Alternative uses for common household items...

[Desdichado]

Why my son loves playing with big spoons, I have no idea. Maybe he's gonna be a chef someday?

Does he hit stuff with it? Maybe he'll be a drummer. It's not a far walk from "bangin' on the pots and pans like a chimpanzee" to "bangin' on the bongos like a chimpanzee."

That ain't workin'.

 

[Rel]

We also prefer the can shape in our family. My grandmother solves this by just using the canopener on both sides of the can.

Well that doesn't look nearly as impressive to your brother in law who has opened one side and has been vigorously shaking the can for a couple minutes.

EDIT: Actually, as I recall, the can in question didn't have a rim on the bottom and was thus unopenable by traditional methods. I used the church key by placing the pointy end on the bottom of the can and giving it a firm pop with my palm. The resulting hole was very tiny but I was able to blow into it and out popped the cranberry sauce to the amazement of my aforementioned brother in law.

 

[Xath]

My grandfather only needed 2 things to fix anything that was broken: duct tape and WD-40. If it's too loose, duct tape it. If it's too tight, WD-40.

 

[orchid blossom]

Another method is to take a knife (butterknife or your average dull silverware) and stick in in the gap between the lid and jar and break the seal. You can usually manage to release the vacuum this way and get it open easily.

buzzard

Take aforementioned butter knife. Hold the "blade" end in your hand, and bang the heavy end against the lid of the jar, creating three or four little dents around the top. Jar will twist right open.

 

[Cthulhu's Librarian]

If you are getting canned cranberry sauce out of the can and want it to retain the "can shape" (why my family prefers this I have no idea), cut the lid off as usual but instead of scooping out the contents with a spoon, punch a small hole in the bottom of the can. When you turn it over (preferably above a bowl or whatever you intend on serving the sauce from) it may well slide right out of the can. If not, blow gently into the hole and it'll come out easily.

Punching a hole in the bottom of the can can be done easily with a "church key" type can opener in many cases. If there is no rim on the bottom of the can then you can use an ice-pick but it's probably best to do this before you open the top of the can.

Here's something I don't understand. Homemade cranberry sauce is SOOO easy to make, and tastes SOOO much better than canned, yet everyone eats canned cranberry sauce. You go through allthe trouble of cooking a turkey, cooking veggies, making dessert, and then BAM, you throw a 50 cent can of cranberry sauce on the table. :\

Here's a better way:

1 bag of fresh cranberries
2 cups water
2 cups sugar
a little lemon juice or orange juice

boil the water, add the cranberries, add the sugar. Boil and stir until the cranberries pop and everything starts to gel. Add the juice to taste, cook for a few more minutes until desired thickness. Eat warm or put in the fridge to chill.

BEST. SAUCE. EVER.

 

[Rel]

Here's something I don't understand. Homemade cranberry sauce is SOOO easy to make, and tastes SOOO much better than canned, yet everyone eats canned cranberry sauce. You go through allthe trouble of cooking a turkey, cooking veggies, making dessert, and then BAM, you throw a 50 cent can of cranberry sauce on the table. :\

This isn't about what tastes good! This is about "Family Tradition"!

 

[Rodrigo Istalindir]

My mom has to do both. Dad insists on homemade cranberry sauce, and I pitch a fit if I can't count the ridges from the can. The homemade stuff is sour, nasty stuff.

 

[Aeson]

My grandfather only needed 2 things to fix anything that was broken: duct tape and WD-40. If it's too loose, duct tape it. If it's too tight, WD-40.

Sounds like my grandfather. When he fixed things there were parts left over. WD-40 will fix anything.

 

[der_kluge]

I've used a plastic putty knife to cook with ever since I've left home. In fact I have two of them - both industrial strength that my Dad got from work eons ago.

These aren't metal putty knifes, but plastic ones. They are durable, and hard, and I use them for everything from getting tomato paste out of a can, to cutting up hamburger meat in the pan. I don't know what I would do without them.

 

[John Q. Mayhem]

That ain't workin'.

That's the way you do it!