Clean your bathtub with grapefruit and salt

I came across this and though I'd give it a try. I don't really like grapefruit, to eat, so wasn't going to miss this or be concerned about "wasting" a grapefruit (ok, my beautiful Bride does, but she gratefully sacrificed one for me), but I'm always looking for interesting natural ways of cleaning. The original posting is here.

I found this to work out fairly well, certainly the tub had the smell of citrus/grapefruit, at least for a little bit, but there were some spots, especially in the corners, which needed a little elbow grease, ie. working at it with your fingers, to remove the accumulated soap scum. I guess the key here is the combination of salt and citrus. This works not only on the shower/tub, but also on tile, your toilet, sinks, most everything in your bathroom.

You need:
1 grapefruit, cut into half
1/4 - 1/2 cup kosher salt

Sprinkle salt liberally on the grapefruit half. Scrub around your tub, squeezing juice over the fixtures before scrubbing. Renew the salt on the grapefruit every few moments (you can put the salt on the "floor" of the tub. Rinse all the pulpy bits away when everything is clean and shiny.

How to cut a young coconut

There's been some buzz about coconut water being ultra-healthy for you, it's the latest trend for celebrities. Certainly, it is a healthy product, full with electrolytes (potassium, sodium, magnesium and calcium) that is well balanced for human consumption (it has a similar electrolyte profile as human blood plasma); it is also a naturally sterile alkalinizing liquid. And it tastes good! You can buy the expensive pasteurized coconut water at the health food store, or you can make your own, by cracking open a young coconut.

This technique requires a sharp knife or cleaver, so caution is advised; don't allow youngsters to do this.

You will need a large knife or cleaver to do this, and a young coconut. Look for ones with white skin, no bruises and that are heavy when you lift them (indicating there is a lot of liquid). Also, they shouldn't really slosh when you shake them, they should be full. Place the young coconut on the floor or a sturdy table.

Chop downwards along one edge of the top of the coconut. Repeat several times until you hear the tough inner shell crack. Some liquid may spill out. You don't have to go deep; just until the inner shell is cracked.

Repeat on each side, making a square around the base of the pyramid shape.

When all four sides are open, use the sharp edge of the cleaver to pry open one side of the square. You may find that you have to chop one of the sides again if you didn't go deep enough.

Take off the square you just freed. You will be either left with a layer of coconut meat in the opening (if so, just use a knife to cut it out), or it will come attached to the piece you just opened.

Pour the coconut water into a container.

Inside will be the young coconut meat. This is also good to eat. It likely will be white (it gets white as it matures), but really young coconut meat will be slightly purple in colour.

We enjoy drinking the coconut water paired with the coconut meat.

Stone Circle Cake Method

When I made the Chocolate Toffee Honey Cake for our Wedding Reception, I decided to change the way that I mixed the skor pieces in the batter. This time, I decided to stand the Skor pieces up, and selected a pattern that resembled a stone circle, one of my passions.

It worked out quite well, as, in my previous method, most the toffee migrated to the bottom of the cake; in this way, it melted more in place.

Baking Technique - Toasting Hazelnuts

Toasting hazelnuts is relatively simple, there's just a few things you have to watch out for. Hazelnuts, once its outer shell is removed, have a thin dark skin surrounding the nutmeat. This can be removed after they are toasted in the oven. For best results, place the hazelnuts loosely in a single layer on a baking sheet, then put the sheet in a preheated 350F oven. Bake for seven to ten minutes, watching them closely, as they tend to burn easily, even shaking the sheet several times, until they are fragrant. The nuts will be hot when you take them out of the oven. Place them in a towel, draping the towel over a bowl makes it easier to dump them off the sheet. Cover the nuts with the rest of the towel until they have cooled enough for you to be able to touch them without burning the ends of your fingers. Rubbing the nuts vigorously in the towel for a couple of minutes will separate most of the papery skins from the meat. Open the towel and rub with your fingers those nuts where the skins are tougher to rub off. Some of the skins will stick, no matter how hard you rub, these will still be okay, the toasting removes the bitter tannins, and they add a little colour and depth of flavour to the nuts.