Stop dishpan hands

It's winter for most of us. Around here that means experimenting with new recipes because 1) I get bored with our menu, 2) it warms up the kitchen, and 3) it is just fun. The down side is that for food safety I wash my hands frequently while cooking. Y'all know how quickly that causes dry and painful skin. My solution is to slather on my hand cream and wear plain old disposable nitrile gloves while I am cooking. (Latex gloves would work too if you don't have allergies.) They sometimes come in fun colors like green or purple which could be used for some kind of monster costume if you get tired of chores. I still wash "my hands" a lot but I'm actually washing the gloves so my skin isn't roughed up. You can find boxes of 100 gloves for about $6 at drug stores or the big discount stores in the pharmacy area for a reasonable price. After you get hooked you will find lots of other uses for the gloves: mudding drywall, painting, cleaning bathrooms, filling suet feeders, and making plumbing repairs. And that's my Works for me Wednesday tip.