Making it Easy

I'll never forget as a youngish adult realising that if you cut up a potato into little cubes, it only takes 10 minutes to boil it for mashed potatoes. When I was a girl, my mother used to peel these gigantic potatoes and stick them whole in a pot of water and boil them for FORTY MINUTES in order to mash them. We were very poor back then and she was always complaining about the electricity bill. We were so stingy about electricity that the only heating we had in our entire house was a single little one-bar radiator. And yet, such waste in the kitchen. Almost every night. And realising that if you increased the surface area you'd increase the cooking effect brought it down to ten minutes. 

That, I suppose, was a primitive life hack. And I've always loved that kind of thing. Having a Better Way. 

Now, of course, we see life hacks everywhere, and yet I am still being surprised by some of them. Today, I'd like to share a few.

Halving Cherry Tomatoes

We've all had to do this, for a salad, or for some fish we're cooking or whatever. It's time-consuming and irritating. But THIS MAN has a Better Way. I'm just in love with this!

Using a Recipe Book

We all have that one favourite recipe book that's all manky, covered in gross food stains that have happened while we cooked from it. Now, you can keep your recipe book nice forever! Just do this:

Making Space in a Tiny Room

When I moved into a share house, my bedroom was tiny. But I have low social needs, and I need my time by myself. So in any kind of shared living arrangement, my bedroom basically has to be a bedsitter, plus as a writer I need to have my desk. In this room, really all of the space was taken up by a pair of bunk beds and my desk, leaving no place to relax and read. My solution? I got my housemate to remove the BOTTOM bunk, and that left enough room underneath it for a little cave which I furnished with big floor cushions. I enclosed half of the length with my bookcase, giving myself a tiny reading den, a larger workspace, and a platform bed with a cute little ladder. Perfect! The picture below is a much flasher arrangement, but done for the same reasons. Doesn't it look great!

That's all for today, but there are loads more out there. I'd love to hear from readers with their own favourites.

Don't forget today is RooRoo Day. We do an act of kindness for an animal. Do it.