I've always gotten stopped 2-3x a week in stores & parking lots ~ before Covid people would come up behind me and "fluff" my hair.  Now, after Covid and even with having TSA pre-check, the TSA people will always comb through my hair with their hands (and I don't wear it up with clips or scrunchies).  I credit it all to my "magic spray" ~ Garnier Fructis Brillantine Shine ~ just a quick spray on wet or dry hair on the bangs and strands surrounding my face, then with a heat source (flat iron or blow dryer) and the gold in my highlights shines brilliantly!

For the rest of your hair, the new Sleek & Shine 10-in-1 works beautifully too ~ for shine & control and to keep the "frizzies" in check ~ then with whatever heat source you use.

I like Garnier Fructis Sleek & Shine shampoo & conditioner best too.  My oldest granddaughter (who's a cosmetologist) always laughs b/c she says my hair is in such great condition and I don't spend a lot of money on product!  

I do have thick and curly hair, so if you don't want to use any of the Sleek & Shine products, I very highly recommend the Brilliantine Shine.  It's sometimes hard to find, but I grab it when I see it @ Walmart or Kroger (less than $9/bottle). 

This is a Kroger generic brand (so probably @ affiliates too) and is really a good vanilla ice cream.  My husband is Type 2 diabetic ~ off his meds for years, but still will watch his sugar and I'm lactose-intolerant.  Finally, we're a one-ice cream family again! 

Summer time treat is a Root Beer float but with his sugar-free root beer and mine with sugar (which is harder to find than his) 

There are many different types of cabbage, and even your local grocery store will have at least 3 or different ones.  My favorite is Napa cabbage b/c you can just slice through the thick bottom and then chop (if you want) for coleslaw and you don't have the hard core that green cabbage has ~ and you have the soft ruffled leaves if you want to make stuffed cabbage rolls (or use those with lettuce in a salad).  We also use baby bok choy on the BBQ.  Kale is also type of cabbage, but I don't buy it. 

2 things your grandmother never taught you, but MINE DID!  

Why are there still so many recipes saying to flour your surface when rolling out dough?  Adding more flour to dough will make it tough (not to mention making a mess).  I have a silpat mat, with circles for pie crusts on it ~ along with inches along the top.  But my grandmother taught me to use 2 sheets of waxed paper!  On the underside of the bottom sheet, you can mark off the size you want to roll whatever it is you're making ..... put the dough in between the 2 sheets of waxed paper and roll.  Your shape is already marked off, and no floury mess! 

If you're making cinnamon rolls, the added bonus is that you can take off the top sheet of waxed paper (when you're at the right size) ~ add your filling ~ and then use the bottom sheet of waxed paper to help you roll up your log for the cinnamon rolls.

You can even wipe off those sheets of waxed paper and use them again, if you want.

TIP #2 ~ and I've never, ever made a frosted or glazed cake without doing this (in the 50+ years that I've been baking) ~ yet I've never heard anyone speak of or do this on any cooking show on TV.  Gram told me to put pieces of waxed paper under my cake and on the plate (or surface) that I want to serve the cake from.  Then frost (or drizzle glaze) your cake.  Wait for the frosting / glaze to set and gently pull the waxed paper strips out.  EASY! 

HOW to SOFTEN BROWN SUGAR that's gotten hard.

My mother and grandmother always keep a slice of bread in their canister of brown sugar, and when I started baking, I realized why.  It will keep your brown sugar soft and stop it from getting rock hard and clumping up in your canister.  So, just stick the heel of a loaf of bread in there (I replace it occasionally with another heel of a loaf).

To be doubly sure that my brown sugar stays soft, I also have one of those special brown sugar terra cotta discs in my brown sugar canister.  I dampen it occasionally, and set it in an old 1/4-cup measure (so it isn't resting directly on the sugar).  You can find them on-line @ eBay, Etsy, or any store that has baking supplies.  

BUT ~ what do you do when you need your brown sugar NOW and haven't done either of the above precautions ~ and your brown sugar is rock-hard?  You can soften it in the microwave! 

1. Put the amount of brown sugar in a microwavable bowl.
2. Put a couple of damp paper towels on top of the brown sugar.
3. Tightly cover the bowl with plastic wrap or microwave safe lid.
4. Heat the bowl in the microwave for 30 seconds. (If not yet softened, continue to heat for 10- second intervals.)
5. Fluff the sugar with a fork or whisk and use it immediately
​6. Put that piece of bread in your canister to soften what's in there for next time!! 

5
I've been making COLD BREW COFFEE in my "Toddy Maker" for over 50 years ~ and it's the only way my husband will drink coffee.  This system (using the filters provided) will take out 90% of the acid (and that's what bothers most people) and about 90% of the caffeine ~ even using a pound of your favorite ground coffee (not decaf ~ I actually buy dark roast for him).  

You get 2 filters, 2 black stoppers, plus the big white filter thingy ~ the glass container, handle and lid.  I just wash out the filters, and they'll last for years!  (The instructions may say that they last for 10 uses, and a pound of coffee will last 2 weeks ~ HAHA ~ a pound of coffee will only last my husband about 3 days!)  You can buy more stoppers and/or filters separately (very inexpensive) on eBay, if necessary.

Forget what the instructions say ~ this is what I do:

Wet the thick white filter and stick it into the round indentation in the bottom of the white thingy.  Put the rubber stopper underneath (and make sure it's in really well).  Then put about 2 cups of water in the white thingy (TIP:  If it "bubbles", then gently smash the filter down better into the indentation).  Next put about 12 oz. ground coffee into the water and stir ~ start pouring more water in (and stirring) until it's about 4" from the top of the white thingy.  Let it sit for about 5 minutes (the coffee will harden up a little) ~ then go back and stir with a spoon to loosen up the coffee, and pour more water in, stirring (until about 3" from top of white thingy).  TIP:  Put the whole thing into a bowl, in case it leaks! 

Instructions say to let it sit 10-12 hours, and that's best.  But sometimes I've waited too long to make it, so I've let it filter through after 6 or 8 hours instead (and it's fine).  (I have a mini-espresso machine, and Hubby will have a cup from there in an emergency, but he's not used to the "oil/acid" or caffeine). 

NOW, the TRICKY PART!  Lift the white thingy up (I use the handle by stabilize with my other hand) and center it over the glass jar.  Pull out the rubber stopper on the bottom and set the white thingy over the glass jar ~ and let the coffee concentrate drain into the glass jar.  In theory, if you turn the lid of the glass jar over, that measurement is supposed to be the amount of concentrate to use in 8 oz. of water (but you can use more or less, to your liking).  

You can heat up 8 oz. of water in the microwave for hot coffee ~ or use the concentrate (and remember that it IS a concentrate!) to make iced coffee.

***
If you're going camping ~ renting a condo ~ or anywhere else that you can heat water ~ just take your own concentrate in a mason jar! 

EXTRA BONUS:  Put those "used" coffee grounds on your acid-loving plants!  gardenias, jasmine, camellias all love it!  (I'll toss about 1/2 cup under them)  If you have hydrangeas, the acid in the coffee grounds will turn the blossoms BLUE (if you do that before they start budding) 

I used to hate adding strawberries to a fruit salad (especially one with pineapple in it) because the red from the strawberries always seemed to bleed onto the other fruit.  ... Until I discovered this easy trick!  Wash your strawberries and put them to dry on a paper towel (while you prepare the other fruit).  Then pat them dry and slice them ~ add to the fruit salad.

For some reason, wet strawberries bleed into the "wet" fruit salad ... but dry strawberries don't!!  (or at least not as much) 

All of my cookie recipes are available here ~ you can search by keyword, or by category.

I also have a Pinterest board for CHRISTMAS & HANUKKAH COOKIES (but the link won't copy here)