photo by erix!

DEAR SARA: My husband has a great recipe for homemade sausage. Last time, he made it in cornhusks, but he asked if I could ask where he might be able to find sausage tubes (or wrap, whatever it is called). — Chrissy, Florida

DEAR CHRISSY: Natural casings can be found at a butcher shop or meat department. You’ll need a sausage stuffer, too. If you don’t want natural casings, you can use plastic wrap or aluminum foil to form a tube for freezing the sausage. Visit www.thekitchn.com/thekitchn/tips-techniques/how-to-grind-your-own-sausage-079778 for a sausage-making tutorial using plastic wrap.

DEAR SARA: I’ve been using vinegar as a shower cleaner, and the smell about knocks us out. What can I do to it to make the smell less strong? — Andrea, West Virginia

DEAR ANDREA: You can add essential oil, such as eucalyptus, lemon, lavender or peppermint, to it. You can combine lemon oil, peppermint oil or eucalyptus oil, dish liquid and water with vinegar, too. Use no more than 10 drops total of essential oils, a squirt of dish liquid and roughly 3-to-1 ratio of vinegar and water. Or simply add lemon juice to the vinegar. Place in a spray bottle, and shake before using.

DEAR SARA: I need some help or ideas for a piggy bank. We want to make our own piggy bank for my 4-year-old son. My husband wants it to be a project they can both work on together, but we want to use recycled items and possibly some wood to make it fun and functional. The concept I have in mind is a bank that encourages spend, save, share or spend, save, donate and invest. — Stacey, Missouri

DEAR STACEY: You can use plastic pop bottles, coffee cans, peanut-butter jars, margarine tubs or oatmeal, Pringles, mixed nuts or coffee-creamer containers. There are tons of containers that can be reused. Most of these containers can be covered with Contac paper or construction paper. You can use three different-sized containers to represent each category of spend, save or share.

DEAR SARA: I made a pork roast and roasted veggies. I usually just make stew out of the leftovers. But that’s getting old. Any other ideas to use them? — Vail, Washington

DEAR VAIL: You can make lo mein, fried rice, stir-fry, BBQ pork or mushroom gravy and pork sandwiches, pork burritos or fajitas, quesadillas, potpie, pork croquettes, sweet-and-sour pork or make home fries and pork and serve at breakfast with eggs.
Here’s a sweet-and-sour-sauce recipe.

Combine in small saucepan:
6 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons soy sauce
4 tablespoons wine vinegar
1/2 cup pineapple juice
3 tablespoons ketchup

In a small bowl, combine:
1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons cornstarch

Bring contents of saucepan to boil. Whisk in cornstarch mixture. Cook and stir 1 to 3 minutes until dark and thick. — Constance, New Jersey

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