Ducks 'n a Row

simple solutions

Baking Tips for Chocolate Chip Cookies

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By Sinea Pies

By now you know that I absolutely love to find simple solutions to everyday problems. Here are some tips I have learned when it comes to home-baked chocolate chip cookies!

Baking chocolate chip cookies is easy. Getting it to look like you want? A bit of a mystery. Friends of mine would make yummy chunky cookies that looked so delicious. Other friends would bake smooth, plump ones. When I’d ask for the recipe, it was identical. They were classic Toll House Cookies!  
So, what was the difference?  I discovered that it was all about how you place the dough on the cookie sheet, though my baking friends didn’t even know it.

So, pick the style you like the best. Chunky or smooth. Here is how to get them to look the way you want them.

Chunky: spoon the dough onto the cookie sheet and they will come out chunky like the cookies on the left. 

Smooth: If you like them smooth then form a ball of dough in your hand, rolling it like a meatball. Put the balls of dough on the cookie sheet and, after they are baked, they will look like the cookies on the right.

Another little tip:  use shortening instead of butter to keep them a bit plumper. If you prefer the buttery taste, you can either do half shortening and half butter or all butter. With butter, though, they may look a little flatter.
Love these cookie baking tips?

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Eggplant Parmesan

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Yum
By Sinea Pies

eggplant recipe, Italian food, www.ducksnarow.com

Eggplant Parmesan is one of my favorite dishes when dining out. We don’t go Italian that often, though. When it feels like it’s been too long and we don’t have plans to go out, then what? Simple solution: learn how to make it myself.  And, that’s exactly what I did. Loved it!

Eggplant Parmesan
Ingredients

1 large or 2 medium eggplants, peeled and sliced into 1/3 inch slices
2 eggs, beaten
2  cups dry unseasoned bread crumbs
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp salt

1 tsp basil
1/4 cup olive oil
3 cups Prego traditional spaghetti sauce
1/2 lb shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Directions
Preheat oven 350°

Preparation

Peel and slice eggplant into 1/2 inch slices
Lay them out on clean paper towel.
Sprinkle the slices with some salt and allow moisture to bead up on top.
Pat them dry with toweling.
Spray 13X9 baking pan with cooking spray.

ProcessDip the slices in beaten egg and then bread crumbs mixed with garlic powder, basil and salt.
Cook in medium skillet with oil, turning occasionally, till golden brown.
Remove and lay 1/2 of the slices flat in baking pan.
Sprinkle with 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese.
Layer a second layer over it.
Sprinkle with remaining Parmesan cheese.
Cover sparingly with spaghetti sauce.
Sprinkle mozzarella cheese over the top.

Bake for 35 minutes till bubbly and lightly browned.
Cut and serve. Serves 4.

Serving suggestion: Italian Field Green Tossed Salad and warm Italian bread w butter.

Do you love Italian food?  What is your favorite dish?

eggplant recipes, Italian food, www.ducksnarow.com

      

How To Clean White Canvas Sneakers

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clean white canvas sneakers with toothpaste
How to clean sneakers? Simple solutions are the best, don’t you agree? My dilemma was that I was very short on cash and needed something to wear as slippers for our preschool “Pajama Day.” As their teacher, it was important to my students that I fully take part in our fun dress up day but I had nothing to wear. I needed a simple, inexpensive solution!

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So, first I ordered some very reasonably priced flannel pajamas from Amazon. They are bright turquoise and will look nice with my light green fluffy bathrobe.
However, I could not bring myself to buy slippers that I would only wear once. White canvas tennis shoes were a perfect solution but mine were dirty. New ones? $39.00 I don’t think so!  The simple solution was to get my dirty canvas sneakers to be WHITE once more!
So, I surfed the net, pulled together some ideas and am happy to report that the toothpaste method worked!
clean sneakers with toothpaste


How To Clean White Canvas Sneakers With Toothpaste

Here’s how:
1.Dampen the sneakers with water and generously apply whitening toothpaste (white, not gel). I used Colgate whitening toothpaste with baking soda & peroxide.

2. Leave the sneakers sitting for 1-2 hours.

3. Fill sink with very hot water and soak the sneakers for another hour.

4. Scrub sneakers with brush and rinse.

5. Place sneakers in washing machine with similar colors.

6. Wash in warm water and laundry detergent.

7. Remove sneakers when load is complete and set out to dry for 24-48 hours.

8. Put some clean towels of similar color (white? light?) in the dryer and add the nearly-dry sneakers to them.

9. Dry them the rest of the way.

It was very very easy and, best of all, it worked. Mind you, my sneakers aren’t NEW but they are clean! I forgot to mention, at the beginning of this process I removed the shoe strings from them and swathed them with toothpaste, as well. The shoe strings were washed in the same manner as the shoes.
Do you have any simple solutions for everyday problems?  
Tell us about them!

Enjoy!


Product Note: I used Colgate baking soda and peroxide whitening toothpaste and am very happy with the results. This post is simply my experience and not an official endorsement of any product.