MayensJoy My World Helpful Hints From Memere's Wisdom
These are just a few to get started - my Mom had a million of them and as I remember them will add to the list - some are truly wonderful - other's will make you smile or go "Huh" or my favorite expression...."DUH"!
1. Remember to empty the drain catcher under the icebox or it will overflow! (: ->) Yes we had an ice box when I was a tiny little thing...and I loved putting the card in the window for "ICE"! Seriously - even in today's world some fridge's have "drain pains"....be sure to empty them - and clean them.....the mold etc., can make a "sick" home! (humor - when the iceman was finished his deliveries - he would go and get his horse and wagon and go through the neighborhoods... singing "Ahrags!" at the top of his lungs..and people would come out with their old stuff! I was too young to recall if he gave pennies for the rags but I think he did for newspapers!)
2. When your glasses get foggy or misty looking, or your coffee cups get stained= add bleach to your dishpan .....watch them shine!
3. If any one of you still have a fridge that does not defrost automatically - put a pot of boiling water in the freezer (after you have shut down the fridge of course)- keep changing it - cuts defrosting time way down. If you don't have a separate freezer unit - wrap the food from the fridge freezer in several layers of newspapers- will keep it frozen for a few hours.
4. Wrapping in newspaper is also a good camping trick - wrap food in newspaper - put in a plastic bag and store in your cooler.
5. When pressing trousers - don't want to make them shiny - dampen a dish towel and lay it over the trousers - steam presses 'em!
6. When making poached eggs...add a little vinegar to the water -let it reboil - and eggs will make a nice circle when dropped into water.
7. Be sure to vaccuum rear of fridge - especially the coils - fridge will run more efficiently that way.
8. If your whites and colors seem dingy - put them in washer - add a cup of Arm & Hammer baking soda to the water... DO NOT ADD DETERGENT - watch how much soapy suds show up! That is why they are dingy looking - you may to repeat but you will see the difference. (This was actually my Dad's idea - he did not like bleach used on his personals!)
9. Well - went blank here - there are so many more Mom gave me but totally blanked out! Friends will say "So what's different?".
10. Well here's one - not Mom's - when cleaning the microwave - set a large bowl of water in it - (cold) turn it on HI for 6 minutes or so (depends on your micro) - the moisture it crreates helps you for an easy clean-up.
>>>>>>when ze brain is working again - will be back with more of Memere's hints..
.....ah life is good once again....ze brain...she come back with a couple of goodies Memere taught me.....so here we go with more:
11. Onions - geez did I hate to peel those wicked things! Loved to eat them...but hated peeling them.....Mom said put a slice of bread in your mouth....helps but then she discovered that freezing them for about 10-15 minutes took all the cry baby's tears away! ( :-.)
12. My dad (Pepere) was a heavy smoker and Mom hated the smell that would permeate the house....so she would add cinnamon sticks to the vacuum bag or a slice of lemon (wrapped in gauze) and while she vaccuumed - she refreshed the air.
13. Dad loved to buy in bulk - long before Bj's or Sam's were around..he loved going to the various farms around and would come home tons of veggies...Mom would par boil most of them and freeze them- she would add an apple in with the potatoes to help keep them fresher for a longer period of time.
14. With regard to No. 12 - it just occured to me - there are many items on the market shelves today that you can sprinkle on your carpets to "clear the air" so to speak - warning - that stuff clogs the dickens out of your vacuum cleaner....so if you still wanna use 'em..do it sparingly! 'K?
15. Mondays were always "do the wash day" in our home...Mama would wheel out the hand cranking washer from the porch shed and through the hallway , thru the kitchen and into the pantry where she already had the 2 large old tubs filled....one with clear water and the other with bluing for the whites and Daddy's shirts....he would only wear white shirts.!
God bless her when I think back how hard it must have been for her to do our laundry in those days.....after she was done she would hang everything up on the clothes line that ran off the back porch.
.SO WHERE'S THE HINT AWREADY....geez...what is this... Road Rage? Ok ok here it is... when she filled the washer with the hot water and javel water she would gyrate the washer for a minute or so and then scoop out a large bowl of the water....into this bowl would go all of our combs and brushes to soak for the day!
MOM CONTINUED TO CLEAN HER COMBS AND BRUSHES WITH BLEACH ALL THROUGH HER LIFE....AYUP...STILL ON EVERY MONDAY....."clean combs and clean brushes for clean hair" was her motto!
16. How did she clean the brushes of all the hair? She simply took the strongest comb and "combed" the brush until the last hair was gone!
17. She told me it was most important to always, always wash the chicken before cooking! Better' to protect ourselves she said. So when I was first on "my own" per se......I did just that! And when I called her to complain that our butcher Mr. Gingras had given me bad chicken and I wanted Daddy to go tell him, she asked if I had washed the chicken first, (yes), did I make sure I had gotten rid of all the ' left over feathers (yes)...did it smell funny (no). "I don't understand that....oh dear , oh dear......(what Mama?) don't tell me you washed the chicken in soap?".
...I am taking the 5th here!!
18. Here is a great one from Memere...especially since fine cotton shirts are back! When the shirt is still damp - fold and roll it up. Put it in the icebox/refrigerator until you are ready to iron it. Irons like a dream!! This works beautifully with skirts too!!
19. When you are baking ... give your family a surprise on the bottom of the cake... after you put the butter to grease the pan...sprinkle with white or cinnamon sugar or her favorite maple sugar!
20. No dessert made? Slice french bread in a thick piece, spread butter (or during the war - the awful stuff they gave us) sprinkle with sugar -pop in the oven for a minute and serve it with a little jam on top!! Another of her favorite "no dessert made" was to dunk french bread into molasses! I know.. lots of times...brother and I "were really full but had room for a piece of fruit maybe?" It was rather NOT a treat for us re the molasses...but in Mama's mind it was a way to save 10 cents ( a nickel each) which she paid us to take our weekly dose of "Grandpere's" all-in-one sulphur/molasses cure! UAZGH!