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.

Thursday, August 12, 2010

57. Chocolate and More Chocolate

While we were waiting for Bob's appointment with the doctor, (blood pressure check) I was thumbing through a "People" magazine.  I came across two things on one page that completely amazed me.  Maybe I'm easily amazed.  Maybe the average person either wouldn't find it note worthy or would just pass it by without giving it a second glance.  

On the same page, actually I think in conjunction with each other, now that I think about it, were two things about chocolate.  The first that caught my eye was the pictures of Rachael Ray, Whoopie Goldberg and Kathy Griffin.  Now, nothing that Kathy Griffin does surprises me, she is definitely her own person.  "Shock Value" is her middle name.  The little piece was about a bakery in New York  called "Ruby et Violette," a name that I admit evokes lovely images in my little brain.  However, they are extolling the virtues of chocolate cookies and brownies.  Now, you all know my kinship with the brownie.  It is one of life's treasures.  But read on my friends...three cookies OR two brownies for a whopping $15!  What on earth is the world coming to?!  My heart breaks for the hoards of poor children in New York who will never taste the deliriously delicious flavor of a fresh baked brownie, not if they want it from "Ruby et Violette!"  I can envision sad little children, their tiny noses pressed against the window, a tear in their eye and a little runnel of fluid coming from their nostrils.  I'm speechless..well, not really...but that my friends is what is wrong with America today.  How can we ever think we can be a world power if two brownies are $15?


The piece next to this simply awed me!  Bob and I both worked  the math. I guess you would call these puzzles genius.  The people smart enough to create these...I guess you call them brain teasers...just...well, it's simply amazing.  They called it Chocolate Math.  Please take a minute to work the formula and have a grin.  Bob, probably the only person on the planet, said the number of times he would like chocolate a week was 14.  Even at that number the answer was correct!  How do these formulas work?  How does a person figure these formulas out?  What kind of mind can calculate these mysteries?  Do they eat brownies?  These are the things we average mortals ponder.  Do they know they are a mystery to the rest of us?  Do they spend their days locked away in a room somewhere never knowing the feel of sun on their faces, pondering things like "Chocolate Math?"  What relevant inventions will come from this kind of pondering?  Velcro came from the lowly thistle, but "Chocolate Math?"  These little games are probably relaxation for those endowed with such unfair IQ's.  My idea of relaxing is a good book, a small glass of milk...and you guessed it...A BIG FAT BROWNIE!


Did it work for You?



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