Heritage Hints From Mama: Uses For Waxed Paper
I’m excited to have my Mama with us today! She has a lot of wisdom to share. Be sure and click on some of her other posts at the bottom after you read this one 🙂
Gratefully,
Christy
Hello Everyone!
My name is Janice, better known as Mama. You are welcome to adopt me as your go to Mama and I’ll attempt to answer any of your questions. I will be here to pass on my years of learning by trial and error. Today I thought I would pass on some of the many uses for wax paper.
Now some of you young people may not have a roll of wax paper in your kitchen but I am from a different generation who used it to wrap sandwiches. You see we did not have all sizes of zipper bags: snack size, sandwich size and now even large sizes for storing bedspreads and the like. We used wax paper primarily to wrap sandwiches for our lunches. Over the years, I have found a few different uses for wax paper.
One of my favorite uses is to put it under batters to catch the drips. I use a batter bowl to mix up pancake batter. The bowl has a lip on it so that you can pour the batter into the pan. After you pour the batter, there is always a little that drips from the lip onto the counter. If you wait to wipe it up, it becomes similar to concrete and takes a lot of scrubbing to get it up. Just put a small piece of wax paper on the counter underneath the bowl and you don’t have to worry about the drips. Just wad it up and throw it away when you clean up.
I also slice tomatoes and potatoes over a piece of wax paper and then just gather it up with the peelings still on it and throw it away. It saves having to mess up a bowl or messing up the counter with the peelings (Those thin plastic grocery store bags are good for this as well).
If you are icing a cake, cut three small pieces and slide them underneath the edges. After you finish icing the cake, slowly pull them out and the cake plate will be clean as a whistle. (By the way, who knows how clean a whistle is? I’ve always wondered about that!)
I have another wonderful use of wax paper that saves having to get up on a stool or ladder to clean the tops of your cabinets. If your cabinets do not go all the way to the ceiling, cut a long piece of wax paper to lay on the top of the cabinets. My cabinets are a little narrower than the wax paper. I just cut the length and then fold about an inch under and lay it on top of the cabinets. If you want to display things on top of the cabinets, just set them on top of the wax paper. When you get ready to clean the top of your cabinets, just roll the wax paper up, throw it away and cut another piece to fit. It sure cuts down the time that you would usually spend cleaning the greasy cabinet tops! Ideally, you should probably change the wax paper every three months or so but I promise I will not drop in to see if you want to do it once a year. No one will know but you.
Now, in closing, I’ll leave you with a tip that most of you probably know. I just discovered it last year and it has made a real difference! Most rolls of wax paper, aluminum foil and plastic wrap have a tab on each end of the box that you can push in. It keeps the roll from falling out of the box when you are rolling the product out to cut it. I guess if I had time to read the boxes, I would have known this sooner. Oh well, at least I found out about it before I turned seventy! You see there is a bright side to everything!
Let me know if you have other uses for wax paper or if you discover a time saver for the home. We’re all here to learn together. I’m sure everyone would love a few timesavers and shortcuts.
In the meantime, I need your help. Is there anything in particular you’d like me to write about? I enjoy visiting with y’all but I want to share useful information that you’ll enjoy so your ideas are welcome! Please share them in the comments along with any other great ideas for waxed paper uses. We’d love to hear them!
Take care and remember Mama loves you!
~Mama
You can some read other Heritage Hints From Mama By visiting the links below:
I use wax paper when I make biscuits. I put my flour on the paper and knead the biscuit dough on it. When I am finished, I roll it up and throw it away. Easy cleanup.
Thanks so much for your helpful hints, I use wax paper under my brownies, and my cakes too. I also use it between hamburger patties I make for the grill or to put in the freezer. When I have leftover meatloaf I use the method, I can pop out a slice and microwave and have a yummy sandwhich in minutes. If you have any left over cake ( I bake alot) you can cut slices, wrap in wax paper and then pop all the the slices in the freezer in a larger plastic bag. They thaw very quickly when put out on the counter. As far as what to give us tips on next, what about something to use all those plastic grocery store bags for? I have tried as many uses as I can think of, but maybe you have some that I have not thought of, or some of the readers might help. Those things pile up so quickly. We recycle them every other week, but I thought I would ask. Thanks for being “mama”, everyone needs a mama because as I tell my kids, no one loves you, like your mama loves you.
I loved hearing from Momma. You can sure tell that the apple didn’t fall far from the tree between Mother and Daughter. LOL
great idea about lining the top of the cabinets! I have been putting off washing the tops of the cabinets off and the decorative items displayed up there. Now I am motivated! Thanks Mama
When I make Spaghetti Squash, or Cauliflower pizza crusts I always line my baking sheet with wax paper, saves so much time and energy with cleanup, as well as keeping my crust from sticking to my pan. I loved the idea of lining the tops of my cabinets with it! I never even thought of that! You just saved me some hassle! Thanks, and God Bless!
I remember my grandmother running her hot iron over wax paper to make it glide smoother over the clothes.
Great post! I’m gonna try the top-of-the-cabinets trick! Whenever I do a little craft painting with acrylics, I use a small square of waxed paper on top of a paper plate for my palette. I used to use only the paper plate, then I realized the waxed paper is cheaper than the paper plate. So now I just throw away the paint-stained waxed paper and re-use the paper plate for something else! My question for Mama (my own mother and I have passionate discussions on this topic) is: Is there a “right way” to load a dishwasher?
=) Yes, there is a right way to do it; it is however the manufacturer recommends! =)
Our new dishwasher required us to completely retrain ourselves in how to load it! After 9 years with the old dishwasher, that was quite an eye-opener! Habits are hard to break.
[But if your dishes are getting clean, then you must be doing it right. ;)]
Yes there is and it depends on where your sprayers are inside the dishwasher. If you only have one on the bottom and one at the top of the dishwasher, you should not put things like bowls or pots upside down on the bottom rack because it blocks the water from reaching the underside of the top rack. If your dishwasher has a sprayer on the bottom of the top rack, then putting bowls and such upside down doesn’t affect how the dishes in the top rack get cleaned. Also, even though it is easier for putting the silverware away, you shouldn’t put all the spoons or forks in the same slot because they will nest together and not get clean on both sides. I think the right way to load a dishwasher also involves getting the maximum number of dishes in (think orderly and neat) so that you get the best value for the money of running the dishwasher, but not overloading it so that everything can’t get clean. Hope this helps your “discussion” with mom!