waffle iron, tacos and crayons
HINTS FROM HELOISE
By Hints From Heloise Tuesday, May 29, 2007; C08
Dear Heloise:
I have a small waffle iron (about eight years old), but for the past four years it has not been used -- it was sitting on top of my refrigerator. It seems to have lost its nonstick feature, and it smells when I heat it up. I tried to wash it with soap and then coat it with oil, let it stand and then wipe it off, but it didn't work. Is there any way to save it and be able to use it again?
Louise From New Hampshire
Let's see if we can solve your griddle problem. Clean the inside of the waffle iron with a drop of dish soap and hot water, using a scrub brush or nonabrasive scrubbie. Rinse well and dry, then re-season it. Coat a slice of bread (one for each waffle section) with unsalted shortening, put the bread in the iron, then close the lid. Turn on, and once the bread is browned, remove it. The iron should be ready for use.
Note: Don't use cooking sprays when the iron is hot, only when it is cool. Lecithin, an ingredient found in many cooking sprays, burns when it comes in contact with a hot surface and can cause a gummy residue. Read the label and you'll see this caution on the can.
Dear Heloise:
When making tacos at home using one of those seasoning packets, I replace half of the ground beef with the same amount of black beans. It is delicious, more nutritious and my kids love it -- not to mention that it is cost-saving.
Malee, via e-mail
Dear Readers:
If a budding artist in your house has decided to try decorating your kitchen/office chalkboard with a crayon, don't stress out! It can be fixed. Put a brown grocery bag over the crayon marks and carefully iron them with a warm iron, but don't get the iron too hot.
You can also try sprinkling baking soda on a damp sponge or cloth and scrubbing until the marks are gone. If a stain still remains, you can buy chalkboard paint to make the surface new again. Call a few paint stores to find one that carries it. And while you're in the kitchen, use baking soda to clean and deodorize a butcher block, microwave, sink drain, refrigerator and a zillion other things!
In fact, you may never have to buy scouring powder again! Baking soda is nontoxic, nonabrasive on most hard surfaces (when dampened with water), and, best of all, it's safe and inexpensive.
P.S. For easy use, transfer the baking soda to a clean, dry, plastic Parmesan bottle with a shaker top!
Dear Heloise:
I use my floor cleaner with disposable pads along with a bucket containing a light amount of ammonia mixed with water to clean the outside window surfaces. The long handle makes it easy to reach all the way to the top of the window. Then I rinse with the hose.
For inside windows, I use a light spritz of my homemade cleaner, and the wonderful flat surface of the floor pad makes the inside window cleaning almost no work at all. Of course, the disposable cloths are reused time after time.
Jo Migliavacca, Houston
Send a money- or time-saving hint to Heloise, P.O. Box 795000, San Antonio, Tex. 78279-5000, fax it to 210-HELOISE or e-mail it toHeloise@Heloise.com. Please include your city and state when faxing or using e-mail. I can't answer your letter personally but will use the best hints received in my column.
2007King Features Syndicate
44By Hints From Heloise Tuesday, May 29, 2007; C08
Dear Heloise:
I have a small waffle iron (about eight years old), but for the past four years it has not been used -- it was sitting on top of my refrigerator. It seems to have lost its nonstick feature, and it smells when I heat it up. I tried to wash it with soap and then coat it with oil, let it stand and then wipe it off, but it didn't work. Is there any way to save it and be able to use it again?
Louise From New Hampshire
Let's see if we can solve your griddle problem. Clean the inside of the waffle iron with a drop of dish soap and hot water, using a scrub brush or nonabrasive scrubbie. Rinse well and dry, then re-season it. Coat a slice of bread (one for each waffle section) with unsalted shortening, put the bread in the iron, then close the lid. Turn on, and once the bread is browned, remove it. The iron should be ready for use.
Note: Don't use cooking sprays when the iron is hot, only when it is cool. Lecithin, an ingredient found in many cooking sprays, burns when it comes in contact with a hot surface and can cause a gummy residue. Read the label and you'll see this caution on the can.
Dear Heloise:
When making tacos at home using one of those seasoning packets, I replace half of the ground beef with the same amount of black beans. It is delicious, more nutritious and my kids love it -- not to mention that it is cost-saving.
Malee, via e-mail
Dear Readers:
If a budding artist in your house has decided to try decorating your kitchen/office chalkboard with a crayon, don't stress out! It can be fixed. Put a brown grocery bag over the crayon marks and carefully iron them with a warm iron, but don't get the iron too hot.
You can also try sprinkling baking soda on a damp sponge or cloth and scrubbing until the marks are gone. If a stain still remains, you can buy chalkboard paint to make the surface new again. Call a few paint stores to find one that carries it. And while you're in the kitchen, use baking soda to clean and deodorize a butcher block, microwave, sink drain, refrigerator and a zillion other things!
In fact, you may never have to buy scouring powder again! Baking soda is nontoxic, nonabrasive on most hard surfaces (when dampened with water), and, best of all, it's safe and inexpensive.
P.S. For easy use, transfer the baking soda to a clean, dry, plastic Parmesan bottle with a shaker top!
Dear Heloise:
I use my floor cleaner with disposable pads along with a bucket containing a light amount of ammonia mixed with water to clean the outside window surfaces. The long handle makes it easy to reach all the way to the top of the window. Then I rinse with the hose.
For inside windows, I use a light spritz of my homemade cleaner, and the wonderful flat surface of the floor pad makes the inside window cleaning almost no work at all. Of course, the disposable cloths are reused time after time.
Jo Migliavacca, Houston
Send a money- or time-saving hint to Heloise, P.O. Box 795000, San Antonio, Tex. 78279-5000, fax it to 210-HELOISE or e-mail it toHeloise@Heloise.com. Please include your city and state when faxing or using e-mail. I can't answer your letter personally but will use the best hints received in my column.
2007King Features Syndicate
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