Best Cookies Ever!

Storing holiday cookies?
Keep them soft by adding a slice of apple to the container (do change it frequently). And never store soft and crispy cookies together.

Damper Advice

Keep your fireplace damper closed unless a fire is going. Keeping the damper open is like keeping a 48-inch window wide open during the winter -- it allows warm air to go right up the chimney.

Herbs in Window Boxes

If you don't have room for herbs in your garden, consider planting herbs in window boxes. Choose a sunny south window for your herb window box, and fill it with a good quality potting mix. Use four plants in a two foot window box, or six plants in a three foot box. Chives can be planted more densely. Many herbs lose flavor if they are fed too much fertilizer, so use half-strength liquid fertilizer or a half dose of slow released fertilizer. Any of these herbs will do well in a sunny window box, but some may require frequent pruning to keep them down to a reasonable size:

Chives
Tarragon
Oregano
Thyme
Basil
Sage

Green Is The Word

It's easy to be green with the following eco-friendly tips and facts:


1. Recycling ONE aluminum can saves enough energy to run a t.v. for 3 hours

2. 60,000 trees would be saved if EVERY household reused a paper bag for just 1 shopping trip

3. Reycyling plastic saves TWICE as much energy as burning it in a incinerator

4. Producing 1 lb of recycled rubber uses ONLY 29% of the energy it takes to produce new rubber

**These tips and facts save the enviroment and saves all of us money- TELL EVERYONE YOU KNOW and preserve this beautiful earth

Chew on this One

The experts all advise that if you think you're having a heart attack, the first thing you should do is chew an aspirin tablet.
But because aspirin starts to break up as soon as it touches your tongue, why chew it instead of swallowing it?

Here's why, when measured the length of time it took for the aspirin to inhibit blood clotting, which is the reason to take it after a heart attack. Swallowing a whole aspirin takes 12 minutes to have any effect on your blood's clotting time; drinking a liquid remedy containing aspirin takes seven minutes to work, but chewing a regular aspirin tablet shows benefits in only five minutes.

Cutting Back Geraniums

If you're overwintering your geraniums indoors, they are probably getting tall and leggy because of the reduced light indoors. Now is a good time to cut them back to about a foot in height. Save a few 4 to 6- inch pieces to root. Dip the cut end of the stems in rooting hormone, then place them in a pot filled with a mixture of peat moss and sand. Keep the pot out of direct light while the cuttings take root, which should take a few weeks. Don't tug on the stems to test for roots -- you'll damage any tender rootlets that are forming. When new growth appears, you'll know that your cuttings have rooted.

Tape or Tweezers?

When you get a splinter, reach for the roll of tape before resorting to tweezers or a needle. Simply put a strip of clear plastic tape over the splinter, then pull it off. Tape removes most splinters painlessly and easily.

Winter Home& Garden Tips

A few tips on savings for the winter:

1. Set your thermostat as low as will keep you comfortable in the winter.
2. Clean or replace filters on furnaces once a month.
3. Clean warm-air registers, baseboard heaters, and radiators as needed.
4. Place heat-resistant radiator reflectors between exterior walls and the radiators.


Seeds You Can Start Indoors Now

Cool weather perennials such as Columbine and Hellebores can be started indoors now and transplanted outdoors in two or three months. The seeds need a chilling period and should be placed in the refrigerator for at least three weeks before planting. They can take up to a month to germinate, so don't give up on them too soon. Columbine seeds need light to germinate, so don't cover them with soil.

Saving Forced Bulbs

Have you ever wanted to save your bulbs and was not sure how or if? Here is what you can do to achieve your goal, it may take awhile but it is worth the effort.

Paperwhites, tulips and hyacinths that have been forced indoors don't usually rebloom the next year, even if planted outdoors. If you have forced bulbs that you would like to try to save, cut off the flower stalk and keep the bulb watered and fertilized. Keep the bulbs in a sunny window until danger of frost has passed, then plant them in the flowerbed. You will probably only see foliage the first two or three years while the bulb builds itself up enough to flower again.

Wax On Wax Off!

If you are like me, you love the look of your car after it has been polished and waxed

But waxing your car isn't the timely, labor-extensive chore you might think it is. A few hours spent a couple times a year will give your car a new look. Once you finish the job, you have the satisfaction of giving your car that showroom gleam that not only looks great but also will protect the vehicle's paint from the elements.

When to Polish and Wax

Before getting started, you probably want to know the best time to polish and wax your car. Most people do it twice a year, once in the spring to remove the ravages of winter and once in the fall to prepare it for the upcoming winter.

One way to tell if it's time to polish and wax your car is to watch what happens when you wash your car. Does the water bead up on the roof and hood or does it run off in sheets? Experts say the rounder the beads of water, the better. As soon as the beads start to flatten out, it's time to wax.

Some people also recommend applying the wax when your car is in the shade. But sometimes you may not have to have your car parked in the shade. One way to determine if it is too hot to wax is to put your hand on the car's surface. If you have to pull it away, then it's too hot to wax.

All About Paint

New cars and trucks are almost all painted with a clear-coat finish. This paint is much more resistant to oxidation. This happens when ultraviolet radiation from the sun causes the paint to gradually deteriorate into white chalky dullness.

Clear coats protect better than conventional finishes, allowing new car paint to hold up many years longer. Older cars painted with a conventional finish will face more problems with oxidation than vehicles painted with clear coats.

Although they do protect better than conventional paints, it's a myth that clear-coat finishes don't have to be waxed. They are still subjected to contamination from elements such as bird droppings, bugs, tree sap, industrial fallout and airborne pollutants.

Selecting a Wax

When choosing a wax, make sure it is the right product for your paint. Check the label to see if the wax can be used on clear-coat finishes. Most waxes on the market can be used on clear coats, but there are exceptions. Clear coat paints are quite thin and an abrasive wax may damage the finish.

Car enthusiasts recommend using a carnauba wax. It gives your car a great look, but use caution. It is the hardest natural wax available. If you see a wax that says it's pure carnauba, it means the part that is carnauba is pure, not that it's 100-percent carnauba. Start with a mild wax and go to a more abrasive product if you feel your car needs more protection.

In addition, select a quality wax. This will help you better achieve excellent results. Ask your local detailer or car dealer for recommendations.

Pizza From Scratch?

Homemade Pizza

Instead of buying frozen pizzas, make your dough from scratch. A plain bread dough can be made in advance and frozen. A paste can be made with fresh or canned tomatoes & tomato paste mixed together. Top with your favorite topping and your expense should be somewhere in the neighborhood of $2.00. It can be a lot more fun to really creative with toppings, like for example have a member of the family get to choose all the toppings, which you can rotate who gets to pick each time. Also, you can have more than one person make the pizza like the kds or spouse- even invited guests!