My Only Recipe Book

How to remove baked on food from your baking dishes
Scrape off loose bits of food. Put a couple of tablespoons of dishwasher detergent in the dish and add hot water. Stir the solution - a small wire whisk helps. The solution should be so heavy with detergent that it doesn't all quite dissolve. Leave it overnight. By morning, the baked on food will have lifted right off the surface of the dish. This works particularly well with glass baking dishes. Don't use this method on non-stick surfaces.

How to remove cooked on cheese (and other fatty foods)
Scrape off loose bits of food with a spatula or wipe them off with a paper towel. Then, blast the cheese with blazingly hot water while scraping with a brush or spatula. Be careful! What you don't manage to remove leave to the dishwasher. Leave the brush to the dishwasher, too. It will take care of those gummy bits of cheese better than thou.

How to remove cooked on rice, pasta or other starchy food
You left the stove to catch the Local on The Weather Channel and OOPS! First of all, if the rice has scorched, remove all the nicely cooked rice to a serving dish before the scorched food imparts a nasty flavor. Then, soak the pan in cold water. Cold, not warm, not hot. By the time you finish eating, your pan should have released the cooked on food. If not, try the method above for removing blackened, baked on food.

How to remove cooked on milk
Use the cold water method above (How to remove cooked on rice...). Attention Espresso/Cappuccino Machine Owners: You may know the trick of blowing a shot of steam into a towel and wiping down the steamer with the cloth to keep it clean. This doesn't work well if the milk has caked on. Soak the steam wand in a tall glass of cold water to soften the hardened milk, then wipe with a towel to remove it.

How to guarantee a clean, lint-free window
Run out of Windex? Don't panic. Don't even put it on the shopping list! Fill up the bottle with 3 parts of water and 1 part vinegar (don't waste the balsamic - use white or cider vinegar) and start spraying. Wipe your windows clean with newspaper. You'll be amazed!