Don't you hate when you've got a hankering for a banana but all the ones in your fruit basket are green? Or you want to slice some avocado into your salad but they're hard as, well, unripened avocados? Here's a trick my mother taught me some years ago: Place the bananas or avocados in a brown paper bag with a ripe apple inside. The fruit will emit ethylene gas, a naturally occurring hormone, which speeds up the ripening process. (It also stimulates flowers to open and leaves... READ ON

In the past, I've dropped a lot of useful tips in this feature. Here are a few you might recall: How to save money at the pump How to wash a sponge How to make free directory-assistant calls How to remove a bumper sticker from your car But today I'm doing a twist on the IQ-tip and turning it around. You see, my wife and I bought a house back in April and there were 3 cute little tree ferns on the property. They looked as if they'd been there for decades. (The house was built in... READ ON

You guys are either going to love this or roll your eyes, but when I heard about it, I couldn't NOT post about it. DoMyStuff.com is a relatively new site that enables you to outsource simple chores, errands, or projects. Need a closet organized? A website revamped, your lawn mowed, a pint of milk picked up? Join DoMyStuff and let people bid on the job. It's really that simple. Check out some of the posts expiring this morning. One of my favorites has a women trying to score some Oprah tix:... READ ON

We always knew it would take green to get the green movement afoot. By that I mean, people see money in going green. The latest example? Hearst has a beta version of its Green Magazine online (your one-stop shop for all things good for the environment). One of the more interesting aspects, once it gets going, will be the eco-tip of the day. Though I'm still not convinced there actually exist  365 different things you can do each year to conserve energy or act more efficiently in the name of... READ ON