photo by exfordy
DEAR SARA: How do you arrange in drawers those many plastic containers and lids? They take up so much room and are hard to “match” up when you need them. — Vickie E., New York
DEAR VICKIE E.: I don’t have a good solution for organizing lids in drawers. A drawer is a solution more than a problem for me. Some of mine are stored in a deep cabinet drawer that’s located under my wall oven. I keep cookware lids that I don’t use as often inside of my giant stockpot. I do have some additional suggestions for lids that might otherwise be shoved into cabinets.
– Place a dish rack in your cabinet and simply place lids standing up to have easy access to them.
– Use a tension rod, place it from front to back in the cabinet, and tuck lids between the rod and the wall of the cabinet.
–You can hang a towel rack and slide cookware lids behind it if your lids have large enough handles, so they don’t slip through.
Thinner plastic lids can go directly on their containers, or you can organize them vertically in a magazine rack or mail sorter. You can make a magazine rack from a large cereal box by cutting it on a diagonal on both sides and sort lids by size. As for the plastic containers, I nest some of them and stack the others. Square and rectangle containers are much easier to organize.
DEAR SARA: What do you consider the most durable, cleanable and reasonably priced fabric for sofas and chairs for a family-room setting? I’ve had beige leather, which is almost impossible to clean, and rough fabrics that pill after a few years. Thanks. — Carol, e-mail
DEAR CAROL: I have four kids under the age of 9. Our couch and love seat are olive green in color and ribbed chenille fabric. We’ve had the set for just shy of eight years, and it’s just starting to show a little wear on one cushion cover. This is after years of sticky fingers, spilled drinks, climbing, lounging, accidents, illness and pets, etc. Read: heavy use. Each cushion has a cover that unzips and can be washed. I steam cleaned the rest on a regular basis. Others might disagree with choosing this fabric, but I’m surprised at how well it has held up. I plan to use slipcovers and then reupholster later. The brand we bought was Broyhill. I’d buy this type of fabric again or microfiber or washed denim slipcovers.
DEAR SARA: I saw an ad at freecycle.org. Here it is: “I cleaned out a friend’s pantry, and have about 12 plastic shopping bags of food: cans, boxes, jars and most of it is outdated, up to two years expired, but none of it is in bad condition. There are beans, soups, pasta, sauces, baking and some specialty items, but nothing really weird. If you can take it all and are willing to try most of it or pass it on, please reply.” I am tempted, but do not want to make my family sick. Would this food be OK? — Janis, Maine
DEAR JANIS: The ad makes me wonder why they aren’t taking the food if it’s any good. Expiration dates on food are different than sell by, best before and various other dates. An expiration date is just that. It’s considered spoiled after that date. Of course, many people consume it anyway, but I don’t suggest it unless you want to risk food poisoning. Going by the types of products the ad mentions, it seems most would have best-before dates. Best-before dates mean that the product’s best quality, flavor and nutrients is before the stated date, but isn’t immediately spoiled after the date. It’s a quality issue. Your safety isn’t at risk. Simply check for bulging or dented cans, and inspect the remaining food packaging. You have to use your own judgment on whether you feel comfortable eating it. But not much is lost by picking it up, since it’s free.
译文:
把盖子放上
exfordy 摄
亲爱的萨拉：你如何将那些塑料容器以及盖子整理在橱柜里的？它们占用了太多的空间，而且当你想用它们的时候又常常对不上号。——维克.E ， 纽约
亲爱的维克.E：我没有很有效的方法使盖子井井有条地放在橱柜里。对我来说，橱柜是个解决方法更胜于是一个问题。我的有些盖子被安置在烤炉下面的深橱柜里。我将那些不经常用的烹调用具的盖头收藏在一个大的汤锅里面。我还可以教你一些额外的方法将盖子塞进橱柜里。
– 在你的橱柜里放置一个餐盘搁架，然后将盖子一个个竖起来按次序摆放。
– 用一根拉杆，将它从前到后放在橱柜里，然后将盖子从拉杆和壁橱墙面之间塞进去。
– 你可以悬挂一个毛巾架子，如果你烹饪用具的盖头有足够大的把手，可将把手滑至架子后面，这样就不用担心滑下去了。
比较薄的塑料盖头可以直接放在容器上，或者你可以安排它们垂直地放在杂志架或者信件分类装置上。你可以用一个大的谷物纸盒来制作杂志架，将谷物盒两边沿对角剪开，按尺寸大小排列盖子。至于塑料容器，有些我将它们层层套起来，有些则将它们堆叠起来。正方形和矩形的容器往往更容易整理。
亲爱的萨拉：你能否推荐一些耐磨又易于清洁，且价格合理的织布来铺盖居家客厅用的沙发和椅子？我有一套浅褐色的沙发，它非常不易于清洗，而且粗制的织物用了几年会让它起毛球。谢谢。－ 卡罗， 电邮
亲爱的卡罗：我有4个小于9岁的孩子。我们家的长沙发和爱心椅都是橄榄绿色的，带有饰边绒线织物。我们心惊胆战地拥有了它8年，最近它垫子的外套上慢慢变得有些奇怪，那是常年累月的脏手、泼溅的果汁，攀爬，躺卧，意外、不合理使用以及宠物所造成的原因，我们称之为“过度使用”，每一个垫子都有一个套子可供拆下清洗。每搁一段时间我就会用蒸气清洗下其余部分。有些人可能不认同选择这种织物，但是我对它的耐磨能力感到非常惊喜。我倾向于用沙发套，然后为沙发椅子重装椅面，我们所购买的品牌是Broyhill，我会选择再次买这类的织物或者用微纤维，或者可清洗的丁尼布沙发套。
亲爱的萨拉：我在freecycle组织网站上看见一则广告。它写道：我清理了一个朋友的餐具室，扫出了12个塑料购物袋规模的食物：罐头，瓶子，广口瓶，它们其中大部分都过期了，过了2年的保质期，但是没有任何一样东西变坏了。这些食物包括大豆，浓汤，生面团、沙司，烘焙食物及一些特产，但没有真正变质。如果你可以将它们拿去，或者愿意尝试它们或者传递给别人，请回复。”我有意向要这些东西，但是我也不希望我的朋友们因吃了这些东西而生病，这些食物还能食用吗？— 珍妮斯，缅因州
亲爱的珍妮斯：这则广告让我奇怪，为什么这些食物被说的那么好，他们自己却不吃？食物的保质期与何时出产、最好在何时之前食用、以及其他的日期概念不同。保质期就是那个数字，一旦过了那个日期就被认为腐坏了。当然，许多人并不以此为然，但我不这么建议，除非你愿意冒食物中毒的危险。我浏览了一下这则广告所提到的产品类别，许多看起来都应该有“此前最佳”的日期，“此前最佳”代表某样产品在这个标识日期内有最好的质量、口味和营养，但在此后也不会立即变坏。这是一个质量保证，表示你的安全不会受到危害。检查一下那些膨胀和凹陷的罐子，检查下这些剩余食物的包装袋。你需要自己判断哪些食物是可以吃的，既然它是免费的，整理起来应该也不会有太多损失。