Kitchen Tip: Store Salad Greens For Weeks

Those packages of pre-cut salad greens at the supermarket are pricey because you pay for the processing and the packaging. If you buy the greens in their original harvested form, at the farmer’s market or local grocery store, you will not only get the freshest veggies (next to harvesting from your own backyard) but also save some pocket money.

The challenge is how to keep the greens fresh in the refrigerator for the length of time it takes you to consume all of it. It’s not really a challenge because all you need are plastic bins, paper towels, and a propping device. 

I found the ideal plastic storage bins at a home improvement store. They serve the purpose because they are long enough to fit a whole romaine head and deep enough to fit an average green lettuce head.

Before I store the greens, I pluck out the compromised (bruised) leaves and rinse the heads to remove whatever sand and dirt are stuck in there. If the leaves are a bit limp, I soak the whole thing in water for about half an hour to revive them. Then, a gentle shake to remove the excess water and they’re ready for the bins.

Because contact with too much moisture promotes leaf decay, and the bottom of the bin is where the excess water gathers, I address that concern two ways: I put a double layer of paper towels to absorb the excess moisture in the bin, and I install a propping device over the paper towels to hold the greens away from the wet towels. For my romaine and greenleaf lettuce, I used a plastic packaging tray.

That plastic tray was originally the packaging tray of quail eggs that we bought at an oriental store. It was just what I had on hand; I could’ve used a stack of plastic spoons or a few sauce containers. I actually used several water bottle caps for my iceberg lettuce bin (I’m the Recycle-Repurpose Queen!).

The point is to slightly lift the greens from the bottom of the container to allow air circulation and minimal contact with a wet surface.

The bins are not air-tight (veggies need to breathe too) but they seal well enough to keep the greens from drying out in the fridge. Keeping them in their own containers also ensures they don’t get poisoned by the ethylene gas from certain fruits we also keep in the fridge.

But here’s my biggest reminder: make sure your refrigerator temperature is set no higher than 40 degrees F (4.4 degrees C); the wrong temperature will hasten spoilage.

Another tip: make sure the bottoms of the lettuce heads are facing the back of the fridge. Reason: it’s colder near the back wall of the fridge; leaf tips could freeze. 

Less Stain from Stainless Flatware

If you're anything like me, you toss your used flatware in the sink, then gather all of them in the dishwasher waiting for the appliance to be full enough to run a wash. Then after about a year, you notice that your once-shiny stainless flatware are all cloudy and cruddy. You try to remove the crud by hand-washing the spoons and forks with a sponge and dish detergent but the shine never comes back.

If you're anything like me, you try "The Eraser" because it can clean everything!

Then you hear yourself scream, "Whoa! Check this out!"

Yes, the all-around Eraser (available as Mr. Clean Magic Eraser and Scotch Brite Easy Eraser) is the answer.

Wet the pad, slide it over the flatware surface just a few times, and watch the spoons and forks become shiny and new again! Rinse with clean water and towel dry. Revive several sets of stainful stainless flatware in just a few minutes.

If you're anything like me.

Asking for Directions

I keep thinking about how we could've been more helpful. We were at a red light at an intersection near Seaworld. The guy driving the car next to us, apparently a tourist, rolled down his window and asked, "How do we get to Downtown Disney?"

After thinking quickly because the light was about to change, Mike said, "Go straight, take the ramp to I-4 West."

The guy repeated the instructions then the light turned green. Mike said to me as we drove away, "Well, he'll figure out that he has to go into the 67 exit, and find his way again."

Now I'm thinking, there were other ways to reply to the guy's question:

1. Speak real fast and say, "Go straight, take the ramp to I-4 West, take the 67 exit to Lake Buena Vista, then turn right to State Road 535, then turn left to Hotel Plaza Blvd, then turn left at Buena Vista Drive. Downtown Disney will be to your right. You want me to repeat that?"

2. Say, "Punch 'Downtown Disney' on your GPS and follow the voice prompts."

3. Say, "Use your phone's navigation app."

4. Say, "Google Downtown Disney."

5. Point to the 7-11 at the corner and say, "Go there and buy a map."

6. Resist the urge to say, "It's complicated" and straight-face fib, "We're not from around here. Sorry."

7. Raise an eyebrow, look at the traffic light, stare back at him, and say, "Seriously?"

On second thought, Mike's instructions couldn't have been more helpful. If the guy went up the ramp to I-4 West, he would've eventually seen all the huge signs, one of which is at the nearest exit that says "Downtown Disney".

Downtown Disney

Dirty-Clean Dishwasher Sign

You know how you always wonder if the dishes in the dishwasher are still dirty or already clean? Our solution was to stick the corresponding post-it note on the door of the dishwasher. We had a "Clean Na" (clean already) and a "Dirty Pa" (still dirty) post-it that stays on the bulletin board until needed.

I got tired of managing and replacing the post-it note that sometimes fell on the floor (if not behind the water cooler), and got all crumpled, nasty, and unsticky. I thought I'd get creative and make a decent and real sign.

Because the front panel of our dishwasher from the 80s is plastic, a magnetic sign was out of the question. I had to design one that uses velcro as a fastener. And it has to be reversible and sturdy enough to withstand the constant reversing action. One side would be "CLEAN" and the other side "DIRTY".

I headed for my polymer clay workstation. Bluish grayish colors would work for the Dirty side, and bright whitish colors would be good for the Clean side. I cut an aluminum plate to serve as the backing and covered it with a thin layer of neutral brownish beige blended clay.
 

The letters had to be large and easy to read (and easy to make), so, arial-looking font was my default. Gray for Dirty, white for Clean.

I baked the letters and the backing first.

To make the sign more interesting, I designed sad and happy faces, and borders. I baked those elements next. Then I super-glued all the elements onto the backing, including the corner posts where the velcro-loop pieces would be attached.

And there it is. A reversible sign that snaps onto the velcro-hook pads I attached to the dishwasher. I threw away the post-it notes for the last time.

The Seven Roses Project

In Dec 2007, I bought a set of three bare-root roses from a warehouse store.

I planted them onto containers and wrote about How to Grow Bare-Root Roses in Containers at eHow. Eventually, I planted the pink one on the ground, beside our calamansi tree, but left the other two in their pots. I didn't fuss over them too much, the way a serious rose grower would, but I loved how every now and then I could bring in beautiful flowers from my own garden.

To celebrate spring this year, a local home improvement store offered shrubs on discount. The shrubs included hybrid teas and grandifloras. I couldn't pass it up -- I chose four.

This time I couldn't leave the roses in their pots because they would be harder to maintain than if I put them in the ground. So, now I had a project cut out for me.

I chose a sunny location in the front yard so that I'll see the plants all the time. With a plan in hand, I gathered the materials I would need to transfer six rose plants from their pots to the ground. I would need two bags of garden soil (they have organic ones now!), a bag of rose food, and concrete borders that matched the ones we already had.

I marked the area, peeled and rolled up the sod, and dug the holes one by one. Sounds easy when you say it like that, but that sentence took me three days in real life. And several pain relievers.

I enriched each hole with garden soil and rose food before I plopped the plant in (Florida soil is mostly sand). Then I positioned the borders and watered the entire plot.

Project complete!

The seven roses are: Intrigue (lavender), Queen Elizabeth (pink), Ambassador (orange), New Day (yellow), Scarlet Knight (red), Pristine (pale pink), and Eclipse (yellow-orange).

Like Fish In A Barrel

It started out back in 2009 as a water feature -- a half-barrel to catch the water that flowed through the rainchain from the roof gutters. We found a waterproofed half-barrel at a garden center, where we also bought the marginal aquatic plants, Dwarf Giant Papyrus, Powdery Thalia, and Pickerelweed. We got a lotus bulb but it never woke up.

Pickerelweed

We weren’t really planning on having fish in the barrel but stagnant water would mean breeding ground for mosquitoes. So, I assigned a couple of Goldfishes and a Platy from our aquarium to take care of the mosquito larvae that could populate the barrel. All went well until winter came.

January 2010 was fierce; it froze the barrel, together with everything in it. I was devastated, not only because the fish and most of the plants died, but also because it didn’t even occur to me that I actually had the means to prevent the imminent disaster.

Frozen water. See dead fish in the center of the photo.

The following winter, I was prepared. As soon as the weather cooled down, I put an aquarium heater in the barrel and made sure that the setting was just right – no ice cube fishies, but no fish stew either. Everyone survived.

Last summer, I added more fish. I introduced a few tropical livebearers, both male and female, and let nature take its course. The barrel is now teeming with Guppies, Platys, and Swordtails.

We had our first chilly morning a few weeks ago, and no, we didn’t forget to install the heater. We won't let Mother Winter mess with our pets again, even if they are fish in a barrel.

Goodbye Auto Mode

A few months ago, Groupon offered a discount on a photography workshop to be held in Orlando, conducted by CapturingTrueEmotion.com. I took the 4-hour “The Ultimate Camera Experience” workshop with the matching 2-hour “The Ultimate Camera Expedition” location shooting scheduled for December 2nd. The lecture was at the Sheraton Safari Hotel, and the shoot at Downtown Disney, just 10 minutes away from home.

It was essentially a basic course on DSLR photography – understanding ISO, aperture, shutter speed, metering, etc., and knowing how to control them in your camera. I knew all that, since I’ve had my Canon Rebel T2i for more than a year and my Canon S3IS for a couple of years before that.  I was really more curious about the workshop itself (how it would be conducted) rather than the photography basics.

Surprisingly, at the end of the day, I actually learned something important and photography-related. Our wonderful (she was awesome!) facilitator was professional photographer Stephanie Adriana. After listening to her share her shooting techniques and personal experiences, I discovered that there was, indeed, an easy and methodical way to shoot in Manual mode.

Stephanie at location shooting.

My action shot in "shutter priority" mode.

So, wow, I can now shoot, quite confidently, in Manual mode! No more getting nervous and rattled and defaulting to Auto mode when shooting in a pinch! I would say that’s a lesson that was worth more than what I paid for that 6-hour workshop. The chance to mingle with fellow camera enthusiasts was a bonus. Getting a laminated cheat sheet from the workshop -- priceless.

Below are some of the photos I shot after the workshop, all in easy-peasy manual mode, without the headache from second-guessing the camera settings (click on any image for a high-res slideshow of all photos). Thank you, Stephanie!

Our bikes in the driveway on an overcast day.

The hot-air balloon ride at Downtown Disney, where we had our location shooting.

Mike's Boss bike. Shot with a zoom.

Our Blue-and-Glitter-themed Christmas tree.

My CD-ripping project workstation.

Your Ticket, Please.

What normal people would typically throw away, I keep. I always say to myself, "Someday I'll think of a way to turn this into a work of art."

One of the many things I've kept over the years are movie tickets -- those that the ticket collector at the theater entrance hand back to the patron. I wasn't able to save all the stubs of all the movies we saw because when Mike gets to hold those little pieces of paper, he tends to crumple them and throw them away. He's normal. When I get to hold them, I keep them safely in a pocket in my bag and later slip them into a little hoarding box.

After almost ten years, I suddenly decided I've collected enough of them to turn into a piece of art that I can hang on the wall. I gathered all the stubs and removed all the duplicates (I still kept the duplicates in an envelope, I don't know what for).

Then I looked for that picture frame of a frowning clown that I really meant to repurpose. I glued colored paper on the frame backing and taped the stubs onto them. It's very relaxing, gluing ticket stubs one at a time into a symmetrical structure. Yes, I know. OCD.

And this is the final product -- a glass-framed conversation piece of ticket stubs of some of the movies Mike and I saw together from 2002 to 2011.

What else have I been stashing around here? Hmmm.