# Stuff and Things > Cooking >  Did you know/Are you aware

## Calypso Jones

there are little pushouts on the side of your foil wrap box, plastic wrap, wax paper, and probably parchment paper roll.    You push those little arrow shaped pieces IN toward the roll inside the box and the push outs act as keepers so that the roll will not pull out when you pull out a section of the product.   does that make sense?

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fyrenza (03-13-2014),lostbeyond (11-10-2013)

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## Calypso Jones

....that detergent manufacturers now voluntarily leave out the little ingredient that was particularly effective in getting your clothes clean, your dishes sparkling?

SO go to Lowes and buy TSP  Tri-sodium Phosphate.  add 1/2 t to your detergent in the dispenser.   Voila.  Clean dishes and/or clothing.

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fyrenza (03-13-2014),lostbeyond (11-10-2013),Perianne (11-10-2013),Trinnity (11-11-2013)

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## Calypso Jones

hello?

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## lostbeyond

I love your tips.  I didn't know.  Great thread!

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## Calypso Jones

I don't particularly like capers and they don't keep well for me anyway.

Whenever I have a recipe that calls for capers, I take a similar amount of green olives with no pimento and chop them up.  Same taste.

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fyrenza (03-13-2014)

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## Calypso Jones

I hate measuring a thick fat such as Crisco but I found an easy way, less scraping, less cleanup and still an accurate measure.  Say you need 1/3 cup Crisco for the recipe.   You fill a clear measuring cup with 2/3 cup cold water.  THEN you start adding your Crisco to the water (IN the WATER) till the cup measures 1 full cup.   Now empty the water, but hold in the Crisco.  I do this by just holding the finger part of my hand over the cup to empty the water.   There is your 1/3 cup Crisco with very little mess and virtually no scraping.

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fyrenza (03-13-2014),Trinnity (11-11-2013)

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## OceanloverOH

Dang, these are some really good tips, CJ....thank you!

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## Calypso Jones

I am burnt out on politics is all.

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## 2cent

You never DID answer if the recipe I was using for laundry detergent is the same as the one you use.

As for measuring Crisco, I use the variegated sizes from Tupperware, and a rubber spatula for filling and dispensing.  Same w/stuff like mayo, sour cream, etc.

Detergent manufacturers don't _voluntarily_ leave out the phosphates that got your laundry clean; they're not _allowed_ to add them via an EPA mandate.

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## 2cent

If y'all are wondering about that detergent recipe:

1 bar of soap.  (I use Fels-Naptah
2 Cups Arm & Hammer Washing Soda
2 cups Borax

***Cost?  $7.00  for 15 gallons.
You make 5 gallons at a time.

Shave bar of soap into pan; add enough water to cover 1 inch above soap.  Heat on stove to melt.

HALF fill a 5 gallon bucket w/REALLY HOT WATER

Add dry ingredients; then add melted soap.  Stir to dissolve dry ingredients.
FILL 5 gallon bucket the rest of the way with hot water.
Stir again.
Allow to sit overnight.

***When you go to use this detergent, be sure the dry ingredients have dissolved.  How you go about that is up to you, but by morning it was cool enough to put my hand to the bottom.
This does not have to be repeated every time you use it.  It's just good to double-check now and then, depending on how often you do laundry.

ONE QUARTER CUP is all you need for a large wash.

***I'm not one to go for these 'alternative ideas', so I keep a bottle of my trusty Era on hand.  Except for a few spaghetti stains on a blouse that I wasn't sure would come out, I have not had to use it.  Keep in mind, too, that it's just my husband & I, so I can't say how well it works on wee tots' clothes, as stained as they get.  (Which is why I always loved Era.  You don't have to add extra after what you use out of the capful for pre-washing those dribbles down the fronts of their shirts, and what not.)

I haven't tried using it yet as a pre-wash for my own spills, but as far as I'm concerned; it _works_.

And when you consider $7 for 15 gallons against $7 (or more?) for ONE gallon...

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## Trinnity

> ....that detergent manufacturers now voluntarily leave out the little ingredient that was particularly effective in getting your clothes clean, your dishes sparkling?
> 
> SO go to Lowes and buy TSP  Tri-sodium Phosphate.  add 1/2 t to your detergent in the dispenser.   Voila.  Clean dishes and/or clothing.


t = teaspoon
T = tablespoon

So, you mean 1/2 teaspoon, right?
 @Calypso Jones

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## Calypso Jones

> t = teaspoon
> T = tablespoon
> 
> exactly.
> 
> 
> So, you mean 1/2 teaspoon, right?
>  @Calypso Jones


Yes.   and be careful with this stuff. I don't know that i'd put it directly on clothes....put it in the dispenser.  This is the stuff that will clean concrete.

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## Calypso Jones

A really good sweet and sour sauce for meatballs.  Use equal amounts of ketchup and grape jelly.   I know a bunch of you know that but i'll bet some of the guys don't.

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## Calypso Jones

Have you run out of seafood sauce?   Make your own. Ketchup and add the amount of pure horseradish to the hotness you want.

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## Calypso Jones

Please.  if you store a large bottle of corn oil (Wesson, Crisco, etc)   store in the frig.  When that stuff sits too long it goes rancid. That is not good for your health and it doesn't smell or taste good either.     

In some fast food restaurants they leave the cooking oil in the fryer.  They've got cooking oil in those fryers as old as social security.

Personally I store all my oils in the frig...except for olive oil and I keep that in a cool dark spot in my cabinet and use it fairly rapidly.

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## Trinnity

> Yes.   and be careful with this stuff. I don't know that i'd put it directly on clothes....put it in the dispenser.  This is the stuff that will clean concrete.


Oh snap, I'm gonna get sommadat.

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## Trinnity

> Have you run out of seafood sauce?   Make your own. Ketchup and add the amount of pure horseradish to the hotness you want.


My recipe and it's a damn good one

ketchup
horseradish
Corn syrup
lemon juice

add some Old Bay too if you have it.

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## Trinnity

Clean your silver cheap

4 c hot water
1 T baking soda
sheet of aluminum foil

Stir and put it in a bowl and soak your silver for 30 min.

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## Calypso Jones

DO NOT PUT ACTUAL SILVER utensils or SILVER PLATE in your DISHWASHER...DO NOT.


GUYS.  I know you don't know this.  But what really ticks me off is my female friends putting that stuff in my dishwasher. They should know better.


*General Cautions for Dishwashing Silver*Even those who favor using the dishwasher to clean silver acknowledge that the technology is not perfect. The main danger is spotting or darkening due to chemical reactions during the dishwashing process. Using less detergent than for an ordinary load and avoiding lemon scented or other enhanced detergents reduce the danger of spots on silver. Making sure that silver and stainless steel implements washed together do not touch each other lessens the possibility of darkening silver surfaces. The Society of American Silversmiths notes that mixing silver and stainless steel can lead to black spots on the steel and require refinishing of silver.




Read more:  http://www.ehow.com/info_10042092_ca...#ixzz2va6SOtfr

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lostbeyond (03-10-2014)

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## Calypso Jones

Olives are not a good ingredient for trail  mix. 

Make your own trailmix:

1 cup M&Ms
1 cup raisins
1 cup peanuts.

mix, bag.

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## lostbeyond

> DO NOT PUT ACTUAL SILVER utensils or SILVER PLATE in your DISHWASHER...DO NOT.
> 
> 
> GUYS. I know you don't know this. But what really ticks me off is my female friends putting that stuff in my dishwasher. They should know better.


What happens to the silver and/or the dishwasher if you do that?  Extra hard oxydization of the silver?  This is interesting.

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## Calypso Jones

See additional information added to my post that you are referencing @lostbeyond

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## Matalese

> Have you run out of seafood sauce?   Make your own. Ketchup and add the amount of pure horseradish to the hotness you want.


I make mine with1/2 ketchup,1/2 cocktail sauce  dash of worster shire, dash of Louisiana hot sauce, some garlic, and lemon juice and horseradish sauce. Throw in a few red pepper flakes and mix together thoroughly.

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## Calypso Jones

I am a simple girl..but I do like the luxury you add with your additional ingredients.

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## GreenEyedLady

to clean your silver jewelry, use a soft toothbrush and white toothpaste. will take the tarnish right off.
use ammonia for your diamonds, or as a secondary, juice from jalapenos!
Use ketchup to clean copper.

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fyrenza (03-13-2014)

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## Calypso Jones

how long must the ketchup set on the copper?

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## JustPassinThru

> Please.  if you store a large bottle of corn oil (Wesson, Crisco, etc)   store in the frig.  When that stuff sits too long it goes rancid. That is not good for your health and it doesn't smell or taste good either.     
> 
> In some fast food restaurants they leave the cooking oil in the fryer.  They've got cooking oil in those fryers as old as social security.
> 
> Personally I store all my oils in the frig...except for olive oil and I keep that in a cool dark spot in my cabinet and use it fairly rapidly.


Actually - and I know this as I managed a Burger King for a time - the oil in the fryers is changed on schedules.

It was filtered daily - there's a drain in the bottom of the vat; you connect a hose to it and run it into a filter gizmo that looks like a washtub on casters.  There's a false-bottom in it filled with a filtering agent...I forget what it was; powdered stuff.

Drain it into the tub; then a pump on the bottom would pull the hot cooking oil through the filter and back into the fry vat.  A dangerous thing for a teenage kid to do; if you tipped over the tub or stepped in it, the burns would put someone in the hospital or worse.

One reason the cooking oil tastes bad at fast-food joints these days is, after pressure from the Health Nazis 1n the 1980s, they started using vegetable oil instead of beef tallow.  Vegetable oil lasts less than a quarter the time and costs more.  Fries don't taste as good, either.

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fyrenza (03-13-2014)

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## Calypso Jones

I can believe that....but filtering the oil is not the same as changing it.     How do you make shellac...or that stuff that sticks on your pan when you've let oil set too long.  Exactly.

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## JustPassinThru

> I can believe that....but filtering the oil is not the same as changing it.     How do you make shellac...or that stuff that sticks on your pan when you've let oil set too long.  Exactly.


Like I said, it was scheduled for a change after so many days.  A change was even messier.

The oil was always in the fry vats...really, no need to refrigerate.  It never really got cold; since the joint would close at 11 and then open at six.  They'd be on heat the whole day...hash browns in the morning, then fries and onion rings and chicken tenders.

It's not what I'd call good cooking but it wasn't a health menace.

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## GreenEyedLady

> how long must the ketchup set on the copper?


I usually just let it set for a few minutes, you can see the color change happening.

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## fyrenza

Did anyone know that you can UN-fold those wanky chinese take-out containers to be a PLATE?

It came as QUITE the shock to me to find that I needn't have dirtied ANY dishes.

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## Dolly

Is it the acidity in the ketchup that works?

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## GreenEyedLady

yes, the acid from tomatoe juice.

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