Questionable Tips From Yukon (And my counterpoint)

The following "tips" were sent my way courtesy old co-worker and golfing bud, Kurt Merrick, aka "Yukon Cornelius." I suggest you try some and tell me if they work.

Peel a banana from the bottom and you won't have to
pick the little 'stringy things' off of it. That's how the primates do it.
(Before you know it, you'll be walking erect and upright!)

Take your bananas apart when you get home from the store.
If you leave them connected at the stem, they ripen faster.
(Hmmm, Mythbusters? Check this out.)

Store your opened chunks of cheese in aluminum foil.
It will stay fresh much longer and not mold!
(Again, Mythbusters? Prove this one.)

Peppers with 3 bumps on the bottom are sweeter and better for eating.
Peppers with 4 bumps on the bottom a re firmer and better for cooking.
(Peppers with five bumps are Apples.)

Add a teaspoon of water when frying ground beef. It will help pull the grease away from the meat while cooking.
(And justifies big spending on exotic fire-fighting equipment.)

To really make scrambled eggs or omelets rich (and to make that Elliptical payment worth it) add a couple of spoonfuls of sour cream, cream cheese, or heavy cream in and then beat them up.

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. (If you want really light garlic flavor, don't use garlic.)

Easy Deviled Eggs
Put cooked egg yolks in a zip lock bag. Seal, mash till they are all broken up. Add remainder of ingredients, reseal, keep mashing it up mixing thoroughly, cut the tip of the baggy, squeeze mixture into egg. Just throw bag away when done easy clean up. (Oh, the gas you'll make!)

Expanding Frosting
When you buy a container of cake frosting from the store, whip it with your mixer for a few minutes. You can double it in size. You get to frost more cake/cupcakes with the same amount. You also eat less sugar and calories per serving.
(That IS WHY I buy frosting, is for the healthy weight loss.)

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. (Mmmm, also makes delightful "Pancake tea!")

Newspaper weeds away
Start putting in your plants, work the nutrients in your soil. Wet newspapers, put layers around the plants overlapping as you go cover with mulch and forget about weeds. Weeds will get through some gardening plastic they will not
get through wet newspapers. (Works best with left-leaning papers, "too spineless" to fight beck the weeds.)

Broken Glass
Use a wet cotton ball or Q-tip to pick up the small shards of glass you can't see easily.
(Much better than using your tongue!)

No More Mosquitoes
Place a dryer sheet in your pocket. It will keep the mosquitoes away.
(Also cute girls keep their distance!)

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. (Again, lots of things stay away.)

Flexible vacuum
To get something out of a heat register or under the fridge add an empty paper towel roll or empty gift wrap roll to your vacuum. It can be bent or flattened to get in narrow openings. (This might work, and I'm sure will lead to absolutely gross discoveries of dirt and dust bunnies.)



Reducing Static Cling
Pin a small safety pin to the seam of your slip and you will not have a clingy skirt or dress. Same thing works with slacks that cling when wearing pantie hose. Place pin in seam of slacks and ... ta da! ... static is gone.
(Anything with "ta da!" has to work.)

Measuring Cups
Before you pour sticky substances into a measuring cup, fill with hot water. Dump out the hot water, but don't dry cup. Next, add your ingredient, such as peanut butter, and watch how easily it comes right out. (Watery and slimy, but not on the measuring cup!)

Foggy Windshield?
Hate foggy windshields? Buy a chalkboard eraser and keep it in the glove box of your car When the windows fog, rub with the eraser! Works better than a cloth! (Works better than a credit card, or a snotty mitten.)

Reopening envelopes
If you seal an envelope and then realize you forgot to include something inside, just place your sealed envelope in the freezer for an hour or two. Viola! It unseals easily. (By then you'll completely forget the letter, only to find it a week later when searching for a stick of butter.)

Conditioner
Use your hair conditioner to shave your legs. It's cheaper than shaving cream and leaves your legs really smooth. It's also a great way to use up the conditioner you bought but didn't like when you tried it in your hair. (Wha? Shampoo or conditioner THAT ISN'T USED? Naw, it's never a waste.)

Goodbye Fruit Flies (Hello, Ladies!)
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!

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 and you don't have the worry about pets or small children being harmed! (So, ants don't like cornbread, either? Mythbusters? Listening?)





Got any more? Send 'em my way. I'll find some sort of way to ridicule it. (Photo credits are all mine; Statues are "Woman Traveler" and "Kissing Couple," two of several so-called "Ghost Sculptures" from The Depot Renaissance Hotel in downtown Minneapolis.)