Question: I love eating salad, but avoid store-bought salad dressing because of the high-calorie ingredients. I have tried several brands of light salad dressing, but they taste watery to me. Is there a salad dressing I can make that will make my life easier?
— Sarah
Answer: An easy solution is to make your own salad dressing. It is much faster and economical than many people realize. Begin by purchasing a few empty squeeze bottles from the dollar store. Find a salad dressing recipe that appeals to you. Use a permanent marker to draw lines, and write each ingredient on the bottle. For example, the lowest line might say canola oil, as a guide to how much canola oil to add to the bottle. The line above that might say extra virgin olive oil. In other words, after adding canola oil, fill the bottle to the next line with extra virgin olive oil. The next line might say balsamic vinegar followed by sherry vinegar and lastly, soy sauce. At the bottom of the bottle, list any other ingredients that you need to make the dressing (i.e. mustard, salt, pepper and garlic). Using this technique makes it easy for anyone to quickly add ingredients to the bottle when the bottle becomes empty. This way, you will never run out of salad dressing. Use other bottles to list other recipes so that you have a variety of dressings in your fridge.
Question: I have a 100 per cent wool toque that was inadvertently put into the dryer after being washed, and naturally, it shrunk. Is there any possible way to restore the toque to the correct size?
— William
Answer: Your best bet is to soak the toque with hair conditioner and water. Allow the toque to dry by hanging it up with a weight attached to it, or laying it on a counter and positioning something to stretch it until it is dry.
Question: I own a large plastic bucket that I fill with water to wash the car. The problem is, I can’t fill the bucket under the tap because as soon as the bucket is full of water, I can’t pull it out of the sink without spilling water everywhere. Any suggestions?
— Glen
Answer: Instead of placing the bucket inside the sink, position it on the edge of the counter. Hold a dustpan under the tap. The water flows into the dustpan and inside the bucket without having to place the bucket inside the sink.
Question: I refuse to chop garlic; the garlic press is a pain to clean because of the little holes. Do you have any solutions as to how to add garlic flavour to dishes without the headache of chopping garlic or using garlic powder/salt?
— Maurice
Answer: Consider purchasing pre-chopped garlic. It is sold in small jars, and stays fresh in the refrigerator for weeks. No mess, no headache, no chopping, but the same delicious taste of garlic.
Note: Every user assumes all risks of injury or damage resulting from the implementation of any suggestions in this column. Test all products on an inconspicuous area first.
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