Last night, I attended the Relief Society meeting in which the topic was, "tips." I think there were 1,001 ways to clean your microwave given... I dunno. I just have a hard time figuring out how one would let their microwave get so dirty that you need special treatment. That's just me. Guess I'm a clean-microwave snob. Although, I really am not so anal that I do a deep-clean on it every time it's used!

Anyway, I was sitting there listening to everyone share their tried & true tips from cooking to flowers to identity theft. It got me thinking about my little things that I do and how I never really considered it being referred to as "tips."

SO! Wanna hear some of mine? Here goes!

FOOD:
*When baking a chocolate cake, instead of dusting the pan with flour. Use cocoa powder instead. It blends right in.
*When making up a batch of chocolate-chip cookies, you can just bake a few and then using a cookie-scoop, scoop the rest of the dough and freeze them individually (not touching) on a plate. After about 30 min. you can just put them all in a ziplock bag and toss them in the freezer. That way if you want a homemade cookie, you can just take it out of the bag and bake! *Temp. is 25 degrees lower & bake 5-8 min. longer than you would have normally.*
*Freeze pumpkin puree in 1 cup increments in baggies if you have leftovers from a recipe.
*Want an orange for a snack? Zest it with a microplane zester BEFORE peeling. Save the zest in small ziplock bag & throw it in the freezer. Same goes for lemons & limes.
*Baking sugar cookies but no time to frost? 2 options - 1) Dip them in cinnamon & sugar, bake as normal. 2) Melt chocolate-chips and put it in a baggie with corner snipped off. Drizzle over cookies.

MISCELLANEOUS:
*Stuck zipper? Rub the lead over the teeth.
*Hair conditioner - you can get the same result of it watered down by 1/3 as you would full-strength.
*Silver jewelry keeps tarnishing? Keep them in the smallest container possible to reduce air exposure. Put in a bit of a broken chalk to help absorb moisture. (Do not pulverize the chalk! Just break it and put a chunk in the container.)
*Crocheting a scarf? Hotpad? Something small? Keep the yarn & pattern in small ziplock bag. Write on the outside the size hook used in case it's currently being used on another project. Keeps the yarn clean if you chuck it in your bag to crochet while out & about.
*Itchy wool sweater? Wash in water with a small capful of glycerin. Air dry as normal.
*Need a silly Christmas gift? Something for White Elephant? Put earring hooks through a pair of matching ornaments.
*Dirty cd? Squirt a shot of rubbing alcohol & rub from center out. (Think spokes of a wheel.)