Perfect Cookies

by JoAnn Derson

• Check your local newspaper or city/ county government for programs that provide free or near free water barrels or trees. Many areas have a program, and they really do help keep your water costs down if you have flowers or vegetable gardens.
• To keep the edges of lettuce from browning, tear it or use a plastic knife sold just for this purpose. Metal will make the edges brown.
• If you want same-size cookies, roll and freeze your dough for 10-15 minutes. Most doughs will harden enough to slice into perfectly uniform slices, and the freezing doesn’t really affect cooking time too much. (Watch your first batch, though.)
  —R.L. in Missouri

• If you are reattaching a button to shorts or pants, try using dental floss, the unwaxed kind. It’s much stronger and can hold the button better than regular thread. Use a marker to darken it if the color is an issue.
• • Shaving cream can be used as a spot remover for many carpets. Use only a small amount, and follow up with a damp cloth.
  —D.L., Canada
• To prevent a skin from forming on the top of a can of leftover paint, you can inflate a balloon and stick it in the can, cut a piece of wax paper to fit, or store the can inverted, so that the skin will form on the bottom and stay there when you flip it.
  —W.B. in Alabama

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