Handy Household Tips

The Turkey Right now a lot of people are planning to cook a turkey and they're kinda, sorta uncertain as to exactly how long it should cook. A friend sent me this foolproof method, but it means stuffing the bird's cavity with dressing, not cooking it separately in a casserole dish.

Make your usual dressing, but add this ingredient -- a half a cup of popcorn. Mix it in, stuff the turkey, set the oven at 350. Put your turkey pan -- neck to the back wall of the oven -- in and go do something else. After about an hour, you will hear popping noises. Grab your oven mitts! When the turkey's ass blows the oven door off and the bird flies across the room -- it's done!

Mending Tips When I worked in offices and wore skirts and suits, I'd often find that I'd ripped a bit of the hem open. For lightweight, flimsy fabrics I used Scotch tape; for heavier fabrics, like tweed, I'd use a stapler. Yesterday the inseam of my very favorite white pants opened about two inches along the thigh. I bought those pants when I was a size 14, then went down to a size 10. The pants were still newish (and I loved them) so I took them to the tailor, who took them in. Clearly this gap in the thigh was a result of re-tailoring.

I have duct tape (aka "200 mph tape" in the automotive racing industry) and that perhaps my thighs have expanded a tad, I turned the pants inside out, laid a strip of duct tape across the seam and viola! Mended.

With an extra, added benefit. When I went to go to the john, the loose edges of tape ripped the hair right off of my thigh. But hah! I fixed that, too. I stuck a strip of toilet paper over the duct tape and all is well.