebrating by candlelight? Spray the inside of a votive holder with a thin coating before dropping in a tea light. After the candle has burned down, the remaining wax will slip out.

There is a whole list of other great tips and tricks that Real Simple compiled - found here.

Tuesday Tip: Ice Proof your Windows

It's been a while since I've done a Tuesday Tip, huh?  I dried up for a while.  Anyway, here is a good one:

Fill a spray bottle with three parts white vinegar to one part water & spritz it on all your windows at night. In the morning, they'll be clear of ice!

No more scraping!!

Tuesday Tip: Martha's Sewing Kit in a Jar

This is one of my girl Martha's from back in 2006 but I saw it again recently and thought it was a cute and useful idea.  Here's the how-to:

With just a little retrofitting, an old-fashioned Mason jar can become a new sewing kit with a built-in pincushion on top. To begin, separate the lid's sealer and screw cap. Trace around sealer on cardboard. Using a compass, draw another circle on linen or cotton, 1 inch larger in diameter than the first. Cut out both circles; make cushion by placing batting between fabric and cardboard. Turn screw cap upside down, and apply hot glue to inside edge of rim; quickly press cushion into lid until cloth protrudes smoothly above screw cap's opening and cardboard is flush against rim. Apply hot glue around edge of cardboard, fold over excess fabric, and press down. Glue top of sealer to cardboard. Fill jar.

Tuesday Tip: Making Fresh Strawberries Last Longer

My friend Reeves over at Bungalow Bum taught me this tip and it really works. 

Take fresh strawberries out of the plastic container from the grocery store and layer them in a dish on top of a dry dish towel in a single layer (preferably not touching each other).  Cover them up with the towel and store in the refrigerator.  Strawberries will last at least two times longer!  Thanks, Reeves!