Now Here's A Tip
BY JOANN DERSON

• Have some leftover wine? Try freezing it in ice-cube trays, and then you can pop those cubes into a bag. They are great for adding to recipes.

• It bears repeating: The best thing you can do to both reduce your cooling costs and protect your HVAC system is change your filter monthly. A dirty filter increases the energy needed to cool air, and it can damage equipment. Make it a point to change the filter when the month changes. Buy filters in bulk and label them by month to keep track, or buy one that is washable and reuse.

• "I mostly take digital pictures, but I kind of miss having a photo album. Well, I made one, of sorts: I keep the photos sorted on my computer by month and year anyway, so I just printed out a 'contact sheet' for each month. It's a collection of thumbnail-size photos, and I put them in a three-ring binder. When I am looking for a particular photo or looking for inspiration for a scrapbooking project, I browse the book." -- C.T. in Montana

• "I am all for using utensils in unusual ways. After you brown ground beef, you can break it up into mostly uniform pieces using a pastry blender. You can use a whisk to break up boiled potatoes for homestyle mashed potatoes. Or if you have a potato masher, you can use it to break up frozen juice concentrate when mixing up a batch of juice." -- D.S. in California

• Get more juice out of a lemon by rolling it firmly on a countertop before slicing. If the lemon has been refrigerated, put it in the microwave for 10 seconds, roll, then cut. You'll double your juice.

Send your tips to Now Here's a Tip, c/o King Features Weekly Service, P.O. Box 536475, Orlando, FL32853-6475 or e-mail JoAnn at heresatip@yahoo.com.

(c) 2008 King Features Synd., Inc.