Martha's Way Vs My Way
Martha's way #1: Stuff a miniature marshmallow in the bottom of a sugar cone to prevent ice cream drips. Martha's way #2: Use a meat baster to "squeeze" your pancake batter onto the hot griddle and you'll get perfectly shaped pancakes every time. Martha's way #3: To keep potatoes from budding, place an apple in the bag with the potatoes. Martha's way #4: To prevent egg shells from cracking, add a pinch of salt to the water before hard boiling. Martha's way #5: To get the most juice out of fresh lemons, bring them to room temperature and roll them under your palm against the kitchen counter before squeezing. Martha's way #6: To easily remove burnt-on food from your skillet, simply add a drop or two of dish soap and enough water to cover bottom of pan, and bring to a boil on stovetop. Martha's way #7: Spray your Tupperware with nonstick cooking spray before pouring in tomato based sauces and there won't be any stains. Martha's way #8: When a cake recipe calls for flouring the baking pan, use a bit of the dry cake mix instead and there won't be any white mess on the outside of the cake. Martha's way #9: If you accidentally over salt a dish while it's still cooking, drop in a peeled potato and it will absorb the excess salt for an instant "fix me up" Martha's way #10: Wrap celery in aluminum foil when putting in the refrigerator and it will keep for weeks. Martha's way #11: Brush some beaten egg white over pie crust before baking to yield a beautiful glossy finish. Martha's way #12: Place a slice of apple in hardened brown sugar to soften it. Martha's way #13: When boiling corn on the cob, add a pinch of sugar to help bring out the corn's natural sweetness. Martha's way #14: To determine whether an egg is fresh, immerse it in a pan of cool, salted water. If it sinks, it is fresh, but if it rises to the surface, throw it away. Martha's way #15: Cure for headaches: Take a lime, cut it in half and rub it on your forehead. The throbbing will go away. Martha's way #16: If you have a problem opening jars: Try using latex dishwashing gloves. They give a non slip grip that makes opening jars easy. Martha's way #17: Potatoes will take food stains off your fingers. Just slice and rub raw potato on the stains and rinse with water. Martha's way #18: Now look what you can do with Alka Seltzer.
My way: Just suck the ice cream out of the bottom of the cone, for Pete's sake, you are probably lying on the couch with your feet up eating it anyway.
My way: Buy the precooked kind you nuke in the microwave for 30 seconds. The hard part is getting them out of the plastic bag.
My way: Buy Hungry Jack mashed potato mix and keep it in the pantry for up to a year.
My way: Who cares if they crack, aren't you going to take the shells off anyway?
My way: Sleep with the lemons in between the mattress and box springs.
My way: Eat at Chili's every night and avoid cooking.
My way: Feed your garbage disposal and there won't be any leftovers.
My way: Go to the bakery. They'll even decorate it for you.
My way: If you over salt a dish while you are cooking, that's too bad.
My way: Celery? Never heard of the stuff.
My way: The Mrs. Smith frozen pie directions do not include brushing egg whites over the crust and so I don't do it.
My Way: Brown sugar is supposed to be "soft"?
My Way: The only kind of corn I buy comes in a can.
My way: Eat, cook, or use the egg anyway. If you feel bad later, you will know it wasn't fresh.
Martha, dear, the only reason this works is because you can't rub a lime on your forehead without getting lime juice in your eye, and then the problem isn't the headache anymore, it is because you are now blind.
My way: Go ask the very cute neighbor to do it.
My way: Mashed potatoes will now be replacing the antibacterial soap in the handy dispenser next to my sink.
* Clean a toilet. Drop in two Alka-Seltzer tablets, wait twenty minutes, brush and flush. The citric acid and effervescent action clean vitreous china.
*Clean a vase. To remove a stain from the bottom of a glass vase or cruet, fill with water and drop in two Alka-Seltzer tablets.
*Polish jewelry. Drop two Alka-Seltzer tablets into a glass of water and immerse the jewelry for two minutes.
*Clean a thermos bottle. Fill the bottle with water, drop in four Alka-Seltzer tablets, and let soak for an hour (or longer, if necessary).
My way: Put your jewelry, vases, and thermos in the toilet. Add some Alka-Seltzer and you have solved a whole bunch of problems at once.
Originally published November 14, 2002.
