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Cleaning
How to Clean Leeks
With their mild onion flavor and thick white stalk, leeks are one of my favorite vegetables. They're excellent in cold weather preparations like soups, stews, and braises. When cooking with leeks, it's important to take the time to properly clean them.
How Often Do You Change Your Dish Sponge?
Although doing dishes isn't one of my top kitchen pet peeves, hand-washing dishes with an old sponge is. The thought of spreading bacteria and grime, rather than actually cleaning an utensil or plate, makes my skin crawl more than a full moon on Halloween. Although most people simply replace their dish sponge when it starts smelling, I swap mine out much more frequently than that — probably every two to three weeks.
How to Quickly Clean a Whisk
For years I hated when a recipe required whisking. Not because it hurt my wrist, but because cleaning the whisk was such a pain. Until one day, while doing the dishes, I had a light bulb moment.
Irrational Chores: Cleaning Before the Housekeepers
I never understood why my mother made us tidy up before the housekeeper came to clean the house. Now that I'm standing in her shoes, I get it. Working with two small kids probably gives me an excuse for keeping a less than perfect house but it's still embarrassing for two hardworking women to come in my home to see a situation that might make Pig Pen blush.
How-To: Rid Your Candle Holders of Wax
I recently hosted a dinner party lit by dozens of candles, from votive holders on the coffee table to candlesticks in the dining room. Part of cleaning up after a candlelit soiree involves getting rid of all that wax. Thankfully I've learned a few tricks and tips over the years to make it easier.
Open House: How Do You Pass the Time While Cleaning?
Unless I'm in the mood to clean — hey, it happens sometimes! — I have to keep myself entertained while scrubbing the tub or sweeping the floor, lest I get bored and move on to something else. Sometimes I'll turn on some trashy TV, but I can't really do that when I'm cleaning the bathroom.
Website of the Day: Get Rid of Things
I was sitting on my couch the other day and found myself staring at my bookshelf. Although some of you may think you can never have enough books, the truth is, I have more than enough books. In fact, I started cleaning out said bookshelf and have now narrowed down my library to just about half the amount of novels, instruction manuals, and reference titles than when I started.
Casa Shops: Alice Supply Co.
There are two things I know to be true: I'm a sucker for good packaging (and color), and my cleaning supplies rarely see the light of day. The answer to and beguiling lovechild of these truths: Alice Supply Co. In hopes of giving mundane household items a little personality, making chores a little less laborious, and ending "the humble dustpan's days of being shoved away in a closet," former surfwear industry execs Maria Barnes and Raili Clasen founded Alice, aptly named after The Brady Bunch's witty housekeeper.
Which Housekeeping Task Could You Do Without?
In a dreamworld, most moms would swear off laundry, doing dishes, taking out trash, cleaning toilets and making beds. Aside from the laundry, all the rest of those duties are what makes vacation sound so appealing. Room service can be left in the hallway, toilets are always sparkling and the sheets are fresh and tidy when the family returns from their dip in the atrium pool.
Geek Tip: Empty Your Trash For Good
Spring cleaning your gadgets isn't confined to just their surfaces — your desktop and hard drive need to be spruced up as well (the better to keep you running, my dear).
And what does everyone do? We throw files into the trash, and then conscientiously empty the trash.
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