Daylight Saving Time – Spring
So tonight’s the night – again. The semi-annual changing of the clocks in the U.S. except for Arizona, Hawai’i, and Puerto Rico. Those states and territories stay on Standard Time all year long. The rest of us lose an hour at 2:00 am as we “magically” jump to 3:00 am.
Also, your local fire station would like it if you would change the batteries in your smoke alarms at this time as well. The changing of the clocks is a good time to do so.
Heinlein on Poverty
“Throughout history, poverty is the normal condition of man. Advances which permit this norm to be exceeded — here and there, now and then — are the work of an extremely small minority, frequently despised, often condemned, and almost always opposed by all right-thinking people. Whenever this tiny minority is kept from creating, or (as sometimes happens) is driven out of a society, the people then slip back into abject poverty.
This is known as “bad luck.”
― Robert Heinlein
Did You Know? Eggs
Did you ever have a recipe that called for more egg whites than egg yolks, or more egg yolks than egg whites? Did you know that you can freeze the leftovers rather than waste them?
You can freeze them in zipper bags. Snack size bags work great. If freezing more than one, be sure to mark the bag with the number of yolks or whites. Just thaw and use as you would normally.
Someone I know recently went shopping, and the eggs were left in the car (kids didn’t look for all the groceries :)). She found the eggs the next day, frozen solid with cracked shells.
They’re still good. Bring them in, peel immediately to avoid pieces of shell, and put into snack sized zipper bags, one for each egg. Let them thaw and use normally.
You can also store them scrambled, with additions if you wish. Chop up some ham, onion, and sweet peppers. Mix with two or three scrambled eggs, and freeze. You have a ready prepared Denver Omelet. Defrost and cook without having to get out the cutting board.
You can chop up a whole onion and a whole pepper and divide among several omelet pre-packs. You can even add shredded cheese to the mix.
Have fun with your eggs!
Did You Know? Milk
Did you know you can freeze milk?
Did you ever have to buy buttermilk for a recipe use only 2/3 of a cup and have the rest leftover? Sometimes you can make a couple of things that use buttermilk at the same time, but generally there’s some leftover. You hate to throw it out and waste it.
Well you can freeze it. I pour it into an ice cube tray and freeze. Once frozen you can pop them out and put them in a zipper bag and back into the freezer. Each compartment can hold at least an ounce (2 tablespoons) and maybe 2 ounces (4 tablespoons).
When you need some for a recipe, pull out the requisite number of buttermilk cubes and let them defrost in a bowl or a small mason jar. Then just stir or shake to reincorporate it (it separates into fats and waters).
You can do this with milk, cream, and half and half as well. You can also freeze butter. I buy a bunch when it’s on sale and freeze the entire package. Freezing butter before you make biscuits or pie crusts that call for cold butter results in a much flakier end product.
