Household Tips - Vote For The Winner-voting open till Sunday Dec 19

Pick Your Favorite Household Tip!

  • Number 1

    Votes: 2 14.3%
  • Number 2

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Number 3

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Number 4

    Votes: 2 14.3%
  • Number 5

    Votes: 1 7.1%
  • Number 6

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Number 7

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Number 8

    Votes: 1 7.1%
  • Number 9

    Votes: 1 7.1%
  • Number 10

    Votes: 3 21.4%
  • Number 11

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Number 12

    Votes: 1 7.1%
  • Number 13

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Number 14

    Votes: 2 14.3%
  • Number 15

    Votes: 1 7.1%

  • Total voters
    14
  • Poll closed .

Keltin

New member
Gold Site Supporter
Voting is open till Sunday, December 19, and the winner is announced on Monday, December 20.

We had a contest for all the members of NCT to submit as many Household Tips as they had. The contest was open for submissions until today. The winner will get a year’s paid Site Supporter Status to NCT, and a special Penzy’s Spice pack. More details here.

http://www.netcookingtalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=16944


Now that it’s done, Doc and I were taxed with picking the Top 10.

No easy task! In fact……..we couldn’t do it! :yum:

So, here we will present you with the Top 15 listed in no particular order. This is just how they fell after editing and combining the 2 Word documents I was working with.

Please note that every tip that was submitted was great, and all are appreciated and worthy of use. It was a real struggle to get to this list of Top 15. Heck, for the longest while, it was almost a Top 20! :lol:

The poll itself lists “Number x” where x is the number of the Tip listed later in this post. Please read over the Top 15 below, then decide which number you want to vote for as the #1 tip and winner of the contest.

Good luck everyone, and thanks a million for making this so fun, informative, and successful! :thumb:

And yes, there is nothing wrong at all with voting for yourself. Vote as you wish; it's entirely up to you. The votes are hidden, so no one will know who voted for what. So let's do this! :clap:

Edited to add: In case of a tie, Doc will make the final decision.

===================================================



-----------------------------------------------------------
Number 1
Store plastic cling wrap in the freezer - it wont stick to itself.



-----------------------------------------------------------
Number 2
Save the outer leaves from a head of cabbage. They do a fine job polishing pewter.



-----------------------------------------------------------
Number 3
I put cooking oil/olive oil in a spray bottle. That way, when I have to spray a pan or baking dish, I only have to mist it and not coat with oil.



-----------------------------------------------------------
Number 4
I keep fresh ginger in a jar of sherry in the refrigerator. It keeps forever, as long as the ginger is covered with sherry, and I can use ginger-flavored sherry in recipes, too. Just keep topping off the sherry as needed.



-----------------------------------------------------------
Number 5
Before I bought a funnel, I refilled my herb/spice jars with a sheet of paper rolled in a cone shape. Less messy & disposable.



-----------------------------------------------------------
Number 6
If you are in a hurry to cut up strawberries or other soft fruit and you don't care if the pieces are all perfectly the same use a pastry blender (hand-held tool). Just throw the fruit in a bowl and press with the blender. Easy and FAST.



-----------------------------------------------------------
Number 7
Use toothpaste and a soft bristled toothbrush to clean and shine up dirty jewelry. Rinse off with water - looks like new.



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Number 8
Burnt on crud on your stove top grates? Place them in a plastic bag with a little ammonia and seal it up. Sit it out in the sun. Next day, carefully open the bag being careful to keep the bag away from your face (the fumes will be intense). Most of the crud will wipe right off. Whatever is left will come off with just a little bit of elbow grease.



-----------------------------------------------------------
Number 9
Put garlic cloves in the microwave for 15 seconds. It makes the skins peel right off.



-----------------------------------------------------------
Number 10
I LOVE using a pasta pot with the strainer to make chicken stock - throw the chicken and veggies etc in the strainer in the pot, add water and simmer till it's stock. Lift out the strainer and you are left with just stock!! No fishing everything out and straining the stock!!



-----------------------------------------------------------
Number 11
Dawn (the blue variety) is an excellent laundry spot-remover!



-----------------------------------------------------------
Number 12
When making burgers, use an English muffin ring to mold the patties.



-----------------------------------------------------------
Number 13
Vinegar and water in a spray bottle cleans glass without streaking.



-----------------------------------------------------------
Number 14
When peeling garlic, or chopping onions, or other prep work; do the entire garlic clove or onion and freeze the excess in a zip lock bag for later use. You can use toss them into meat loaf, stews, soups, casseroles, etc without defrosting.

I keep lots of bags of frozen garlic, onions, celery, green peppers, etc. handy for the next meals in a special part of the freezer so I can locate what I need at a glance.


-----------------------------------------------------------
Number 15
Your appliances with the plastic touch pads (i.e. micro wave touch pads) get scratched from years of use. Clean them with a cleaner like 409, put it on a cleaning cloth not on the plastic touch pad. Once clean, apply some Car Wax (small amount) and Wax the touch pad like a car. The result will bring back the finish as close to new as it can be. Try it, it works!
 
Last edited:

lilbopeep

🌹🐰 Still trying to get it right.
Site Supporter
Re: Household Tips - Vote For The Winner

Stupid question - Are you going to post a poll with the choices (radio buttons) or do we PM you?
AHA!! Did you edit or am I blind?
 

lilbopeep

🌹🐰 Still trying to get it right.
Site Supporter
Re: Household Tips - Vote For The Winner

Did I also miss the voting end/cut off date? :lol:
 

Keltin

New member
Gold Site Supporter
Re: Household Tips - Vote For The Winner

It takes a a little time to make the poll, but it's up now. When making a poll, you have to post the thread itself first, then you go back and create the poll and post it next. So if members are fast, they can actually see the post without the poll. The poll is up now.

The cut-off date is 12/19, this coming Sunday.
 

lilbopeep

🌹🐰 Still trying to get it right.
Site Supporter
Re: Household Tips - Vote For The Winner

It takes a a little time to make the poll, but it's up now. When making a poll, you have to post the thread itself first, then you go back and create the poll and post it next. So if members are fast, they can actually see the post without the poll. The poll is up now.

The cut-off date is 12/19, this coming Sunday.
Thanks Keltin!! XOXO
 

Keltin

New member
Gold Site Supporter
Some of these are so good, it's hard to make up my mind! I want to vote for 2 or 3 of them.


I know what you mean, same here! This is hard.

I'd thought about allowing multiple votes, but there is no way that I know of to limit multiple votes to say 3 for each member. I was worried that, with multiple votes, it would be possible for all 15 to receive the same number since people might say, and justly so, ALL of them are great.

That's the bitter-sweetness of a contest. It doesn't make the ones that aren't #1 less than, but as they say in Highlander - There can be only one. :lol:

Heck......none of mine even got entered.

sad_cry.png



:yum::yum::yum::yum::yum:




Now come on everyone.......

VOTE!!!
 

Doc

Administrator
Staff member
Gold Site Supporter
Good job Keltin Thanks.
Keltin was not kidding about how hard it was to pick the tips to include in the poll. We were very close to going with 20 choices but that would make it more likely to have a tie for the first 3 positions and complicate things even more. So we compromised and whittled it down to 15. Much tougher than I thought as all tips were good and worthy of being included.

I sure enjoyed the contest, and I'm glad that you guys pick the winner not me. In case of a tie I will have to flip a coin to see who wins.
 

QSis

Grill Master
Staff member
Gold Site Supporter
Very hard to vote for just ONE!

Fun game, Keltin and Doc .... THANKS!

Lee
 

Doc

Administrator
Staff member
Gold Site Supporter
The poll is now closed. Congrats to Number 10 the winner of this poll. Number 10 will get 1st place. :clap: I knew this would not be easy to choose, so close behind number 10 were 4 others tied for 2nd place. Later today I will put the 4 numbers in a hat and draw them out. The 1st one out will be awarded 2nd place, the 2nd one out will get 3rd place. The remaining two will both get honorable mention.

Thanks to all who participated. Lots of good tips. As shown by the voting picking a number one was not easy. There was no obvious choice because all of them had their merits. Good job everyone!!!!!! :clap: :clap:

Thanks to Keltin who came up with this idea and ran the contest and provided the prizes. Good job Keltin!!!!!!! :tiphat: :clap: :clap:
 

Keltin

New member
Gold Site Supporter
Looks like the Grand Prize winner is Peepsy!! :clap:

Hey Peeps, PM me your address so I can have the Penzy Spices dropped shipped to you.

These are all yours! Also, Doc has been paid the Site Supporter Fee, so he should be updating your account shortly.

Good job, and that is a great tip!

http://www.penzeys.com/scstore/giftboxes/new/herbGift4jar.html

Originally, the contest was to be for one winner with one grand prize. :lol:

http://www.netcookingtalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=16944

But Doc is right, what fun is a contest without a 2nd and 3rd place winner. AND, it is Christmas!! :clap:

So, once Doc has picked the 2nd and 3rd place winners, I’ll drop ship your choice of either the Grill & Broil Box, or the Baking Box. You pick which one!

http://www.penzeys.com/cgi-bin/penzeys/p-penzeysminigiftbox.html?id=UZGBeGUp

Now, if we can all stand the anticipation! Come on Doc, put our minds to rest! :yum:
 
Last edited:

lilbopeep

🌹🐰 Still trying to get it right.
Site Supporter
Thank you for the congrats and thank you to those who voted for me. All the tips were wonderful.
 

Doc

Administrator
Staff member
Gold Site Supporter
Congrat to Peeps for coming in number 1. :tiphat: :clap: :clap: Good job Peeps.

And Congrats to Bams, GotGarlic, LeoLady and CaliforniaCook for all being tied for 2nd place.
I just put all 4 of your names in a hat and as luck would have it:
California Cook gets 2nd place
GotGarlic gets 3rd place
LeoLady and BamsBBQ both get honorable mention.
All the tips were good. Thanks to all for participating. :clap: :clap: :clap:
 

GotGarlic

New member
Congrat to Peeps for coming in number 1. :tiphat: :clap: :clap: Good job Peeps.

And Congrats to Bams, GotGarlic, LeoLady and CaliforniaCook for all being tied for 2nd place.
I just put all 4 of your names in a hat and as luck would have it:
California Cook gets 2nd place
GotGarlic gets 3rd place
LeoLady and BamsBBQ both get honorable mention.
All the tips were good. Thanks to all for participating. :clap: :clap: :clap:

What a wonderful surprise! This has been a lot of fun, and it's great to have so many terrific new tips. Thanks, all.
 
Good topic. Maybe it can be a sticky with members' tips in its entirety. Wondering where did the topic go? Members had several tips. In any event, thank you. Since I have fresh herbs/spices, & wouldn't want to see them go to waste, perhaps you can pass the prize along to a runner-up.
 

lilbopeep

🌹🐰 Still trying to get it right.
Site Supporter
Congrat to Peeps for coming in number 1. :tiphat: :clap: :clap: Good job Peeps.

And Congrats to Bams, GotGarlic, LeoLady and CaliforniaCook for all being tied for 2nd place.
I just put all 4 of your names in a hat and as luck would have it:
California Cook gets 2nd place
GotGarlic gets 3rd place
LeoLady and BamsBBQ both get honorable mention.
All the tips were good. Thanks to all for participating. :clap: :clap: :clap:
Thank you Doc and Keltin! I have never ordered from Penzy so this will be a nice sampler for me to get acquainted with them. Thank you again to the people that voted for me. I was in good company. ALL the tips were wonderful!

Thank you all for the congrats.
 

lilbopeep

🌹🐰 Still trying to get it right.
Site Supporter
A big congrats to California Cook and GotGarlic. Also congrats to LeoLady and BamsBBQ.
 

GotGarlic

New member
My Penzey's grilling spices arrived today! Thanks again - DH can't wait to start grilling again. We may even have decent weather for it next week :smile:
 

QSis

Grill Master
Staff member
Gold Site Supporter
GG, congrats!

Isn't the Penzey's catalog the best??

Lee
 

GotGarlic

New member
It's absolutely the best, QSis. I first discovered Penzey's when I was visiting my brother and his family in Oak Park, Il., just outside Chicago. It's a Target-size store with nothing but herbs, spices, extracts and other yummy stuff! It was incredible! I've been on their mailing list ever since - at least 10 years. It's great quality, and it's a wonderful prize for a cooking-site contest :smile: In fact, I've given gift boxes as Christmas gifts for two years in a row now.
 

lilbopeep

🌹🐰 Still trying to get it right.
Site Supporter
I received my prize/gift today!! Thank you for voting for me and Thank You Doc & Keltin for starting the contest!!

Now I have to dig my grill out!! LOL
 

Doc

Administrator
Staff member
Gold Site Supporter
Congrats again Peeps. :clap: :clap: :clap:
Thanks for letting me know you got them. :thumb:
 
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