Will it work? Try it and see!
When you are facing a new task, it makes sense to look to other people for guidance.
How do you fix a hole in a sock?
Can you freeze mushrooms?
Can you substitute x for y in a recipe?
Can you use fabric dye to cover a bleach stain?
(I tried that one and here's what happened.)
Learning from people who have gone before you is smart. Why reinvent the wheel?
But sometimes, you can't find an answer, the answers are conflicting, or the answers don't quiiiite address your particular situation.
In cases such as these, as long as the stakes are low, I think it's a very good idea to just try it and see. You will learn so much if you approach life like this!
A few examples that are common questions people ask me:
Can you freeze ______?
If you try a recipe and no one in the comments knows if it freezes well, set aside a one-serving portion, freeze it, thaw it, and see how it fares.
That way you have only potentially ruined one serving instead of an entire recipe's worth of food.
Can you sub ___ for ____?
If you want to sub an ingredient in a recipe, give it a try and see what happens.
(I recommend only subbing one ingredient at a time; if you sub four ingredients, you might have a culinary disaster on your hands.)
A one-ingredient sub will probably be fine, and the very worst thing that will happen is that one dish you make will be inedible. That's not a huge price to pay for an experiment.
I've been doing this a lot as I try to figure out how to make our familiar foods dairy-free for Sonia. Most of the time, it's going well, but sometimes things don't work quite right.
I've also tried making just a small batch of a dairy-free version as a test. Once I know how it works (or doesn't). then I know how to proceed in the future.
Can I fix this doll's hair?
Maybe you've wondered, "Will that boiling water doll hair straightening method work on my doll?"
And I say, if the doll's current hair is a complete disaster and you couldn't possibly make it worse, give a try. What have you got to lose?
Can ____ be made ahead of time?
For instance, if you wonder, "Could this bread dough be made ahead of time?", you could bake one loaf regularly, but let the other one rise in the fridge all day.
That way you have one guaranteed good loaf, and the other one is just an experiment.
Can I paint this piece of furniture?
If you think, "Hmm, would this old, ugly dresser look good if I painted it?", I think you could just try it and see.
If it's super ugly right now, odds are good you won't be making it worse. The risks are low!
Will this item sell on eBay?
You can do some research to get a good idea, but if that doesn't give you a definitive answer, you could always list it and see what happens.
That's how I ended up selling the hardware from Sonia's dresser and also the drawer pull from Zoe's nightstand.
I was skeptical it would work, but I gave it a try and I recouped the cost of the furniture!
Can this be halved or doubled?
If you wonder, "Could I halve or double this recipe?", give it a try.
Most things can be easily halved.
And most foods double well, although you may need to adjust cooking times a bit.
For instance, if you double this brownie recipe, you will probably need to bake the batter longer if you use a 9x13 pan.
Or you could double the recipe and just use two 8x8 pans (that's what I do!)
How do you mend ____?
If you have a dishtowel, washcloth, bath towel, or item of clothing that's coming apart, I always think it's worth a try to mend it.
It usually only takes a minute or two to redo a hem, sew up a hole, or zig-zag over a frayed area. And the more you try this, the better you will get at figuring out what works and what doesn't.
And that's the thought I want to end on: the more you "try it and see", the better you'll get at judging whether or not something will work.
Both failures and successes will add to your knowledge base, so these experiments really do pay dividends over the long haul.
What's something you've learned with the "try it and see!" method?
It can be a success or a failure, since they're both instructive.
Not yet, but last week our window AC unit quit working properly. I checked over all of the obvious solutions from the internet, and declared it "dead." We had a spare unit that we moved in to our room, and sometime next week I'll drag the old one out onto the driveway and take it apart and try to see what's going on with it. If there's nothing to fix, it can go on the scrap pile.
Yep. If you have a brand new appliance that breaks, you might be loathe to try a repair. But if something is old and dead, the stakes are so low.
Even if you can't revive it, you may learn something that helps you next time.
And, even if you can't fix it at least you can usually get some spare parts! I rarely need to buy nuts, bolt, washers, brackets etc!!
Yep. Sonia and I do this when an item of clothing needs to hit the rag bag. We salvage buttons, hooks and eyes, and the like.
Dyeing clothes to extend their life! It's much easier than people think.
I dyed a dark blue faded sweatshirt with indigo dye using the bucket method. It worked really well, and it works to refresh faded jeans.
I dyed some thrift store fabric to make myself a formal dress, though I got an unexpected colour! Minty green instead of pale blue.
I tried to save several pairs of work pants after The Terrible Incident of the Pen in the Washing Machine by dyeing them black, and it didn't work well. It made them all purple-y grey, but it covered the ink stains enough that I could wear the pants for a few weeks--I was traveling for school, so it worked out. I should have used more dye, as I was dyeing light-coloured pants a dark colour, and I should have used the stovetop method which is the most effective.
Ooh yes, I love dying fabric. It's such an adventure because you never know quite what will happen.
My daughter had a hand me down turtleneck with a little spot on it. She now has a tie dyed turtleneck shirt.
"It can be a success or a failure, since they’re both instructive."
Scientists have a saying: No experiment is a failure if you get data.
What it means is that even if what you hoped would happen totally does not, you're still ahead because you now know more than you did before.
That is so true. And honestly, I often have found failure to be far more instructive than success.
If everything goes perfectly, you don't always know what you did right, but if you mess up, generally you know what you did wrong.
I grew up with someone who would say 'failures are teachers', tis so true
I sometimes make up knit/crochet patterns based on my experience. I crocheted a hat with a pattern and wanted a scarf to go with it. I figured out how to do that, writing down what I was doing as I went. If it had been a failure I would have ripped it out and tried something else with the yarn. I am now working on figuring out a childs size pattern for knit fingerless gloves, based on the adult sized pattern.
Many times I have attempted to recreate restaurant meals that we've enjoyed, usually with at least some success. I also change muffin recipes all the time to reflect what I have on hand (pumpkin puree in place of bananas or applesauce or adding blueberries).
You can use a sharpie to cover bleach stains if they are not to too big and the clothing is a close match to a sharpie color. You can also use a sharpie to cover weird marks on your dark shoes (like my black dank clogs).
You can also use a sharpie instead of those special furniture colored markers to cover scratches or chips on furniture or floors.
You can use Ajax (or any brand of this type of cleaner- I am sure I used store brand) cleaner to scrub grass stains out of kids baseball pants. I am guessing that Softscrub would work too!
Can I throw this slimy moldy shower curtain in the washing machine? Yes! Success! Add about a cup of bleach with detergent and the curtain comes out like new.
This is a perfect example of a low-risk proposition. Totally worth a try.
I do this with shower curtains regularly. I throw an old towel in with it, too, for some scrubbing action. I then throw the towel and shower curtain in the dryer for a few minutes before hanging it up again. This has worked like a charm for me.
I replaced the bake element on my beloved 1959 stove. The first one I tried wasn't the right wattage--all the appliance parts people want you to enter the model number to locate the right part, but that simply doesn't work with a 1959 model--so I experimented. The first one not only blew out the kitchen circuit, it blew out the whole house. OK. So I tried another one, which works great and I still have my old stove. I knew a repairperson wouldn't care enough to figure out what to do with it, so it was up to me.
I'm impressed.
Wow, good for you!
My aunt gave me an antique doll dress in good condition fabric and lace wise that was very yellowed and dirty. Gentle soap didn’t work. I used Clorox bleach gel and the dress came out pristine. I was lucky!
I agree the trial and error method works the best. I am 60, grew up in a home where "day old" bread was purchased and frozen, as was milk. Imagine my surprise when I read countless articles saying NEVER freeze bread or milk! It didn't kill us, nor has it killed my 20 year old son or his 12 yr old cousin, whose mother is my sister! And our parents lived till ripe old ages!
Goodness. Why in the world would you not freeze bread or milk? I can't imagine why!
Whenever my mom made homemade bread when I was a kid, she always made extra loaves and froze them. So I've never imagined a life without bread in the freezer.
Freezing milk can change the texture of it. Fine for baking but not as much for drinking.
Bread? Freeze away!
I find this only happens if you don't let it defrost completely. Defrost all the way, then shake it like crazy. Don't forget to pour some off before freezing so your container doesn't crack or split.
I once kept our old toilet working using waxed dental floss to replace the chain that kept breaking due to our--at the time--very hard water. The floss lasted longer than any chain had.
I substitute vegetables in recipes or add them where they aren’t called for a lot. Shredded carrots I add to sloppy joes and Mexican stuffed shells frequently. I had zucchini and summer squash that needed to be used, so they were added to the peppers/onions in fajitas. Worked fine for all 3. I can’t think of a non-food example so maybe I’m more creative or confident in cooking than in other areas!
With the dyed dress, you could also put some colorful patches over the stains or just replace the whole stripes. Either way, make it look like it was designed to be that way.
For home improvement projects I always think "Is there a danger of flooding the house or setting fire to anything?" and "If I mess it up will it cost me more or turn it into an emergency?"
Those are super good questions to ask for home improvement. I tread very, very carefully when it comes to plumbing or electrical work because oof, the risks can be pretty darn high.
I will replace an outlet or a faucet or toilet. I will not run new lines. No kids are allowed in the house if I'm doing any electrical work.
The rule in our house is the husband cannot do electrical work unless I am in the house with him, no exceptions. He is severely colorblind and early in our marriage I walked up as he was about to connect a purple wire with a grey one because he thought they were the same color! His father insisted the boys learn how to wire things but until he was in his late teens no one realized my husband was colorblind. I am not sure how they could have been so oblivious but, anyway, my husband knows a lot about electricity and by using me as his guide dog during the process, we have saved a lot of money over the years.
Ouch! As you may know, if you have children, expect that the boys are likely to be colorblind, and the girls carriers. My colorblind father's boy grandchildren, from his three daughters, are all red-green colorblind, and I wouldn't be surprised if we find the girl grandchildren carry the gene to their own boys.
Our early family test is someone who can't see green marshmallows in a bowl of brown cereal Lucky Charms. Or tell the difference between dull green and brown plastic game pieces.
Although statistically less likely, girls can be color-blind, too. Don't ask me how I know.
I worked w a lady that could only see in grey scale. She couldn't see any colors. Her dad was red-green colorblind. Rare but possible.
After Hurricane Katrina our refrigerator was NASTY. It had been without power for than a week and even after thoroughly cleaning the smell was overpowering. I finally pryed out the shelving in the freezer and got to the bottom of it! The risk was breaking the freezer, but it was basically unusable with that stench. Success! (And if you are wondering, the culprit was a giant bag of yeast that got wet from melting stuff, then dripped into the air vents. So gross!)
Oh, I can imagine how terrible that would smell.
Good for you for tackling it!
A great, encouraging post!
Back in the day when trash bags came with a serrated plastic strip to tie the bag closed, I used a couple of them to temporarily replace a toilet chain for a panicked girlfriend whose husband was deployed and her toilet chain had snapped. She was amazed at my "skill." I was amazed that she was amazed at that simple fix. She told me later it lasted for several months.
I often substitute ingredients during cooking. Usually it works just as well as the original, and sometimes the dish is even better. Sometimes, it's not, ahem.
The office where I worked in my early 20's ordered polyester knit uniforms, consisting of slacks, skirts, jackets, and long sleeved shirts, for us to wear. We had to pay for those beige and brown things. Then the office a/c was set at 82 deg. F - in Florida - due to the energy crisis at the time. We were melting, even without our jackets. Another girl and I took some of our "lovely" knit shirts and made short sleeved shirts out of them. I was rather inexperienced in sewing, but my mother sewed a lot, so I knew how to do it. Our employers were a bit shocked, but we were appropriately dressed and at least a little cooler. I could have gone to an alterations shop, but I thought, I can do this!
One of my favorite Will It Works was recreating a beloved old cake recipe that was mostly unwritten, and the creator had died. All I had was a list of most, but not all of the ingredients, and only one line of instructions. It takes about 3-4 hours to make this 3-layer, filled and frosted cake. I studied other recipes, phoned my mother 🙂 and finally came up with what I thought was missing in the recipe and went for it. It turned out just like the original, and I breathed a huge sigh of relief. It's now a standard at the holidays, and I made sure to pass out the recipe, intact.
I also recreated my grandma’s wonderful biscuit recipe. She never used a recipe, but I am a recipe girl... so I visited her one day in order to make biscuits together. As we cooked, I wrote down the approximate measurements and method. Then, my husband and I worked together to tweak it and create an exact recipe. Grandma has been gone many years, and we still get to enjoy her biscuits! ♥️
Pretty much all our gardening endeavors since moving here have been of the "try it and see" variety. Our climate is . . . bizarre. Gardening experts do not generally address the challenges we've been encountering here, so we've just been applying our own knowledge of gardening with what we've learned about what works here so far. Which means we've lost a LOT of plants. But some usually survive! And more this year than last year, so that's encouraging.
If we actually figure this out for real, I'm seriously considering writing a book about High Plains gardening with my husband.
You totally should!
I keep thinking that after I get good at feeding Sonia, I should write a book about feeding someone with no dairy, no nuts, and none of the produce Sonia is allergic to. But that would be such a specific book, I'm not sure anyone would buy it.
You might be surprised! I have a similar situation over here right now. I have one who has been doing dairy-free for maybe close to 9 months, one who is allergic to tree nuts, and another one who has oral allergy syndrome to mainly a bunch of fruits. I think I would buy your book!
My sister would buy it. Her son has multiple allergies. She connects with allergy mom's groups.
One of my "have a go" things is taking cuttings of plants. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. There's no downside if it doesn't, and if it does, I have free plants! Some are super easy, like pothos (which I often give rooted cuttings as gifts) and scented geraniums. I have successfully rooted cuttings of the beautiful rose that climbs over our fence from next door.
My king size quilt was a "have a go" project. I wanted to see if I could make it entirely out of scraps I already had-no new fabric. I succeeded. https://www.pinterest.com/pin/814096070133827792/
My kids and husband tease me about how many things I will try. I think it keeps life interesting.
Your quilt is beautiful! I love it! I might try something similar one day!
Your quilt is soooo cool and beautiful! Jealous, I have been wanting to do this , with all my fav fabrics.
I definitely do this with house things. I first found inspiration from The Nester who says something like, "if you hate it anyway, take a risk" and I did, and it worked (painting things usually)
This is a great way of putting it. If you can't possibly hate it more, why not give it a try? So sensible.
Cutting my own hair. In this time of closures my pixie cut was driving me nuts! I decided to cut it myself. I was able to cut the front and around the ears but I had to have my husband cut the back. The top I'm just letting grow long. I'm amazed at how good that looks!
Good for you! That's a very brave thing to try on your own, so kudos to you.
I substituted almond milk in your chocolate pudding recipe and of course it worked out just fine. I wanted to use up some of the shelf stable almond milk up before expiry time and still have a lot in the cupboard.
It dates me to say that when I moved out of my college dormitory and had to cover up any holes I had made in the walls, I used White-Out, typewriter correction fluid. I even covered some scratches on the acoustical tile ceiling that I hadn't made with it.
Toothpaste works as well for small holes.
My husband got a little bit of bleach on a very nice blue sweater (I think it was acrylic yarn). I found a Sharpie marker that matched and colored the bleached yarn and it WORKED. It lasted as long as the sweater. These were tiny spots, not sure how it would work on a larger splotch like your bedspread.
Now a pet peeve: I get so frustrated when I see a recipe blogger work very hard to perfect a recipe and then the comments are full of "Will this recipe work if I substitute X for Y?" I always feel sorry for the recipe blogger, who can't read people's minds and try every possible substitution before (or after) posting a recipe.
So if you are wondering if the recipe will work with your desired substitute, take FG's suggestion and TRY IT. Instead of asking the recipe blogger to do this work for you, TELL the recipe blogger how your substitute went (e.g. "My daughter is allergic to dairy so I used coconut milk in your crepe recipe and it was wonderful!"). Part of this is taking responsibility for your own situation, and then you can share the good (or bad) news for the benefit of everyone else.
I am not a blogger or recipe developer myself, but I can guess how much work goes in to posting original recipes, and I cringe when I see those questions.
I cringe when I see those questions also. Great point!
On recipe blogs, I've sometimes seen cases where a reader has subbed a bunch of things and then left a comment complaining that the recipe wasn't good.
But if you use chicken instead of shrimp in a recipe, and it's a flop, that is certainly not the recipe's fault!
I think the "try it and see" I'm most proud of is the time I resuscitated an absolutely filthy (and therefore free) Longchamp tote bag. It was one of those things I could never ever rationalize buying for myself, but I came by one and had nothing to lose by trying to make it usable. You're not supposed to wash them, but I did. Stain treated it (which you're also not supposed to do) and chucked it in the washing machine with some low-risk towels. Came out better than I could have hoped, and it's been one of my favorite bags ever since.
I've had some spectacular fails, too. In college I learned that soy milk doesn't behave like "normal" milk in many recipes. And when the recipe for a chocolate cake that uses sourdough starter as a leaven says not to attempt it without a stand mixer...they weren't kidding.
It makes sense to ask you or your readers a question if it’s related to your post, or a suggestion for a future blog post, but goodness, it’s so annoying when lazy people don’t bother to try to find out the answer first, from a believable source! Maybe if we have a question about mushrooms, we could do a quick search for mushroom growers, distributors, produce scientists, cookbooks! Or, we could do as you suggest, and try something ourselves with a small amount or a basket-case item. It just frustrates me when people waste everyone’s time just because they don’t want to do 5 minutes of research. “Are libraries open now”? Call the library! “Are COVID-19 cases going up?” Look at the CDC.org site or local or state health dept! Is it going to rain? Aarrggh. I admire bloggers patience and graciousness.
I always am surprised when someone asks me a question instead of googling it, mainly because googling for an answer goes way faster for the questioner! I take a little while to respond sometimes, or sometimes I don't respond at all because I don't see a question (particularly if it's a Facebook message because the message system for pages is really wonky.)
I have very little counter top space & drawers in my kitchen so when I moved in I had to get creative. I had this idea to buy a wine rack to sit on top of a portable small kitchen cupboard to store all my drink bottles & foil, cling wrap, & baking paper boxes & I wanted a silver one to match my kettle & utensils. Of course no-one was selling silver ones at the time so I searched on our version of craig's list & Hoped it would be the right size & drove a long way on a very hot summers day, got lost, found the house, got the rack & got home & it works great, it even holds my rolling pin. I keep the bottle lids in a drawer so I can air dry the insides after washing.
@Deidre,
That’s brilliant. I may also try your idea in my small kitchen!
The "Can I sub X for Y?" in a recipe is the number one reason to learn some chemistry!
Experimentation can help, of course, but having some basic knowledge of the chemistry behind cooking/baking can really help you make a good decision about whether to try a substitution.
For example, if you're trying to reduce the sugar in a recipe, it's important to know whether or not the sugar is structural, or just there for flavor. In cookies, sugar is structural - you can't reduce the quantity without significantly impacting the texture, browning, and flavor, even if you're adding a sugar substitute. However, in a smoothie, sugar is merely there for flavor - you can easily sub a sugar substitute.
Or in baking - is the milk structural or for flavor/moisture? If it's structural, like using dairy-based milk in a pudding mix (the chemistry involved means you can't sub a non-animal-based milk), if you try to sub something like coconut milk, it's not going to work. But if you're making pancakes, sub away - it's mostly there for moisture and activating the baking powder.
“Just throw it out and buy a new one” is such a destructive mindset. Thank you for the practical examples to beat this bad habit!
My friends kept saying I should write a cookbook (or open a restaurant!) after all the years of cooking/baking for my kids since one is allergic to wheat, rye, barley, oats, sorghum, buckwheat, tree nuts, and dairy, and the other is allergic to tree nuts, peanuts, and melons and has oral allergy syndrome to SO MANY fruits and veg. I used to have to work without eggs and sesame as well! You definitely get a sense for what you can substitute for what. Most recent success: gluten, dairy, and egg-free artisan bread. Most recent fail: dairy-free mint chip ice cream. I made it with fresh mint, which came out a little...toothpaste-y, but OK. I didn't want to use eggs, and did use rice milk, so it came out more like an icy sorbet. Edible, but not fabulous.
When my youngest turned 1, we knew he couldn't have wheat. Since he was in a sweet potato phase, he got a big bowl with a "1" candle in it. When he turned 2, I was brave enough to try baking a cake (gluten, dairy, nut, and egg-free), but didn't know that GF would always be denser and wetter. It tasted pretty good, but was a bit...doughy. By the time he turned 3, I had it dialed in and have fed everyone from my family to a couple hundred people using my alternative recipes. But nearly 15 years on from that successful birthday cake, I'm still experimenting. This week it'll be faux graham crackers so he can (hopefully) have s'mores for the 4th of July.
I give you so much credit, working with all those allergies!
Kids gotta eat!!
This week I found 4.6 oz. tubes of Pomi tomato paste for $1.00 each. The expiration date is the end of November, which means they should be good for at least 18 months. I was going to buy twelve, but inspired by this post, decided to go for 24. I'm hoping I can freeze then, but I'm not sure if the tubes will explode. I think I'll put one in a plastic container and try it. The worst that can happen is the tube splits, but at least the mess will be contained. Fingers crossed that it works.
Tomato paste is so dry, I don't think it expands much when frozen (when it I freeze it in cubs, it stays pretty much the same size). You could always squeeze a little out of each container to give it a little expansion room.
I hope it goes well for you!