Red Hat Ladies
The Red Hat Society
The main responsibility of the Red Hat Society is to have fun! The members see
this group as an opportunity for those who have shouldered various
responsibilities at home and in the community their whole lives, to say goodbye
to burdensome responsibilities and obligations for a little while. This is the
place to have fun and enjoy yourself. The refrain of the popular Red Hat Society
theme song by Mike Harline puts it rather bluntly: "All my life, I've done for
you. Now it's my turn to do for me."
The Red Hat Society calls itself a "dis-organization", and they are proud of the
lack of rules and by-laws.
Tips From the Red Hat Ladies
* Take your bananas apart when you get home from the store. If you leave them connected at the stem, they ripen faster.
* Add a teaspoon of water when frying ground beef. It will help pull the grease away from the meat while cooking.
* Store your opened chunks of cheese in aluminum foil. It will stay fresh much longer and not mold.
* When you buy a container of cake frosting from the store, whip it with your mixer for a few minutes. You can double it in size. You get to frost more cake/cupcakes with the same amount, and eat less sugar and calories per serving.
* To warm biscuits, pancakes or muffins that were refrigerated, place them in the microwave with a cup of water. The increased moisture will keep the food moist and help it to reheat faster.
* Heat up leftover pizza in a non-stick skillet on top of the stove. Set heat to medium-low and heat until warm. This keeps the crust crispy.
* Peppers with 3 bumps on the bottom are sweeter and better for eating. Peppers with 4 bumps on the bottom are firmer and better for cooking.
* To really make scrambled eggs or omelets rich, add a couple of spoonfuls of sour cream, cream cheese, or heavy cream in to the bowl and beat.
* Hate foggy windshields? Buy a chalkboard eraser and keep it in the glove box of your car. When the windows fog up, rub the windshield with the eraser! Works better than a cloth.
* Use a wet cotton ball or Q-tip to pick up the small shards of glass you can’t see easily.
* Place a dryer sheet in your pocket. It will keep the mosquitoes away.
* To make easy Deviled Eggs, put cooked egg yolks in a zip-lock bag. Seal the bag, mash until the egg yolks are all broken up. Add the remainder of ingredients, reseal and keep mashing it up mixing the ingredients thoroughly. Cut the tip of the zip-lock bag, squeeze the mixture into the egg. Just throw the bag away when done – easy clean up!
* For a cool brownie treat, make brownies as directed. Melt “Andes Mints” in a double broiler and pour over the warm brownies. Let set for a wonderful frosting.
* Add garlic immediately to a recipe if you want a light taste of garlic and at the end of the recipe if you want a stronger taste of garlic.
More Tips ......
* Rubbing a walnut over scratches in your furniture will disguise dings and scrapes.
* Overhaul your linen cupboard, store bed linen sets inside one of their own pillowcases and there will be no more hunting through piles for a match.
* Pump up the volume by placing your iPhone & iPod in a bowl. The concave shape amplifies the music.
* Re-use a wet-wipes container to store plastic bags.
* Find tiny lost items like earrings by putting a stocking over the vacuum hose.
* Bake cupcakes directly in ice-cream cones, so much more fun and easier for kids to eat.
* Microwave your own popcorn in a plain brown paper bag. Much healthier and cheaper than the packet stuff.
* Turn your muffin pan upside down, bake cookie-dough over the top and voila, you have cookie bowls for fruit or ice-cream.
* Freeze Aloe Vera in ice-cube trays for soothing sunburn relief.
Updated 01/29/2012
Red Skelton's Recipe for
a Perfect Marriage
* Two times a week we go to a nice restaurant, have a little beverage, good food and companionship. She goes on Tuesdays, I go on Fridays.
* We also sleep in separate beds. Hers is in California, and mine is in Texas.
* I take my wife everywhere, but she keeps finding her way back.
* I asked my wife where she wanted to go for our anniversary. "Somewhere I haven't been in a long time!" she said. So I suggested the kitchen.
* We always hold hands. If I let go, she shops.
* She has an electric blender, electric toaster and electric bread maker. She said "There are too many gadgets, and no place to sit down!" So I bought her an electric chair. My wife told me the car wasn't running well because there was water in the carburetor. I asked where the car was. She told me, "In the lake." She got a mud pack and looked great for two days. Then the mud fell off.
* She ran after the garbage truck, yelling, "Am I too late for the garbage?" The driver said, "No, jump in!"
* Remember: Marriage is the number one cause of divorce.
* I married Miss Right. I just didn't know her first name was 'Always'.
* I haven't spoken to my wife in 18 months. I don't like to interrupt her.
* The last fight was my fault though. My wife asked, "What's on the TV?" I said, "Dust!."
Can't you just hear him say all of these? Those were the good old days when humor didn't have to start with a four letter word. It was just clean and simple fun, and he always ended his programs with the words: "And May God Bless" with a big smile on his face.
Sewing Tips
* A quick way to sharpen your pins and needles – rub them with an emery board.
* For smoother hand-sewing, insert the point of the needle into a bar of soap every now and then as you work.
* To keep a spool of thread neat, stick a thumbtack into the spool and wrap the thread end around the tack.
* You don’t always have to use commercial thread. You can use a 6- or 10-pound fishing line to sew buttons on heavy clothing, and the thread color doesn’t matter. You can also use dental floss.
* To make a zipper slide more easily, rub the teeth with paraffin or soap, being careful to remove the excess. Rubbing the zipper teeth with graphite from a lead pencil also works.
* If the pull tab on a zipper comes off, replace it with a small paper clip.
Miscellaneous
* Need a convenient place to store your belts or purses? Attach a row of cup hooks to the bottom of a wooden hanger, or slip several shower-curtain hooks over your closet rod.
* Gold chain in a knot again? Dust it with a little talcum powder and then try to unknot it. If the knot is really stubborn, place a drop of baby oil on a sheet of wax paper. Lay the knot in the oil and work it out with two pins; then clean the chain in ammonia or warm, sudsy water.
* Plastic ice-cube trays make terrific organizers for rings and earrings.
* Keep track of your pierced earrings. Fasten them through the holes of large buttons.
Coffee Filters ..... Who Knew
And you can buy 1,000 at the Dollar Tree for almost nothing, even the large ones.
* Cover bowls or dishes when cooking in the microwave. Coffee filters make excellent covers.
* Clean windows, mirrors, and chrome... Coffee filters are lint-free so they'll leave windows sparkling.
* Protect China by separating your good dishes with a coffee filter between each dish.
* Filter broken cork from wine. If you break the cork when opening a wine bottle, filter the wine through a coffee filter.
* Protect a cast-iron skillet. Place a coffee filter in the skillet to absorb moisture and prevent rust.
* Apply shoe polish. Ball up a lint-free coffee filter.
* Recycle frying oil. After frying, strain oil through a sieve lined with a coffee filter.
* Weigh chopped foods. Place chopped ingredients in a coffee filter on a kitchen scale.
* Hold tacos. Coffee filters make convenient wrappers for messy foods.
* Stop the soil from leaking out of a plant pot. Line a plant pot with a coffee filter to prevent the soil from going through the drainage holes.
* Prevent a Popsicle from dripping. Poke one or two holes as needed in a coffee filter.
* Do you think we used expensive strips to wax eyebrows? Use strips of coffee filters.
* Put a few in a plate and put your fried bacon, French fries, chicken fingers, etc on them. It soaks out all the grease.
* Keep in the bathroom. They make great "razor nick fixers".
* As a sewing backing. Use a filter as an easy-to-tear backing for embroidering or appliqueing soft fabrics.
* Put baking soda into a coffee filter and insert into shoes or a closet to absorb or prevent odors.
* Use to strain soup stock and to tie fresh herbs in to put in soups and stews.
* Use to prevent spilling when you add fluids to your car.
* Use as a spoon rest while cooking and clean up small counter spills.
* Use to hold dry ingredients when baking or when cutting a piece of fruit or veggies. Saves on having extra bowls to wash.
* Use to wrap Christmas ornaments for storage.
* Use to remove fingernail polish when out of cotton balls.
* Use to sprout seeds. Simply dampen the coffee filter, place seeds inside, fold it and place it into a plastic baggie until they sprout.
* Use as blotting paper for pressed flowers. Place the flowers between two coffee filters and put the coffee filters in a phone book.
* Use as a disposable "snack bowl" for popcorn, chips, etc.
* OH YEAH, THEY ARE GREAT TO USE IN YOUR COFFEE MAKER TOO.
Spread the Word
Please remember, all ladies of the FCOC are invited to join with us at our meetings of our Red Hat chapter.