laura_paura

I scored a lodge cast iron skillet at the thrift shop. Love it, but...there’s at least 5+ years worth of grime on it. I’ve tried the oil and oven method, and scrubbed with chain mail for what seemed like forever. I’m starting to see bits and pieces of the original cast iron underneath the grime, but there’s got to be an easier way to get this skillet back to 100% besides chipping away a little every day. Any tips? Thanks! 

I am interested in getting a road bike, not for racing (yet), but for long endurance bike rides. I need a good, yet affordable (under $1,000), beginners bike. I've been looking online all week, but it's not helping me make a decision, since I don't really know what I'm looking for to begin with! Any recommendations would be great, thanks!

I made 7 layer bars last night, and it seems as tho they need to be baked a little bit more. The condensed milk is not soaked all the way into the bars, and it looks like there's little puddles of it throughout the pan. I know it's not always best to re-bake something, but do you think it would be okay in this case? Thanks!

I have a picture of me and a well known public figure. The only problem is, is that it's blurry. It was taken with a camera phone, and zoomed all the way in. Is there a website I can reconfigure this picture in, and make it not blurry? Any help would be great. Thanks!

It says to cook regular size cupcakes for 18-22 minutes. I assume mini cupcakes cook faster, no? Should I start at 10 minutes, then check them? What have you done for mini cupcakes? Thanks!

My gym is going to start offering a morning cycle class and I want to try it out. I already take group classes there, and this spin class with be taught with the instructor I already take class with, so I'm happy about that! What I'm not so sure about is this...What can I expect? I know the typical sore bum and legs, but what else? Is it easy for beginners? I use the stationary bike, but I've never been on an actual spin bike. I'm excited and scared (in a silly way), at the same time! I hear it does wonders for your shape. Please tell me your experiences, good and/or bad. I want to know all about it! Thanks!

I bought a rosemary bread loaf at the farmer's market, and it smells delicious! What would be the best oil/vinegar combo to use to dip it in? Thanks!

I have a friend who's treating me differently after I reached a weight loss goal. I spent the past year getting in shape and taking better care of myself. I've lost 40 pounds, and am in the best shape of my life! I don't know about you, but I'm pretty dang proud of myself. My friend, on the other hand, is standoffish now, and doesn't want to hang out as much anymore. We're both in our 30's, married, and have kids. We live right down the street from each other, and the other day, I invited her over so our kids could play together. She said (via text), and I quote, "can't stand being around my anorexic friend anymore, gotta get some exercise, you're giving me a complex" How the heck am I suppose to take that? Yes, it hurt my feelings, as it should, right? I am so not anorexic! Just toned and, well, healthy. How should I approach this to her? My husband said I should just let it blow over, and let her get over it, but it's hard not having my friend around. I don't want to hang out with her if all she's going to be is rude to me, and throw negative comments out around me, about me. I just want her to see how ridiculous she's being without having to totally ruin the friendship.

We just got back from a 10 day vacation and my kitten has turned into a little monster!! She's jumping up on the counters/tables, and is biting and scratching. Is she just acting out because I left her for so long? We had someone coming over twice a day to care for her, and she said she was acting like this for her too. What is the easiest/quickest way to get her back into a sweet little fur ball? She's just too wild for my likings. She also has fleas now. The gal that was coming over to look after the kitten has a dog at home. Do you think it's possible that fleas hitch hiked on to my kitty? Thanks!

I have a recipe that calls for hardening candy coating shell. Unfortunately, I can only find that in the grocery stores around the holidays. Is there an easy way I can make it from scratch at home? I tried melting chocolate chips, with a little bit of vanilla and milk, but that was just a big mess! Any help would be great, thanks!

I have an 8 week old kitten, and after she uses the litter box, she doesn't cover her pile. It's a disgusting habit I hope she'll change with age. For now, since she's so small and can't go up and down the stairs yet, the litter box is in the kitchen. So it smells up the whole place when she goes. Any recommendations? I plan on getting her a covered box this weekend, but for now, I need a quick solution. Yes, I know I can cover it myself with the scoop (which I do), but seriously, would YOU want to do that every time? Blech! Thanks!!

I just adopted the most precious, beautiful, siamese kitten. I have a handful of names that I like, and am having a hard time choosing the perfect one. So that's where the Y!A community comes in!

Names:

Daphne

Dinah

Juno

Ophelia

Roxy

Nina

Choose your top two, and maybe it will help me narrow it down!

Thanks!

My daughter is turning 6 and wants one of these for her birthday. Having no clue which is better/more bang for the buck and what not, I'm reaching out to the Y! Answers community. Do you have either one of these? Which is easier to use? Which one is more fun for your child? Pros/Cons? Better games? More intuitive? Any information regarding these would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Does anyone know how to tag a friends NAME in your STATUS with the new Facebook profile? I know how to tag a picture, but the old way of tagging names in your status does not work. Before, you could do, @enterfriendsnamehere, and it would highlight the name, but it doesn't work that way anymore. Can anyone help with this one? Thanks!

My 2 y/o son got a hold of my graham cracker pie crust and crumbled it. I need some creative suggestions on what to do with it. Thanks!

I'm not a big fan of onions, so I don't ever use them in my cooking. I'm making a stew in the crock pot on Sunday, and it calls for finely chopped onions. Being the good sport that I am, and realizing other people have different tastes, I've decided to use onion in the stew. What is the best way to "finely chop" an onion? Every time I use one, it stings my eyes so badly, I have to sit down for 5 minutes for my tears to subside. So, anyone, anywhere, how do you chop your onions? Thanks!

I love my kids to death, but when they're sick, I get really annoyed and wiped out. They're extra clingy, whiney, and the coughing and sneezing right in my face gets real old real quick. The sniffing of the noses just annoys me! I hate it when my kids are sick. Ugh. Thank you, new school year, for bringing this on!

I went to the store to get all the ingredients for dinner tonight. Got home, realized I overlooked one and I am NOT going back to the store just for that. So...is there a substitution I can use for heavy cream? Or am I just going to have to go back to the store? I'm making shrimp and pasta primavera, can I do w/o the cream? Or does it taste better with it? Thanks!

How do you deal with the constant fighting? It's driving me crazy!! My daughter is 5, my son 2, and they fight over EVERYTHING. "He looked at me", "He's touching me", "He took this/that from me". My son, being only two and short on vocabulary, mostly screams, cries and hits. I can't leave the room for 30 seconds without a fight breaking out. Going to the bathroom has become a contest to see how fast I can do it. It's ridiculous. I send them both to their rooms for timeouts, in which they cry and scream the whole time in there (she has a 5 min. t/o, my son a 2 min. t/o). Nothing seems to be working for me and I'm at the end of the road by the time my husband gets home from work, which is 7:30, sometimes 8 at night. Then he gets on my case for being stressed out. Well...HELLO....why wouldn't I be frazzled at the end of the day??

I've even tried getting two of the same thing, yet they'll still fight over the same one. I've resorted to writing names on a who's who's basis.

How do you deal with the fighting? What are some methods you have used, and have they had a positive outcome? Thanks!

I washed my white sweater, like I always do, with my other whites using the downey ball (like always). Well, this time, the ball didn't pop open when it should have, therefore, not dispensing it the correct way in the rinse cycle. I opened the washer, and my whites were speckled with (huge) blue spots of downey. Thinking I could fix this problem by running an extra rinse cycle, I proceeded to do so. It did not work, now my whites are speckled blue. Has this ever happened to you? How did you fix it? Should I just take it to the dry cleaners and fork out the bill? This is my favorite sweater!!! Help!! Thanks :o)