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Don’t toss your old car floor mats

Don’t toss your old car floor mats

DEAR SARA: I’m thinking about buying new floor mats for my car, but I do not want to throw out the old ones. Do you have any ideas? — Melissa, e-mail DEAR MELISSA: I’d use them in the garage, either for under your car to catch any leaking fluids or as door mats to store [...]

January 14th, 2011 | Posted in Question & Answer | Read More »

Enjoy festive winter drinks

Enjoy festive winter drinks

DEAR SARA: I have just been thinking that it would be fun to have some kind of festive adult beverage for the season. Nothing too complicated. Any ideas? — Jas, Florida DEAR JAS: You can make sangria, wassail, homemade cocoa, flavored or Irish coffee, flavored or chai tea, egg nog, daiquiris, margaritas, mimosa, mojito, etc. [...]

January 3rd, 2011 | Posted in Question & Answer | Read More »

Survive without an oven

Survive without an oven

DEAR SARA: What do you do if you don’t have your oven? For the past two weeks, I have not had an oven, and my mind has ventured onto other options. The computer board of my oven went out, but the stove is still operable. Fortunately, and hopefully, it is getting fixed today (praying here). [...]

December 26th, 2010 | Posted in Question & Answer | Read More »

New uses for wire vegetable basket

New uses for wire vegetable basket

DEAR SARA: Do you have ideas for repurposing a hanging three-tier veggie basket? I have two wire three-tier vegetable baskets that I never use. I bought them and didn’t like how quickly the vegetables went bad and ended up just refrigerating them instead. Now, they are stuffed away all lonely, wanting so badly to become [...]

December 19th, 2010 | Posted in Question & Answer | Read More »

Homemade gift good enough to eat

Homemade gift good enough to eat

DEAR SARA: I want to make cinnamon butter. Do you have a recipe? — Phaedra, Ohio DEAR PHAEDRA: Making compound butters is easy. For cinnamon butter, it can be as simple as adding cinnamon to the butter and combining it with a fork or mix with an electric mixer. Or try mixing butter, honey, cinnamon, [...]

December 13th, 2010 | Posted in Question & Answer | Read More »

Jazz up couscous

Jazz up couscous

DEAR SARA: What things do you add to flavor your couscous? I have some dried cranberries. Would that be weird? — Palooka, Missouri DEAR PALOOKA: Much like pasta or rice, there are many different ways to enjoy it. Dried cranberries wouldn’t be weird. Add some diced cucumber, crumbled feta cheese and balsamic vinaigrette dressing. Many [...]

December 5th, 2010 | Posted in Question & Answer | Read More »

Preserve pumpkin by freezing it

Preserve pumpkin by freezing it

DEAR SARA: Do you have any tips on canning pumpkin? Thank you. — Edie P., e-mail DEAR EDIE: Home canning pumpkin puree is no longer recommended. You can freeze it or home can pumpkin cubes in a pressure canner. Please refer to a recent home canning book, such as “The Complete Guide to Home Canning [...]

December 1st, 2010 | Posted in Question & Answer | Read More »

Easy ways to remove wrinkles from clothes

Easy ways to remove wrinkles from clothes

DEAR SARA: Iron or dryer? I often will delay ironing until I have a huge pile of it. If I have enough for a full dryer load, which is cheaper: ironing for over an hour or putting it in the dryer for 20 minutes? I have a dryer that’s only a few years old, so [...]

November 21st, 2010 | Posted in Question & Answer | Read More »

Use old canning jars for decoration

Use old canning jars for decoration

DEAR SARA: I need help with old glass-top canning jars. I was given two boxes of glass-top canning jars. They have the orange rubber seal and the metal that is around and on top of the jar. How do you use these? I wanted to make a small batch of spaghetti sauce. My sister-in-law got [...]

November 14th, 2010 | Posted in Question & Answer | Read More »

Make your own dish soap

Make your own dish soap

DEAR SARA: I am looking for homemade dish-washing soap recipe. Not the homemade automatic dishwasher kind. — Yvonne, Texas DEAR YVONNE: Here are two dish soap (not dishwasher) recipes. 1/4 cup soap flakes (grated ivory) 2 cups hot water 1/4 cup glycerin 1/2 teaspoon lemon or lavender essential oil Dissolve soap flakes in hot water. [...]

November 8th, 2010 | Posted in Question & Answer | Read More »

Substitute garlic salt

Substitute garlic salt

DEAR SARA: I have a garlic salt question. I found a recipe I’d like to try, and it calls for garlic salt. Ignorant question here, but can I use garlic powder plus salt as a substitute? Or is garlic salt something different? By the way, you don’t want to know how long it took me [...]

October 31st, 2010 | Posted in Question & Answer | Read More »

Creative uses for old shower hooks

Creative uses for old shower hooks

DEAR SARA: Every time I buy a new shower curtain, I buy new shower curtain hooks to match. I have frogs, flowers, and angels that matched some decor in the bathroom in the years past. Besides donating them, is there any fun, creative things I can do with them? — Palooka, Missouri DEAR PALOOKA: It [...]

October 25th, 2010 | Posted in Question & Answer | Read More »

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Homemade gift good enough to eat

Homemade gift good enough to eat

DEAR SARA: I want to make cinnamon butter. Do you have a recipe? — Phaedra, Ohio DEAR PHAEDRA: Making compound butters is easy. For cinnamon butter, it can be as simple as adding cinnamon to the butter and combining it with a fork or mix with an electric mixer. Or try mixing butter, honey, cinnamon, [...]


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