wash with hot water

Wilted leafy vegetables have lost moisture, causing their cells to shrink. Rinsing them with warm water softens the cell membranes, making it easier for the leaves to reabsorb moisture and regain their crisp texture. Specifically, immerse them in water around 40°C (about 104°F) for several tens of seconds, then plunge them into cold water. This method works faster and more effectively than soaking in cold water alone, and it’s easy enough for older adults to do as well.

sugar

Sugar has fine granules, and when you lightly rub it on hands that are greasy, it works like a scrub, helping to adsorb the oil and physically lift it off. Because sugar dissolves easily in water, rinsing at the end leaves no stickiness. This is a long-used trick among professional chefs and in kitchens, and it’s a simple technique you can try yourself.

sugar

To keep vinegared rice from hardening as it cools, adding a generous amount of sugar is effective. Sugar helps retain moisture in the rice and increases its humectant properties. This prevents the rice from drying out, allowing it to stay fluffy even when cold. It’s a useful tip for enjoying vinegared rice that has been sitting for a while, such as in lunches or for older adults. In addition to sugar, avoiding adding too much vinegar is another key to making fluffy vinegared rice.

milk

Milk has the ability to encapsulate odor-causing compounds found in garlic (such as allicin), which can help suppress unpleasant smells. In particular, drinking about a glass of milk before a meal is said to reduce post-meal garlic odor, because the proteins in milk bind to garlic compounds and make them less likely to produce odor in the body. Coffee also has some deodorizing effects, but milk is considered more effective, so keep that in mind.

Warm with your hands

As a dry cell battery is used, the internal chemical reactions weaken and its voltage drops. However, warming it with your hands can temporarily activate the internal reactions, allowing the voltage to recover slightly. As a result, devices like clocks or remote controls may work again for a short time. That said, this is only a temporary measure, so we recommend replacing the battery with a new one as soon as possible. Do not soak the battery in water or chill it in a freezer, as these can damage the battery.

Rainy day

A rainy day is ideal for replacing shoji paper. The reason is that the higher humidity in the air prevents the paper from drying out too much and shrinking, which helps avoid wrinkles. On sunny days, the humidity is low, so once you apply the shoji paper it dries quickly and shrinks suddenly, making it more likely to sag or wrinkle. Therefore, doing the work on a rainy day with moderate moisture in the air will give you a neat finish.

Add the rice-washing water and let it sit for about 30 minutes.

Using rice-washing water is an effective way to remove unpleasant odors that stick to storage containers. Rice-washing water has properties that readily absorb oily grime and odor-causing substances, so if you pour it into the container and let it sit for about 30 minutes, it will thoroughly absorb the smells. After that, simply wash as usual and even stubborn odors will be cleanly eliminated. Just putting the container in the fridge or washing it repeatedly won’t be as effective.