Haley's Hints

by Graham Haley, Rosemary Haley

Overview

The New York Times Bestseller with over 1.5 million copies sold!
  
For more than ten years, Graham and Rosemary Haley have shared their simple, inexpensive secrets for solving household tasks through TV and radio shows, books, magazine and newspaper columns, cartoon strips and live appearances. The Haley’s Hints TV Show is now seen across four continents—America, Europe, Africa and Asia.

Now over 2,000 of their most extraordinary money & time saving uses for ordinary household items are at your fingertips! Ketchup on the carpet? Ink on your shirt? Get out the shaving cream and hairspray and you’re on your way to solving these problems and many more. Remove pet hair from upholstery with a rubber glove. Keep ants from your home with blackboard chalk. We’ll introduce you to the “gold mine” you have in your home—ordinary items and products with extraordinary time and money-saving uses.
 
All topped off with a comprehensive easy-find index to help you find the exact solution you need—fast! Just remember, if you give Haley’s Hints as a wedding, shower, house-warming or birthday gift, be prepared for over 2,000 thank yous!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781101209998
Publisher:	Penguin Publishing Group
Publication date:	01/06/2004
Sold by:	Penguin Group
Format:	eBook
Pages:	400
File size:	8 MB
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Graham Haley is a host and bestselling author best known for the money saving series Haley's Hints. In addition to his books, he also starred in his own television show, which was shown across four continents, and has appeared numerous times in newspapers, magazines, and radio. He lives with his wife, Rosemary, and their children in Toronto.

Rosemary Haley is one half of the duo behind the bestselling Haley's Hints series, which has been a trove of money saving household tips for over ten years. In addition to their book series, Rosemary and her husband Graham have been shared their secrets via numerous features in newspapers, magazines, radio, and television, most notably the Haley's Hints television show, which is aired across four continents. She now lives in Toronto.

Read an Excerpt

Chapter One

KITCHEN MAGIC

HUNDREDS OF NIFTY FOOD
TRICKS TO MAKE LIFE IN
THE KITCHEN A BREEZE

OOPS ...
I'VE RUN OUT OF!

SUBSTITUTES IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER ...

Allspice ... To make up 1 tablespoon of allspice, mix 1-½ teaspoons of ground cloves with 1-½ teaspoons of ground cinnamon.

Baking Powder ... Use 1 teaspoon cream of tartar plus ½ teaspoon baking soda to replace 2 tablespoons baking powder.

Butter ... In a pinch you can replace 1 cup of butter with 7/8 cup of ordinary kitchen lard.

Buttermilk ... An equal amount of yogurt will replace buttermilk.

Celery ... To fool your guests, replace celery in a salad with finely cut crisp cabbage. Sprinkle with a little celery salt.

Chicken ... Short of chicken? Replace with cubed veal or pork. Believe it or not, tuna fish can also pass as chicken in a pinch!

Chocolate ... Replace 1 square of chocolate with 3 tablespoons cocoa and 1 tablespoon shortening.

Chocolate Frosting ... Combine sweetened condensed milk with powdered cocoa until frosting consistency is reached.

Cornstarch ... Flour can be substituted for cornstarch if you double the quantity.

CornSyrup ... 1 cup of sugar dissolved in a quarter cup of warm water, will substitute for a cup of corn syrup. An equal amount of honey should also do the trick.

Cream, Sour ... Should you need a cup of sour cream, substitute a blend of ¾ cup sour milk and 1/3 cup butter.

Cream, Whipped ... If your recipe calls for a cup of whipped cream and you don't have any, try using 1-½ cups of chilled evaporated milk with a teaspoon of lemon juice added. Whip as normal.

* Another handy substitute for whipped cream is to puree a banana, then whip with a beaten egg white. Add a drop or two of vanilla extract and sugar to taste.

Eggs ... If the recipe calls for more than two eggs, one egg can be omitted, but add 2 tablespoons milk and ½ teaspoon baking powder to replace it.

* For a clever scrambled egg extender, add a cupful of crumbled crackers if you don't have an extra egg or 2!

Flavor Fill-ins ... A sherry flavor may be obtained by combining the flavors of rose and almond extracts. Pistachio flavor may be created by mixing vanilla and almond extracts.

Flour ... A handy replacement for 1 cup of flour is 1-½ cups of fine bread crumbs.

* Or, to obtain a cup of all purpose flour, substitute with 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons of cake or pastry flour.

Food Coloring ... When frosting a cake, you can substitute food coloring by adding some unsweetened flavored drink mix to your icing sugar.

Honey ... For sweet success, replace a cup of honey with either a cup of molasses or corn syrup.

Ice Trays ... If you run out of ice cube trays, a handy substitute is a styrofoam egg carton.

Ketchup ... Here's a quick replacement for ketchup to keep the kids happy. Combine ½ cup sugar, 2 tablespoons of malt vinegar and one 250 mi. tin of tomato sauce.

Lemon ... If your recipe calls for the juice of one lemon, use ¼ cup of lemon juice.

Mayonnaise ... Here are two handy substitutes for mayonnaise when cooking. Use an equal amount of sour cream or pureed cottage cheese.

Milk ... If you run out of milk, while baking or making puddings, believe it or not, if you peel, then liquefy 1-¼ lb. of zucchini, the liquid will substitute for about 2 cups of milk.

* Instead of mixing milk with eggs when making omelets, substitute ice cold water. They'll come out fluffier tool

Mushrooms ... It's said that mushrooms can often be replaced by cooking diced celery instead.

Oil ... If a cake recipe calls for cooking oil and you have none, mayonnaise will substitute for the oil in a pinch. Use the same amount of mayonnaise as you would oil.

Salt ... A healthy replacement, would be a mixture of garlic powder, onion powder, oregano, basil, white pepper and lemon pepper.

Sugar ... Use 1 cup honey plus ¼ teaspoon baking soda to replace 1 cup of white sugar. Remember to deduct 3 tablespoons of liquid from the recipe.

* Or use 1-¼ cups of fruit sugar or brown sugar to substitute for 1 cup of white sugar.

Tomato Paste ... If you require a small amount of tomato paste, try substituting an equal amount of ketchup.

Yogurt ... A handy stand-in for plain yogurt is an equal amount of sour cream or pureed cottage cheese.

CAKES, COOKIES, PIES & FROSTINGS

CAKES ...

Cutting And Slicing ... Before cutting fresh, moist cake, run a thin-bladed knife under hot water and dry. Slices without crumbling.

* Or, wrap some unwaxed dental floss around your fingers and slice through the cake with the floss as you would with a cheese wire. Crumble-free slices!

* After the cake has been cut, keep it moist by slicing fresh bread to the size of the exposed cake. Secure with toothpicks.

Sticking ... Cake won't stick to the pan if you grease beforehand with unsalted fat and dust with flour.

* Another stick-free method is to thoroughly grease a piece of clean brown paper that has been cut to fit the cake pan. Foolproof!

* Save the wrappers your butter comes in, in the refrigerator. They'll come in handy for greasing your pans when baking.

* To remove a cake that is stuck in the cake pan, invert the pan over the cooling rack. Take a hot steam iron and place it on the underside of the cake pan for a few seconds. You should find you can now lift the pan off the cake.

Moist Cakes ... If you add a teaspoon of vinegar to the baking soda when baking a chocolate cake, you'll get the most moist chocolate cake you ever dipped your fork into!

* To keep fruit cakes moist while baking, place a pan of water alongside it in the oven and keep replacing the water until the cake is done.

Light Cakes ... To make your cakes really light, add a teaspoon of lemon juice to the butter and sugar.

Cooling Cakes ... If you find yourself without a wire tray cake cooler, simply take a large mixing bowl and stretch some muslin or net curtain over it. Affix with clothes pegs and lay your cake on top!

COOKIES ...

Sticky Dough! ... Dip plastic cookie cutters in warm salad oil to prevent dough from sticking.

* To get cookie dough to slide off the spoon easily, dip the spoon in some milk first.

Emergency Cookie Cutter ... The insert from a metal ice cube tray or an individual ice cube maker, makes a great emergency cookie cutter.

No Cookie Cutter! ... For a quick way to form cookies without using a cookie cutter, try this. Form the dough into small balls and arrange on a cookie tray. Cut out a sheet of wax paper and lay it over the cookie balls. Take a flat bottomed glass and press down on each cookie ball. Remove the wax sheet and you'll have perfectly formed cookies with no waste.

Ingredients ... Before using raisins when baking cookies, let them sit in warm water for a few minutes to make them plump and juicy.

* When baking chocolate chip cookies, instead of using pre-formed chocolate chips, buy a good quality chocolate bar and cut it up into chunks.

Storage ... To keep cookies fresher longer. Store them in an ice bucket.

* Keep soft cookies separate from crisp cookies. Otherwise the crisp cookies will lose their crispness.

Next Day Muffins ... Revive stale muffins. Sprinkle with drops of water, place in a paper bag and warm in a hot oven for 5 to 10 minutes.

PIES ...

Pastry Pointers ... For an exact measurement when measuring sifted flour, never shake the flour level. Instead use the back of a knife to scrape it level.

* Toss the ingredients with a fork lightly and quickly, rather than stirring them, which creates a tough pastry.

* Don't use too much water. For two cups of flour use only a quarter cup of iced water.

* Try rolling some grated cheese into pastry dough when making apple pie.

Pie Geometry ... When sharing a round pie between 5 people, cut the pie into the shape of a 'Y'. Then cut the large pieces in half!

Crusts ... Eliminate soggy crusts when baking fruit pies by brushing the bottom crust with egg white before adding fruit. This helps prevent the juice from soaking through.

* For the flakiest upper crust on pies, brush lightly with cold water just before popping in the oven. Melts in your mouth!

* To avoid burnt pie edges, try this tip. Take a foil pie plate and cut out the centre, leaving just a one inch rim. You can now place the rim over the pie and bake normally. The rim will reflect the heat from the pie edges and prevent them from burning.

Fast Fillings ... To speed up the process when baking fruit pies, such as apple or peach, try this. Slice your fruit into a strong plastic shopping bag first. Then, add the filling ingredients and give the bag a good shake. Now you can simply add it to your pie.

Juice Spills ... To prevent juice spills when baking pies, cut several 3 inch lengths of macaroni and poke them into the pie crust before placing in the oven. Heated juices will rise up into the hollow macaroni, instead of spilling over and messing your oven.

Sticky Meringue ... Prevent meringue from sticking to the knife by adding a pinch of cream of tartar to the egg whites when beating them.

FROSTINGS ...

Unique Toppings ... Place a layer of chocolate mint patties over a baked cake and return it to the oven until the patties have softened. Spread with a spatula for a delicious icing.

* To spiff up plain frosting try shaving multi-colored gum drops on the top of the frosting with a coarse grater. They'll shave easier if you chill them well before you begin. They'll look like pretty flower petals.

* Or, sprinkle cinnamon and sugar right on top of the cake batter for an "instant" sweet topping.

* For a quick topping, just lay a paper doily on top of the cake and dust it with icing sugar. Lift the doily off carefully and you'll have an elegant design.

Making Your Job Easier .. A pinch of salt and a tablespoon of cornstarch for every two cups of icing sugar will help take away that "too sweet" taste.

* Before frosting your cake, cut triangles of waxed paper to cover the cake dish. Let several inches overlap. Place pointed ends of the triangles in the centre of the dish. Place the unfrosted cake on top. When the frosting is completed, slide each piece of waxed paper out slowly. You will have a sparkling clean cake dish.

* Fudge frosting will stay soft and workable if you place the frosting bowl in a pan of hot water.

* No cake decorating utensil? Cut the end off an empty quart milk bag and wash it out. Clip a small opening at the opposite end. Fill the bag with frosting and squeeze through the small hole to decorate!

(Continues...)

Table of Contents

Kitchen Magic
Order In The House
Laundry Day Helpers
A Stitch In Time
Kids' Korner
Specially For Seniors
The Home Handyperson
Pet Parade
Pest Peeves
The Car Mechanic
Gardening With A Green Thumb