When I use a recipe book, I take a pants hanger and clamp it to the book and hang it from the cabinet handle. They are the wooden kind and of course not all books can be done that way, but most can.

Sue

I glued a few miniature wooden clothes pins to the inside of 2 cupboard doors that open flat against the next one. When I am baking, I open the cupboard door closest to my mixer and pin my recipe there. And when cooking, the one next to the stove top gets the recipe. I have a few baking recipes that I leave pinned up.

I taped laminated copies of frequently used recipes inside a cupboard door. Open the door and I have the recipe handy and at eye level. I also close the door on the recipe page and have a "copy holder" for typing that I use to hold recipe books.

Clothespins are versatile little items. Besides chip clips and recipe holders, there's lots of other uses. I took double face tape and attached some inside the cupboard door. Works great to hold things like Kool-Aid packets, seasoning packets, coffee filters or even a spare set of keys. This is wasted space being recovered and used and keeps the items right where you need them. You could also glue a magnet to a clothes pin or get some of the little adhesive back magnetic things and have moveable clips on your refrigerator or a steel door. Keeps that letter in a spot where you remember to mail it when you leave.

I like using sheet protectors for my favourite recipes to protect them. Adds a bit of weight to the page, as well.

For my single-page recipes I use a plastic clip that has a little magnet on the back, which I attach to a cabinet hinge at eye level.

It's so funny you should post this, Jasdip, because just yesterday my son hauled down an old box that had been stored in the barn, and in it was something my dad made for me in the 1960s or 70s: a clothespin mounted on a dowel, which was secured onto a round base, the whole thing then shellacked (I think). The purpose is to hold recipe cards at a good angle for reading.

I keep a magnifying glass handy so I can read the instructions on the boxes or Microwave instructions

Over the years, the lines on my oven dials have faded and were really hard to see, I used red fingernail polish and
colored them back in.
I also have my fave recipes mounted to the inside of my pantry door.

Trin

Sometimes one can slip a light recipe or other material, e.g. a picture, under the edge of one of the frig magnets currently attached and it'll hold it there conveniently ... long-term, if one chooses.

In several parts of Canada we get one- and two-litre (1 or 2 quart) containers of milk in square paper towers, closed at the top like a roof, sometimes opening one end of it, and recently they have a spout on them.

When they're empty, I rinse them, open them at the top and cut down the side closest to the glued corner with scissors, folding it down and stapling it. Then cut down each corner far enough to let them fold over the other sides at that end as far as the other side and staple them.

They make a handy holder for various things.

I've found that they aren't long enough for letters, though, so I cut two such boxes and slide them together just far enough that the envelopes can slip in easily (and with little space left over to gather dust), then staple them.

If one has several high letters, better to use a 2-litre box, for the 1-litre ones tend to tip over more easily.

When I get a three-fold letter, I tend to pull up the top fold and leave the bottom one folded, sitting in the envelope ... it makes it easy to check what the subject of that letter is.

ole joyful

I use a bit of tape to hold recipes to cabinet doors at eye level.

I keep big heavy appliances on the counter because I like having them accessible, and I like the way they look, too. To make them easy to slide around, I cut cheap plastic cutting mats the size and shapes of the bottoms of the appliances so the mats are invisible. Even the heaviest ones like my KA mixer and food processor glide easily. The one under the toaster collects crumbs.

Sherry

OJ-that's a great hint. When my daughter was in grade school, the teachers asked each child to bring in an empty cereal box. They covered the bowes with colorful wrapping paper and used them for paper storage in the classroom.

OJ,
we also have those type milk and juice cartons here.I used them to make a holder for note paper i recycled from junk mail.I cut off most of the top,leaving me with a square box about 3 1/2 " tall.I then cut a "U" shape out of one side,and covered the whole thing with fabric,and some pretty trim around the top and bottom.Then i cut the paper to fit inside.Waaalaa,now it's a home for note paper by the phone.I've had this one for i'm sure more than 20 years and it's still holding up.

I also keep a cookie sheet under my toaster.Less mess to clean up.

A nice sturdy shallow box holds the cookie sheets and cake pans in my cabinet,got tired of the mess they made,always falling over and didn't want to spend the money or the time to go looking for something that may or may not work.

I reuse and recycle anything i can.Guess you could say i'm frugal!!!!
Kathi

Here is an old household hint from the 1930's book I just got. This remedy works for refrigerators that have been unplugged leaving a very bad odor of spoiled meats, etc. Can also be used to freshen up old moldy trunks and drawers.

When the lawn is cut, take pans of green grass (it's loaded with chlorophyll) cup with scissors and put in a pan on each shelf. Shut door and open 10 days later. I don't know if that would work or not. Looks like the grass might rot or something.

Sue

I keep a narrow, 6 inch metal file in my kitchen junk drawer to sharpen scissors that get too dull.

I also remove black heel marks from the kitchen floor 2 ways--sometimes they will come up if you are wearing tennis shoes and just put the sole of your shoe on the mark and twist the shoe. If that doesn't work, use a little mineral spirits or lighter fluid on a paper towel or napkin.

For a burn, cool the burned area well under the faucet with cold water running on it for several minutes. This will stop the heat from continuing to cook your skin and make you comfortable. Pierce a Vitamin E capsule and thickly smear the contents on the burn. I have found that the pain goes away after awhile and I keep daubing the E on the burn for the first 24 hours.

Having limited counter space at home and even less in the RV, many times I have opened a top drawer in the cupboard and placed a cookie sheet on the top of it. Push the drawer back in so everything is sturdy. I usually put all the prep items for baking on it as I get them ready for a recipe. Now they are all in one spot and I don't forget whether something went in the bowl or not. I still put prep on a cookie sheet even if I don't use the drawer. Keep a small notebook with easy tear out pages in your purse. Copy recipes in waiting rooms (IF someone else didn't TEAR them out of the magazine you are looking at grrrr!!!) Some of the small books have cardstock like paper ..fits in a recipe box when taken out.

Aloe vera plant on a windowsill helps with various injuries ... I think including burns. The gooey stuff (offered at their home in Alberta by agriculturalist colleague from our days in Korea) sure helped my blistered feet when I was hitch-hiking there and in Saskatchewan one summer, several years ago.

ole joyful

Great ideas! I have to try the recipe holders and the one with the cookie sheet over the drawer. I am always moving back and forth to the kitchen table to read my recipe.

Anne

For recipes I use small junior size sheet protectors and a matching binder. They don't take up much space on the kitchen counter. The clear plastic pages are perfect as when food stains come on them which seem to happen to me all the time as it is easy to wipe clean. Even my binder is made in plastic so it can easy be cleaned off as well. I found the best deal with free shipping at a site named keepfiling

Here is a link that might be useful: Recipe binder

I have 3 cats and buy 40 lb tubs of cat litter. I keep an empty tub in the shed and use it to carry with me when I am doing some light weeding around the house. Not heavy and easy to dump.
Also not too long ago someone mentioned FlyLady. I have started with one of her tips "swish and swipe". I keep a big tub of clorox clean-up wipes under the sink and everyday when I am getting ready for work, I wipe the sink, counter, faucets and last... around the toilet. Squirt some cleaner in the toilet and in about 2 minutes the bathroom is respectable. Everynight I make sure the dishes are put away and my sink shines.
It may seem silly, but I have been keeping it up for about 2 weeks. Surprisingly I seem to be more apt to keep other ares clutter-free as a result.

My favorite cleaning product for heavy duty jobs is Greased Lightening. It comes in a spray bottle and will cut through the toughest, greasyist grime. I remember a KTer several years ago who had a rental and she told us what a great product it was.

Add some freshly ground pepper to top a serving of really good vanilla ice cream.

Try it, you'll like it :o)

Hi Glenda,

I told the librarian about your suggestion ... and that you often offer good recipes and cooking suggestions ... so she says that she'll have to try the pepper on vanilla concept.

I will, too.

A lady gave me some chocolates just after Christmas, that had sea salt on the chocolate covering, saying that she didn't like it. I fond it a bit odd, but not so distasteful as to put me off of them.

And, I use my hands to rub off some of the salt crystals, sometimes.

ole joyfilled ... when filled, or partially so, with chocolate

Ed I'm wanting to make sweet and salty brownies. You swirl sea salt into the brownie mixture before baking.

Glenda,
I make a fruit salad with cantaloupe, watermelon, honeydew and a bit of orange juice every summer. I learned years ago that some cracked pepper mixed it really brings out the flavour.

Must to the same with ice cream...

I use 1/2 gallon and gallon plastic milk jugs as a slow watering system for gardening. Just poke a hole or two in the bottom of the jug...fill it with water (in place) and it drip irrigates whatever plant it is sitting near. It works really well as there is no runoff or soil erosion problem. The plant leaves camouflage the jug :^) I use it most in big pots or raised flower beds.
Another idea that works great for us, but makes our visitors scratch their heads....I put all of my kitchen utensils in the drawer next to the stove.....upside down! That way, they don't hang and get jounced around as the drawer is opened and closed. I also put the wax paper/tinfoil/clingwrap boxes in the drawer upside down...the lids don't hang as the drawer opens.
I use the cheapy dollar store clear plastic showercaps (12 for 1 $) to cover dishes/plates of left over food that are going into the refrig. I wash them after each use with dish soap and hot water and hang them over a hook to dry. They last about a year.

Try topping, jasdip, your frozen, canned, homemade biscuits with a dash of pepper. My DIL just thinks that is sooo fantastic :o)

I brush the tops with some melted butter first, before baking.