OK, there's no denying it any longer. Fall is officially around the corner as the leaves begin to transform and September turns into October...

So what to do with those massive cukes you've grown over the summer? No worries; it's time to pickle! We'll show you how (it's much easier than you think, and you don't even need a canner!), and you'll be eating fresh all winter long...

Because cucumbers don't last long in the refrigerator (one week tops!), it's important to pickle and/or freeze your cucumbers while they're still fresh. In other words, if you've been sitting on your cucumber for five days, it's time to pickle. If you plan to pickle cucumbers from your garden, feel free to pick smaller, one-inch cucumbers to pickle. As long as they're green and ripe, you can work with any size (as long as you can fit it into a jar!). Ready to get started?:

1. Choose your cucumber. If you're new at this, you can use any cucumber. However, next year, try to plant a few pickling cucumbers to freeze. They're much easier to work with and are often tastier! When choosing your cucumber, remember the best are dark green in color with lots of warts and no bloating. If your cucumber isn't ripe enough (or over-ripe!), the pickles will be tart and less crisp.
Note: The fresher the cucumber is, the crispier your pickle will be!

2. Wash. Wash your cucumbers in cold water and cut if desired.

3. Prepare your jars for canning. If your dishwasher has a sterilize cycle, run it through a few times. If not, simply wash with warm, soapy water (and be sure to remove all soap prior to canning!).

4. Choose your pickle mix. Whether you want dill, kosher, bread and butter or sweet, many grocers have a mix for everything. Depending on which seasoning you'd like, preparation will be different, but most involve bringing the seasoning to a boil and mixing in a few key ingredients.

5. Add your cucumbers and pickle mix in a mason or canning jar. Shake and let sit for eight hours, or freeze to enjoy them in two weeks or so.

That's it! Try making a few pickles with your children; it's a fun, easy recipe that will teach them plenty of patience when it's time to wait a full eight hours... ;)

Enjoy!

For the last couple of days, the weather has been humid, without much wind to cool it off. It was hot enough outside that I had to split the lawn mowing into two days. I will not complain, though, as I will take the heat, sans humidity, any day of the year.

Unfortunately, it gets pretty hot in my house too, as we don't have much shade or air conditioning. It wasn't enough that I had cold water to drink: I needed something more to help cool down my body temperature. I wasn't prepared, but next time, you can bet I will be with these 6 simple frozen treats I can concoct myself.

You've done it again. After writing your long letter to Aunt Martha -- on your homemade fabric flower cards, perhaps -- you've sealed the envelope, only to realize that you've forgotten to include little Harry's latest school photo.

You could either rip open the envelope, pop in the picture, and tape it closed, or you could try a sneaky way to open the envelope -- an undetectable way.

There's always steaming open the envelope, TV detective Veronica Mars' method of choice. This is wet and messy, though, so you may want to try putting the envelope in the freezer instead. Just a few hours in the zero -- or subzero -- environment, and the envelope should open on its own. You can reseal it after you put in Junior's picture.

I hope you aren't getting any illegal ideas, now that you're an expert at this....

After a long, cold winter, the bountiful seasons of spring and summer are here. Fruits and vegetables that often disappear from local markets over the winter are plentiful and inexpensive. With food prices soaring, it's tempting to take advantage of sales on produce, bakery items, and meat. Unless you have a way to store those perishables, however, buying in bulk will just lead to throwing away in bulk when the food goes bad.

The freezer is the perfect place to keep food good for a longer period of time. Most foods can be frozen for at least three to eight months, making that "buy one get one free" sale you just discovered a lot more tempting!

Suite 101 has several tips for freezing fresh foods, including breads, cheese, milk, and herbs, as well as fresh fruits and vegetables. While those tips are relatively simple and straightforward, a user at Epinions has some more advanced techniques, for those of you who are really trying to squeeze pennies out of your food budget. Finally, Love Food Hate Waste has five tips for preventing food waste (and dollar waste) in the kitchen. When every penny counts, these tips might help.

We've all had that horrifying moment where we realize that we've stepped on gum. You can't avoid those colored wads of discarded gum that line the city sidewalks and sky-train stations. You can frantically wipe your shoe on the grass, or try to pick it off with a tissue, but nothing quite gets it off.

If you're wondering how to remove gum from your shoes, you'll find these tips helpful.

There are three suggestions in the full article, but I think the freezing method sounds the most reliable. Put your gummy shoe in a plastic grocery bag. Make sure that the gum is pressed up against the plastic. Put the bag in the freezer for a couple of hours, letting the gum freeze completely. Take it out and pull the shoe apart form the plastic bag. The gum will stick to the bag, leaving the shoe clean. If there is any residue left behind it should be easy enough to chip off while it's still frozen.

Sadly, the traditional homemaking craft of baking does not come naturally to me. If I can get the goods out of the oven without setting fire to anything, I'm pretty happy. As for my last homemade cake, the rounded top and slightly too-soft frosting both contributed to an unenviable "cow pattie" look. Oops.

With a little practice, even lost causes like myself can learn to frost a cake like a pro, according to the site SheKnows.

Whether we realize it or not, our homes are filled with energy-starved appliances. TVs, refrigerators, computers, coffee makers, popcorn machines - you name it, and I bet it's using more than its fair share of electricity. There are, however, many tips, tricks, and tweaks to help regular consumers, like you and I, wrangle in our scattered herd of energy-chewing appliances.

Let's start with an appliance that you might not give much notice to: your freezer. In terms of energy consumption, it's one of the hungriest appliances in your kitchen (just behind the refrigerator), but luckily there's a simple, and entirely practical way to lower how much electricity your freezer uses. The key is to stuff your freezer as full as it will go; the less empty space you have to cool, the less your freezer will need to run. If you don't have enough food that needs to be kept frozen, use water-filled milk jugs to fill the void. In case of a power outage, the frozen jugs of water will help keep your food from spoiling, and in the case of a water outage, they'll serve as drinking water reserves.

It may not seem like much, but every little bit helps. We'll be back with more simple tips and tricks you can use around your house to help lessen your energy footprint, but in the meantime, we'd love to hear about any that you may already use.

[via Tricks of the Trade]