Should you take in someone with money issues? Not until you read my rules.

12 hours ago

My husband and I decided that our house would be a haven for loved ones facing financial hardship.
We have the space in our hearts and home to be a refuge.
In my newsletter, I addressed a question that I receive quite frequently, especially during economic downturns: When a family member or friend is in a financial bind, how do you decide whether to let them move in with you? Should you offer the help or wait to be asked?

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From Crumbs to Melted Cheese, Here's How to Clean Your Toaster

CNET

30 minutes ago

CNET

From Crumbs to Melted Cheese, Here's How to Clean Your Toaster

While you may clean your counters and dishes daily, your kitchen appliances need a little love, too. Whether you prefer buttered toast, avocado toast or toaster pastries, you need to be cleaning your dirty toaster -- probably more often than you think. After enough use, I started noticing a burnt odor and uneven browning in my own toaster. That's when I realized the culprit wasn't the bread but the mess of loose crumbs and food particles lurking inside the toaster. Crumbs pile up fast, and if you don't clean them out regularly, they can burn, stink and even turn into a fire risk. Worse? Leftover food bits can attract bugs, especially in hot weather. Luckily, giving your toaster a deep clean is easier than you might think. It takes just a few minutes, doesn't require any fancy tools and can save your breakfast (and your kitchen) from disaster. For more cleaning tips, learn how to wash your bedding the right way and how to clean your kitchen in under 15 minutes. How to clean out your toaster If you use your toaster as often as I do (daily), you'll need to clean it at least once a week. If you use it sporadically, you can get away with cleaning it every few weeks or so, or when you notice food remnants building up. Here's the best way to clean your toaster: CNET 1. Unplug your toaster and do the usual upside-down shake thing over the sink. No, just shaking the appliance over the sink isn't entirely effective. 2. Pull out the crumb tray, if it has one, and then wash it with warm water and dish soap. 3. While you let the crumb tray dry, dampen a cotton cloth with a little white vinegar and wipe out the slots where the bread, pop tarts or other treats sit. 4. If there's stuck-on food residue left over from breakfast pastries on the heating elements, gently brush them with an old toothbrush dampened with white vinegar. 5. Wipe the insides down with a water-dampened cloth to remove any vinegar residue. 6. Give the toaster one last good upside-down shake. 7. Wipe down the outside of the toaster with another dampened cloth. Let the toaster dry inside and out completely before plugging it back in. It should only take a couple of hours to dry. For more household tips, check out how to kill mold in your washer and keep it away and how to clean cat pee from your couch. Frequently asked questions Can you submerge a toaster in water to clean it? No, you should never submerge any electrical appliance in water, as it can damage the internal components. How do I get burn marks off the toaster? If you've gone a long time without cleaning your toaster, you may have some burn marks on the top of it leaving an unsightly brown mark. To fix this you can make a paste of equal parts water and baking soda and while the toaster is still unplugged, scrub with a toothbrush or non-abrasive sponge. Afterward, wipe it clean with a soft, damp cloth to remove the paste. More home cleaning tips

‘Remember Us to Life' Review: Family Ties Erased By Time

Wall Street Journal

8 hours ago

Wall Street Journal

‘Remember Us to Life' Review: Family Ties Erased By Time

Growing up in Stockholm, the illustrator Joanna Rubin Dranger was faintly aware that her maternal grandfather, David, had family members who had 'disappeared' in Poland during the Holocaust. But such things weren't spoken about during her mother's childhood, and David, who'd emigrated to Sweden as a teenager, had died before Ms. Rubin Dranger was born. The graphic memoir 'Remember Us to Life' is Ms. Rubin Dranger's soulful account of her effort to learn what happened to David's lost relatives. She traces other branches of her family tree as well, including a distant cousin who pulled off a nail-biting escape from Nazi-occupied Norway to the United States. The book opens with a brief chapter on the suicide of the author's adored Aunt Susanne, her mother's sister, a stark reminder of the effects of trauma on subsequent generations. Ms. Rubin Dranger's black-and-white drawings, spare yet richly expressive, are interspersed with family photographs and archival materials, including newspaper articles and political cartoons. Many of the photos had been locked away in attics for decades, unearthed by relatives assisting the author with her project. They depict David's parents and siblings fashionably dressed and laughing, and their effect on Ms. Rubin Dranger is profound. 'It is the very modernity of the pictures that floods me over and over with the incomprehensibility of it all,' she writes. Only David and his brother Chaim, who fled to Palestine, survived; letters between the two capture their mounting desperation and despair when they stop receiving replies from their family in Poland. Throughout the memoir, the author grapples with her place in Sweden, which, despite its official neutrality, allowed Nazi Germany to transport soldiers and weapons across its borders for most of the war. In 2018, while Ms. Rubin Dranger was working on the book, neo-Nazis marched through a Stockholm neighborhood. Later, a swastika was spray-painted on her house. 'The world seems to be turning the wrong way,' she observes.

Washington Post

12 hours ago

Washington Post