Stephanie111's Profile

My mother (a math teacher) used to pretend she was helpless and ask us to aid her in doubling recipes. For example, "This recipe makes enough for 4, but we have 7 in our family. What should we do?" or "If the recipe says we need a quarter cup but we are doubling it..." (We were, apparently, very gullible children. We were so proud to be *helping* poor mom out.) I credit cooking with her for how easily I understood fractions once we got to them in school.

I also still have the cookbook with notes she wrote in it about when we made certain recipes. My favorite is the one that says "This is the first recipe Stephanie made all by herself - including reading the recipe!" I was young enough that the reading part was an accomplishment.

You can also use vinegar instead of liquid fabric softeners. I just put it straight into an old Downey ball. Bonus in that you can use it with towels too (using normal fabric softener on towels makes them less absorbant).