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Saturday, December 12, 2009

Stay-at-home Saturday: Let a Little Sunshine In!

When decorating for Christmas we always put a wreath on our big kitchen windows behind our table. Since I'm working with glass, I use those Command hooks to hold the wreath. Before attaching the hook, the instructions call for you to clean the surface with rubbing alcohol. Every year when I clean that spot, I'm reminded of how FILTHY my windows are! I decided this year to go ahead and clean all of the windows with rubbing alcohol and old burp cloths, and I'm so glad I did! The eating area actually seems brighter! I think I know why:
Can you believe that? I actually read that if you want your windows to really sparkle, you should follow up by polishing your windows with, get this, newspaper! I've never tried this, but apparently you can crumple up your newspaper and polish your windows to a shine. Just don't use your coupon section! I plan to try this out on Sunday. In the meantime, here are my sparkling clean windows: Another great use for rubbing alcohol is cleaning your chrome fixtures in the bathroom and kitchen. I've done this and not only does it wipe out the water spots, toothpaste splatters, etc., but it also wipes out germs!

A Recipe
I rarely buy salad dressing. In fact, I can't remember the last time I bought it! The reason for this is because years ago my mom started making this dressing at our house, and I've since used it for almost every salad I've made. I guess it's more like a vinaigrette, since it isn't thick and creamy. Instead it's sweet and tart and very tasty. I almost always have the ingredients on hand so it's simple to shake up a batch of this right before dinner, and it will last several days in the fridge. I love this recipe, but if you have a homemade dressing you'd like to share, I'm all ears - please leave it for me!

Apple Dressing


1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp. grated onion (many times I cheat and use onion powder)
1/2 tsp. dry mustard
1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 cup finely chopped apple


1. Combine first 6 ingredients in a jar and shake very well.
2. Add in apple and shake well.
3. Best if allowed to sit for an hour or two in the fridge before using, though not critical. Shake well before serving!

Love,
Amy

4 comments:

gmt said...

I look forward to your post now every week! My windows have been staring at me screaming..."clean me!!!!" Do you find rubbing alcohol alone gets them more clean than windex? Burp cloths instead of paper towels? If so, I learned two new things...thanks a lot! I think I'm going to tackle them AFTER the Holidays!

Aundrea-aka Zerbert Baby said...

Amy, now that you endorsed using old burp cloths, can I add that as a reason to buy my burp cloths?

BTW, I use my old burp cloths for all of my cleaning along with vinegar and save a ton a money on cleaning supplies.

AmyA said...

You know, I just discovered how great burp cloths can be for cleaning, and I mainly use them just because it's more economical than using paper towels. It's so easy just to throw them in the wash with my other towels. I will say, though, that you shouldn't cut them in half to get two cleaning cloths out of one burp cloth. They will start to fray!

As far as alcohol versus Windex goes, I don't know that I'm convinced that one cleans better than the other. However, rubbing alcohol is quite inexpensive to buy and I prefer the smell of it to Windex. Is that strange? :)

green bean said...

Wow - I never follow the directions when they say, "Clean first..." I usually just rub off the surface dirt with my sleeve! So even though you hate cleaning, be encouraged that you are thorough!