Use nine: Try softening brushes that are hardened with old, dried-in paint by boiling them in vinegar and let them stand for one hour. Then heat the vinegar and brushes come to a gentle boil. Simmer for 20 minutes. Rinse well, working the softened paint out of the bristles. For extremely heavy paint encrustations, you may need to repeat the process...or head to the hardware store.

Use ten: A little vinegar and salt added to the water you wash leafy green vegetables will float out bugs and kill germs.

Use eleven: Soak or simmer stuck-on food in 2 cups of water and 1/2 cup of vinegar. The food will soften and lift off in a few minutes.

Use twelve: Clean and freshen the garbage disposal by running a tray of ice cubes, with 1/2 cup of vinegar poured over them, through it once a week.

Use thirteen: In a pinch, you can use equal parts of lemon juice and vinegar to clean brass and copper. On difficult areas add a little salt to the mix for some abrasive action.

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

18. Sam Champion, You're a Stinker!



We watch ABC's Good Morning America when we are home.  It's a good way to get the news and a smattering of everything else.  I'm always on the look out for new recipes and they usually have a chef or cook of some sort touting the latest book or weight loss trend, fad, really.  We like the hosts and their interaction, but then "You can please some of the people all of time and all of the people some of the time, but you can't please all of the people all of the time."  Right?  I paraphrase.  

Yesterday morning, however, Sam Champion let me down.  Not with the weather, but I now have reason to question the quality and functionality of his taste buds.  I'm hoping he was just taught to be kind no matter what.  I am still paying heartily for his endorsement of the guest cook's 53 calorie brownie.

Now, I am ever the optimist, with food, Bob, not so much.  He can usually spot the obvious, while I am blinded by the dream of eating all I want (low cal, of course) with the taste of the real thing.  When I announced I was making brownies and pulled out a can of black beans, he rolled his eyes, put his hands around his neck and said, "Kill me now!" "Give it a chance, nay sayer,"  I reply.  "Sam Champion said it was
really good!"  I really should have listened to my culinary purist husband.

They looked good in batter form, they smelled good cooking and they only looked a little weird while they were cooling.  I sprinkled them with powdered sugar and stared at them willing them to cool faster.  My mouth watered while I poured a small glass of milk.  Never knowing how much I would need it, really need it!

Bob, bless his heart, willing to try most anything I cook,  he was, I'm sure, hoping against hope, as was I, that
we had found Nirvana in a 2 inch square.  Sadly, what we found was a leaden, overly cocoa flavored, square of...of...hmmm.  For the first time in a long time I'm at a loss for words.  Well...I guess the right words, printable, anyway.  What ever you call it, brownie does not come to mind and the bulk of it is still lodged in the far reaches of my intestinal tract.  I've never had a high colonic, but the thought has entered my mind this morning.

Sam, Sam, Sam, you are no longer my Champion.  Not in food reviews, at any rate.  Take a wife and one who is not afraid of REAL brownies!
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