My grandma spent most of her childhood growing up in a small village in Bavaria, Germany. She was known as the town's goose-girl and that job description meant that she herded the flock of geese everyday. Leaving behind her roots at the young age of nineteen, she crossed the Atlantic and came to California.

It was here that she settled, married, and raised my mother. We used to joke about the fastidiousness of the German woman. Grandma kept quite a cleaning schedule and washed her kitchen curtains monthly, and as kids, we truly believed her floors were so clean that we could literally eat off of them.

Here are a few of her household nuggets of wisdom -

1. Get rid of ants by placing cucumber rind shavings around where the ants come from.
2. Hang your broom by a nail; don't let it rest on the floor.
3. Simmer some oatmeal along with two or three sliced onions for 20 minutes to get rid of a head cold or sore throat. Pour in a lump of butter and some salt and pepper and eat this with bread and butter before you go to bed.
4. On cold winter nights, place some hot potatoes under the bed covers at the foot of the bed to keep the feet warm.
5. For bee stings or insect bites make a paste out of some baking soda and apply to the bite.