Chocolate covered strawberries, champagne and roses, signs of Valentines Day but all with challenges. From how to keep the flowers lasting long to how to keep the stains from setting in.
1. If you got flower's you want them to last, but flowers only come with one pack of preservative. How can you replicate it? Well preservatives have three main components sugar for food, citric acid for controlling the ph and an antibacterial ingredient to kill germs. To make your own, a capful of hydrogen peroxide or bleach will take care of the antibacterial. And for the sugar and citric acid it's a two-fer, a tablespoon of powdered lemonade mix has them both!
2. How about chocolate covered strawberries? If you have chocolate on your clothes, scrape away as much as you can with a dull knife, then working from the back of the fabric rub white shaving cream into the spot with a soft bristled toothbrush. This method should push the stain back out of the fabric. As for the strawberries, lay the item over a sieve in the sink. Then pour boiling water over the stain, through the sieve. It will loosen and remove the stain in short order. This also works well on red wine stains.
3. Champagne stains can be treated with club soda. It contains both sodium and carbonation these elements work together to keep the spill from becoming a stain. As with any stain removal tip, make sure you test the item in an inconspicuous spot to make sure that the solution won't damage the fabric!
Showing posts with label Chocolate. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Chocolate. Show all posts
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Friday, December 24, 2010
Candy Stains!
Kids love candy, but let's face it; it can make a big mess! So how do you get rid of those stains?
1. Chocolate. Short of dressing your kids in chocolate brown odds are if they eat chocolate they are going to end up with stains, well, don't worry, everyone has the best stain fighter for chocolate and you probably don't even realize it! Plain old dish soap applied directly to chocolate stains will remove them in short order - even older stains. Rub it into the fabric and then launder in cold water!
2. Lollipops are a sticky mess, but luckily are water soluble. So just run hot water over the stickiness to dissolve the sugars and remove the film. If there is a colored stain left behind, rub white shaving cream onto the stain with a toothbrush and then launder. The warm water will also help loosen lollipops and hard candy that are stuck to household surfaces.
3. How about gum -the worst of the candied messes! Really the best line of defense is to dissolve the gum. Lubricating oil will dissolve the stickiness and loosen the gum. Once you've removed it, pull that dish soap back out to break up the oil residue, and then launder it as directed!
1. Chocolate. Short of dressing your kids in chocolate brown odds are if they eat chocolate they are going to end up with stains, well, don't worry, everyone has the best stain fighter for chocolate and you probably don't even realize it! Plain old dish soap applied directly to chocolate stains will remove them in short order - even older stains. Rub it into the fabric and then launder in cold water!
2. Lollipops are a sticky mess, but luckily are water soluble. So just run hot water over the stickiness to dissolve the sugars and remove the film. If there is a colored stain left behind, rub white shaving cream onto the stain with a toothbrush and then launder. The warm water will also help loosen lollipops and hard candy that are stuck to household surfaces.
3. How about gum -the worst of the candied messes! Really the best line of defense is to dissolve the gum. Lubricating oil will dissolve the stickiness and loosen the gum. Once you've removed it, pull that dish soap back out to break up the oil residue, and then launder it as directed!
Last Minute Substitutions!
You're in the middle of a recipe, and guests are coming in hours. Well, there's no time to go to the grocery store so I have some substitutions that you can use in a pinch!
1. If you need semisweet chocolate and all you have is cocoa powder you're in luck. For an equivalent of six ounces of semi-sweet chocolate mix together nine tablespoons of cocoa powder, seven tablespoons of sugar and three tablespoons of softened butter.
2. What do you do if your recipe calls for shortening and you don't have any? Replace it with butter or vice versa one cup equals one cup in baking!
3. No buttermilk? No problem! Simply stir together a cup of milk and one and three quarters tablespoons of cream of tartar. Or, one tablespoon of lemon juice for each cup of milk.
4. How about sour cream? Mix a cup of milk and a tablespoon of white vinegar and let it sit for five minutes, you're all set.
5. No evaporated milk for the pumpkin pie? Try half and half it will work just as well!
6. Here is a little tip for your cooking timetable, don't save pie making until the end. Everything about pastry needs to be cold from the ingredients to the room so if you work on pies first you'll end up with flakier and tastier pies!
1. If you need semisweet chocolate and all you have is cocoa powder you're in luck. For an equivalent of six ounces of semi-sweet chocolate mix together nine tablespoons of cocoa powder, seven tablespoons of sugar and three tablespoons of softened butter.
2. What do you do if your recipe calls for shortening and you don't have any? Replace it with butter or vice versa one cup equals one cup in baking!
3. No buttermilk? No problem! Simply stir together a cup of milk and one and three quarters tablespoons of cream of tartar. Or, one tablespoon of lemon juice for each cup of milk.
4. How about sour cream? Mix a cup of milk and a tablespoon of white vinegar and let it sit for five minutes, you're all set.
5. No evaporated milk for the pumpkin pie? Try half and half it will work just as well!
6. Here is a little tip for your cooking timetable, don't save pie making until the end. Everything about pastry needs to be cold from the ingredients to the room so if you work on pies first you'll end up with flakier and tastier pies!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)