Of bedtime prayer, hints, avoiding teapot drips, & a chicken-grapes salad

Like all other believers, Jews say special prayers in the evening as they contemplate sleep. This is my favorite:

Lay us down to sleep in peace, L-rd, our G-d; raise us awake, our King, to life, & spread over us the tabernacle of Your peace. Set us aright with good counsel from before Your presence, & save us for Your Name’s sake. Shield us, remove from us foe, plague, sword, famine, & woe; & remove spiritual impediments from before us & behind us, & in the shadow of Your wings shelter us – for G-d who protects & rescues us are You. Safeguard our going in & our coming out – for life & peace from now to eternity.








HINTS:

In the blog of October 7, 2004, I told you how I organize my shopping list. I forgot to tell you about the final righthand 2 columns of my table or spreadsheet. I mark how much each item costs singly & then the total cost for the number of the item that I will be purchasing. Sometimes I know the price from a previous shopping trip (& then mark it anew if the price has changed), but if I haven’t purchased the item before, I simply leave an empty space for it.

Simply Green™ is a great product that most of us know about, but did you know that if fabric is mildewed, it will clean off the mildew? Just soak the article in a solution of 1 oz (2 T) of the cleanser to each quart of water for 15 minutes, & then wash normally.

While your ice cube trays are being used for such things as tomato paste & herbs, there’s a better way to make ice itself. Just recycle a plastic or waxed milk carton, clean it, & fill it with water. Then freeze it. When you need it, take the carton outside & bang it on each side & on the end hard, against the sidewalk, & Lo! & behold, you’ll have ample crushed ice. A note to folks who keep kosher; use a Toffuti™ carton & you’ll have parve (neither meat nor milk) ice.

If you wear lipstick, you undoubtedly would love to get the last bits out of the tube so that you can merge them with bits from other tubes, & put the caboodle into one tube. This is how: freeze the lipstick tubes! Then take a small paring knife, insert it into the center of the tube, & the lipstick will come right out! You can melt all of the lipsticks together to get a uniform color.

An emergency measure that you probably haven’t thought of: Besides the 2 weeks’ worth of water & food that you should maintain for each member of your family (& you know to rotate those stocks, so that what’s being stored is always good & fresh), you should always have one clean change of linens, towels, etc. for each bed or bathroom. If this means an extra laundry session, so be it.









USE OF THINGS ON HAND: THE “TEAPOT DRIP CATCHER”:

Something that you never thought you might need, but that is actually a clever idea. At least, it’s clever if you’re like me, & often have to wipe off the counter after pouring tea from a teapot. BUT, since you need to rinse this doohickey out & let it dry between uses, you might want to sew 2 of them. You’ll be saving $4 for each one that you make.

Here’s how: Take your teapot & measure the circumference one inch towards the pot down the stem. Cut elastic to that length MINUS ½”. Find some old towel, washcloth, T-shirt, or any other absorbent material, cut off a 13” long piece of it and finish its edge. Sew that edge to the elastic. You now have a circle. Cut it off at the 2” wide mark (this does not need to be exact), & finish the outer edge. If you want to be fancy, take a coordinating scrap of oilcloth or vinyl (if you have this on hand), & cut a hoop that you can sew on the outside of the 2 inch wide circle. (Or, use a trim from your scrap basket.) If you really want to imitate the kind that is sold, use colors like fruit – the one in the catalogue looks like a lemon.










RECIPE OF THE WEEK: As you may have surmised, I use whatever I have in my pantry to devise the recipes I share with you. Here’s one:

POPPY-SEEDED GRAPES & CHICKEN SALAD:

(A little note about this recipe: Generally, I cannot afford grapes, which at their cheapest cost $0.80 per pound in my neighborhood. But, yesterday, I found 1-1/2 pounds at the day-old counter for just $1 – that’s $0.67 per pound! These were green seedless, but you can use any type of grapes in this recipe. I had developed this recipe when I was at my friend Ruan Frenette’s house, because she had the below ingredients on hand. I was delighted to be able to recreate it in my own home!)

1-1/2 lb grapes, any type, stems & any seeds removed
1 c shredded chicken
2 stalks celery, sliced thinly
½ red onion, chopped OR 4 scallions (green & white parts), finely slivered with kitchen shears
1 T poppy seeds
¼ c mayonaise

So simple! Just stir all together & serve as an entrée to 2. Mmmmh!